Chicken breast recipes can be so dull – time to step it up! Cream and lemon are a luscious combination and is sensational served over golden crispy chicken. A quick and easy 10 minute recipe with few ingredients, 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 Instagram feed the other day, and all I could think was “it’s so yellow and orangey.” I shared this observation with my mother, and her immediate response was “Well, of course. You post so many cheesy bread, potatoes and meat. Everything you like is yellow and brown. Even Dozer is yellow.” (Imagine this with a Japanese accent and finished with a snort of laughter).
I had no smart comeback for that. Because it’s completely true. 😂
So one of my (many) New Years’ resolutions will be (yet again) to post more green foods on RecipeTin Eats.
But for now – 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! 🙌🏻
What you need for creamy lemon chicken breast
Chicken breast – or boneless skinless thigh
Chicken broth/stock – gives the sauce flavour (it’s pretty dull without it)
Cream and lemon – because we’re making a creamy lemon sauce
Parmesan – for umami AND to help thicken the sauce
Mustard – sauce thickening and extra flavour/tang
Flour – to dust chicken (gives it a crust that the sauce wants to cling to, optional)
Garlic – because garlic goes in 99% of my savoury foods
Butter – because butter makes everything better
How to make creamy lemon chicken breast
You’re 10 minutes away from having this for dinner!
Here’s 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.
There’s 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 wouldn’t go astray! If you’re 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!).
– 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 – 2 garlic clove, minced
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth/stock
- 3/4 cup cream , heavy/thickened (Note 2)
- 3 – 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 – 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 I’m currently housesitting while I’m in between houses – when he gets fed up following me up and down the stairs, he parks himself halfway!!
This was absolutely delicious!
I cooked it for a company workshop lunch (29 people), and served it with the “”dump n bake” fried rice, and some frozen winter veggies. Everyone loved it, , and it was So simple to make! Outstanding!
The flavour in this dish is absolutely amazing!
I will definitely be cooking this again.
For a few years now we have been looking for a recipe to replicate something we had a restaurant. Well this is it. The flavours are fantastic. We add some freshly cut avocado and asparagus to it and it is perfect. This is now on our rotation.
So quick and so tasty.
Will definitely be making this regularly.
Family RAVED over this and it was so quick and easy!
Thank you Nagi!
Could I add mushrooms to this dish?
Delicious! It’s a keeper!
Loved it and easy to make
Your recipes are always perfect! Spot on!! I’ve used so many of them and thank you! This recipe, like all the others was fabulous as written.
I made this meal tonight, and it was absolutely DELICIOUS! It’s so easy to make and really tasty. Another winner, thank you Nagi
I did exactly that Nagi said not to – I bot the “sandy-like” parmesan that won’t melt but turned out to be quite nice to have those grainy cheese around the tongue. Very easy weekday dinner will definitely make it again, this time with the correct parmesan cheese! 🙂
Always use high quality parmesan when making a good cream sauce. Put it in last and turn off the heat. Let it rest then serve it.
Beautiful! As I can’t tolerate heavy cream, I used the leftover flour as the first ingredient of the sauce with light cream which was perfect. (Reheats beautifully.)
Great recipe, fast and delish!
Absolutely fabulous!! So, I kind of did a hybrid of your chicken parm and this recipe. Panko and fried the chicken like the parm then followed the rest of this recipe. When I served the chicken I cut in slices and laid on top of saute spinach. Ladled the sauce over so all the sauce shimmied down the sliced chicken. Family LOVED it. I just discovered your sight and have tried 4 recipes and all have been so fabulous. Thank you and keep up the wonderful recipes!!
Could this be made ahead and reheated? .
FYI, I noticed when I changed the number of servings the pounds changed but not quantity of breasts. Stayed at 2 large breasts for all different quantities.
My husband is not a fan of boring chicken. Well this recipe has changed his mind! While it was cooking he commented several times how good is smelled. And then after eating just a few bites he declared this recipe is a keeper! And to think I just wanted to order in pizza 😉 Thanks Nagi!
I love this recipe!!😋 I use half of the sauce for 2 people, try to save the rest for another night, but have trouble restraining myself from eating it by the spoonful before it makes it to the fridge! So very yummy!
My 13 year old son is so picky and nothing I cook compares to his grandmother’s cooking, until I made this recipe!! He asks me to cook it weekly. This was a home run with my entire family. All of your recipes that I’ve tried so far are delicious! Thank you Nagi!
This was really good with pasta. AND easy to make!
This recipe is now a family favorite! I do add sweet peppers and a handful of frozen peas to the sauce so I have a complete meal in a bowl! It’s great with pasta or rice!