Chicken breast recipes can be so dull β time to step it up! Cream and lemon are a luscious combination and is sensationalΒ served over golden crispy chicken. AΒ quick andΒ easyΒ 10 minute recipe with fewΒ ingredients,Β serve this Creamy Lemon Chicken with pasta, mashed potato or for a low carb option, creamy cauliflower mash!
Chicken Breast Recipe
I was browsing my InstagramΒ feedΒ the other day, and all I could think was βitβs soΒ yellow and orangey.β I shared this observation with my mother, and her immediate response was βWell, of course. You post so many cheesy bread, potatoes and meat. Everything you like is yellow and brown. EvenΒ DozerΒ is yellow.β (Imagine this with a Japanese accent and finished with a snort of laughter).
I had no smart comeback for that. Because itβs completely true. π
So one of my (many) New Yearsβ resolutions will be (yet again) to post moreΒ green foods on RecipeTin Eats.
But for now β more yellow food.
In fact, a whole pan of yellow food. Golden brown (yellow!) chicken breast with a yellow lemon cream parmesan sauce. Bring on the yellow! ππ»
What you need for creamy lemon chicken breast
Chicken breast β or boneless skinless thigh
Chicken broth/stock β gives the sauce flavour (itβs pretty dull without it)
Cream and lemon β because weβre making aΒ creamy lemon sauce
Parmesan β forΒ umami AND to help thicken the sauce
Mustard β sauce thickening and extra flavour/tang
Flour β to dust chicken (gives it a crust that the sauce wants to cling to, optional)
Garlic β because garlic goes in 99% of my savoury foods
Butter β because butter makes everything better
How to make creamy lemon chicken breast
Youβre 10 minutes away from having this for dinner!
Hereβs how it goes down:
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, dust with flour;
Pan fry until golden then remove
Add everything else in, then simmer for 3 minutes until thickened;
Return chicken into skillet to rewarm; and
Serve over pasta, mashed potato or for a low carb option, Creamy Mashed Cauliflower.
Thereβs plenty of creamy lemon sauce for this chicken breast recipe. Enough to toss through pasta!
What to serve with Creamy Lemon Chicken
Serve this with a crisp garden salad with a tangy French Dressing or Balsamic dressing. Or try one of these:
Side salad suggestions
Also, some warm bread rolls to mop the plate clean wouldnβt go astray! If youβre in the mood for homemade bread, try these easy No Knead Soft Dinner Rolls or this simple Irish Soda Bread (I call it Emergency Bread!).
Β β Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Creamy Lemon Chicken Breast
Ingredients
Crispy Chicken
- 600g / 1.2lb chicken breasts (2 large) (Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt (kosher salt)
- 1/4 tsp Black pepper
- 1/4 cup flour (plain / all-purpose)
- 40g / 3 tbsp butter , unsalted
- 1 β 2 garlic clove, minced
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth/stock
- 3/4 cup cream , heavy/thickened (Note 2)
- 3 β 4 tbsp lemon juice (adjust to taste, start with 3 tbsp)
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese , freshly grated OR store bought finely shredded (Note 3)
To serve
- Pasta of choice (I used linguine)
- Finely chopped parsley
Instructions
Crispy Chicken
- Slice chicken breast horizontally to create two thin steaks (so you end up with 4 thin steaks in total).
- Sprinkle each side with salt and pepper, then coat with flour, shaking off excess.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook chicken 2 minutes on each side until golden and crispy, then remove onto plate.
Sauce
- Add a touch of butter if your pan is dry β but you shouldn't need it. Add garlic, stir 10 seconds.
- Then add chicken broth, cream, lemon and Dijon mustard. Bring to simmer and scrape the bottom of the pan to dissolve brown bits into the liquid. Use a whisk if needed to dissolve mustard.
- Add parmesan then simmer rapidly for 3 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly. Add salt, pepper and adjust lemon to taste.
- Return the chicken to the pan (pour in any juices on the plate too), turn to coat.
- Place chicken on serving plates with pasta or mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with fresh parsley if using. Spoon over Lemon Sauce and serve! (Bread for mopping wouldn't go astray either)
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published January 2016, updated with new photos and video in November 2019.
Life of Dozer
In the big fancy house Iβm currently housesitting while Iβm in between houses β when he gets fed up following me up and down the stairs, he parks himself halfway!!
Iβm thinking of adding mushrooms
Do you think that will work??
It will be smashing Natalie! PS Is it freezing today where you are? Iβm in Sydney, it is FREEZING today!
im in sydney too π
im having leftovers from last night but im making more sauce and adding mushrooms π
Iβm not sure when you started this blog but Iβm sure glad I found ya ?. Iβve been cursed with the inability to cook chicken to save my life! And now, for 2 nights in a row (last night was One Pot Chicken Shawarma DELICIOUSNESS), I have been the bomb.com at cooking chicken! My 2 year old son and husband have been gobbling up dinner.
The cook time for these meals is super reasonable for a weeknight dinner. I canβt thank you enough. Iβll pass on the word of your website to everyone I know. Youβre a gem to every household kitchen ?
Thanks so much for your gorgeous message Mimi! Or should I say β Chicken Queen?? π
Iβm about to make this recipe (the chicken is βhorizontallyβ cut into scallops and my hands are still uncut!), but Iβm surprised your recipe doesnβt call for adding lemon zest to brighten the chicken, or capers to the sauce, as in chicken picante. Would one or both enhance the dish in your opinion?
Hi Mike! You certainly can add them, it adds a more fresh element to the sauce π I opted to leave it out because this leans a little more towards creamy flavour. Comes down to personal taste! N x
Thanks. I see your point regarding creaminess. I just thought that after squeezing 4 TBS fresh lemon juice for the recipe that I really ought to make use of the zest. I also freeze any excess zest for other recipes and it works just fine for added brightness to future dishes. I just mentioned capers because my wife absolutely loves the brininess they add to regular chicken picata.
This is one of the best dishes I have ever made! And only using 8 ingredients is amazing!! Thanks!!
Fantastic! Iβm so glad to hear that Nonno, thank you so much for coming back to let me know! N x
This was very yummy!!!!
Thank you Rossina!! <3
Just made this tonight. So easy and yum! What a nice way to cook chicken β that small amount of flour makes a lovely crust. I was going to pair it with mashed potato, but my partner loved your photo with the pasta, so pasta it was.
Thank you so much for such a simple and delicious recipeβ¦.the sauce is so good it should be bottled!
Thank you Emma! Iβm so glad you enjoyed it!!! (Hmmm β YES that sauce should be bottled! New business venture for you! π )
Another winner, Nagi! I could drink that sauce straight. Lol. Super easy, quick, and budget friendly.
P.S. Iβve made Pad Kee Mao four times since I reviewed it last week!! Iβve increased the Thai chili peppers to 4 on that dish.
And now suddenly I have a craving for Pad Kee Maoβ¦β¦
Hey! What is the brand of cream that you use? I am just so confusedβ¦
Hi May! Just any pouring cream is fine!
Made this last night, and everyone loved it! Paired it with leftover homemade garlic mashed potatoes from two nights prior and green beansβ¦..the kids completely cleaned their plates! Thanks for the recipe, this one is a definite keeper.
YESSSSS! So glad everyone enjoyed it, thanks for letting me know Janetta!
I just made it and i LOVEDDDDD IT!! Im in love with everything incorporating lemon. Thank you!β‘β‘
ME TOO!!!! π
I decided to make this recipe because i was apprehensive about cooking with dairy and lemon juice (acid) in the same pan, but nothing here mentions any trouble with curdling. My sauce was really looking good but as soon as i added the lemon juice into the pan all the cream curdled! I tried pouring it into a measuring cup and whisking it but it didnβt want to become smooth again. I ended up making a cheese sauce to go with the pasta and the chicken because that part was really great π β¦ any suggestions to make it go better?
The cream curdled? Iβve never had that happen to me, Iβm so sorry to hear that! I suggest just adding the lemon right at the end after you take it off the stove. As for cheese sauce? YES!!
This is one of THE BEST chicken dishes I have ever made. I added pancetta and capers to bring it over the top. Sauce is amazing on veggies as well!
WOO HOO! So glad you loved it Justin! Thanks so much for coming back to let me know! N x
Made this one tonight. My husband really liked it. I thought it was just so-so at first, but the more I ate it the more I liked it and by the time I was finished with dinner decided I quite liked it. The 3 year old didnβt like it so much; he thought it needed less cream and a little bit of ketchup. Thought you might like to know that in case you wanted to update your recipe. π
Marci
Thanks so much for your feedback!! π Please let your 3YO know I will take his thoughts under consideration!!! (Future food bloggerβ¦.??)
I made this and it was yummy !
I feed two growing teenage boys (aka bottomless Pits) and my fiancΓ© kind of a picky guyβ¦ Was liked by all and myself as well β¦ I had to double it to feed everyone and my sauce didnβt thicken the way I wished but still really good ! No used the full fat cream and served it over farfalle.
CHALLENGE: so I have a lot of leftover chicken and a pretty thin sauce β¦ Need leftover ideas asap !!!! Thanks !!!
I was thinking tonight that the sauce might be pretty good if you used it to cook rice and then serve the chicken over.
rice is a great idea for most leftovers β¦pretty much my go to item but my youngest doesnβt love rice so I baked some large red bliss potatoes and cubed the chicken and served it over the open face potatoes with the sauce over
Mmmmm hmmmm!!!!
Iβm so glad you enjoyed it Cheryl! Thanks so much for letting me know!! π
This looks amazing! Cream is hard to replaceβ I am lactose intolerant, and cream is the worst on my stomach! Do you think cashew cream or coconut cream would make a good replacement in this recipe?
Hi Michelle! Iβm so sorry but Iβm not sure! π I wish I could help!!
Hey Nagi
Hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed this for our dinner tonight β the flavour was lovely. I made mashed potato (have been craving for soo long) and steamed beans and carrots. Wow!
I also made a double batch of your Chinese chicken and corn Soup β my son has just had spinal surgery and is now home after 5 days and I wanted to make him some food for the soul β what a better dish to serve to him!
βThanks Mum, that was so goodβ was his feedback.
So thank you, once again β we are all happy tonight ?
Is your son ok? Is he ok???
This was DELICIOUS. I didnβt have a drop of cream in my house, which is very unusual, so I ended up using 1% milk (yes, yes I did). It thickened up just enough for me so it worked just fine. But the flavor was amazing. I rarely get anything more than a βitβs goodβ from my husband, but even he enjoyed it a lot! This is a keeper. Thanks!
YAY!! So glad you loved it Nancy, thanks for letting me know! N x
This dish looks delicious, Nagi, and so does that salmon pasta! Hope youβre enjoying the New Year π
Thanks Sabrina! Hope 2016 is going FAB for you too!!! N x
Hi Nagi,
As far as Iβm concerned, all the dishes can be yellow and orangey as long as they taste as delicious as this one!!
I thought i made enough for lunch leftovers tomorrow but my fiance-who-was-not-so-hungry loved it so much it all disappeared before I could pack away any extra!
Thank you for the recipe and your wonderful blog π
Clearly you are a wonderful cook and your fiancΓ© has wonderful taste π Thank you for trying my recipes, so glad you enjoyed it!!! N x
Iβm so glad I tracked this down. I love the idea of cream and lemon and chicken, then add pasta, whatβs not to like? I donβt know that I have seen lowfat cream here, but no problem, Iβll use full fat. There really isnβt that much, right?If Iβm going to worry about the fat, I can skip the pasta and do a βgreenβ veg, although it doesnβt sound quite as good.
You are a better person than me if you go veggies instead of pasta with this Cathy!! π