Easy Lemon Pepper Chicken with Caramelized Lemons — If you like lemons you’re going to love this very lemony LEMON chicken!! Easy, healthy, ready in 20 minutes, and bursting with bold lemon flavor!!
Skillet Lemon Pepper Chicken Recipe
My daughter loves lemon anything and since I can never go wrong with a chicken dinner, I made this easy lemon chicken. It’s easy, healthy, ready in 20 minutes, and exploding with bold lemon flavor.
If you like very lemony dishes, this one is for you because lemon is incorporated a few ways. There’s lemon pepper seasoning and I caramelized lemon slices. As they caramelize, the lemon slices release lemon juice into a sauce that’s poured over the chicken.
I finished the chicken with fresh parsley and thyme, which has lemon undertones and complements the chicken perfectly. You can serve the lemon pepper chicken with anything from salads to pasta to potatoes depending on what you enjoy.
What’s in Lemon Pepper Chicken?
This easy lemon chicken recipe has a short ingredients list:
- All-purpose flour
- Salt and pepper
- Chicken breasts
- Unsalted butter
- Olive oil
- Lemon pepper seasoning
- Lemon slices
- Honey
- Fresh parsley
- Fresh thyme
How to Make Lemon Pepper Chicken
Add the chicken, salt, pepper, and flour to a zip-top bag. Seal and shake to coat. Add the oil and butter to a large skillet and cook the chicken until done.
Remove the cooked chicken to a plate, then add the lemon slices and honey and cook until as caramelized as desired. Pour the sauce and lemon slices over the chicken, sprinkle with fresh herbs, and serve.
Can I Eat the Lemons?
Of course! I prefer squeezing the caramelized lemons to get out all the juice and don’t actually eat the flesh, but you technically can eat the whole lemon slice if desired.
Can I Grill the Chicken?
If you’re craving grilled chicken, I recommend following my Grilled Lemon Chicken recipe instead. I’ve tested that recipe many times and know for sure it works on the grill!
Tips for Making Skillet Lemon Chicken
If your skillet is not big enough to hold all the chicken at once, cook it in batches, adding butter and oil as necessary.
I added about 1/4 cup honey to the sauce, but sweeten it to taste depending on how sour your lemons are and your tolerance for puckering up.
The lemon pepper seasoning chicken is best warm and fresh, but extra will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can enjoy it as is, or slice it up to use on salads, sandwiches, wraps, and more!
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Easy Lemon Chicken with Caramelized Lemons
If you like lemons, you're going to love this very lemony lemon pepper chicken! Easy, healthy, ready in 20 minutes, and bursting with flavor!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- about 1.25 to 1.50 pounds thin-sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts (if your breasts are not thin-sliced, I recommend pounding and flattening them to about 1/2-inch thick)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, or as needed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, or as needed
- 2 teaspoons lemon pepper seasoning (I used a no-salt variety)
- about 16 lemon slices, each about 1/4-inch thick (from about 2 medium lemons)
- about 1/4 cup honey, or to taste
- 2 teaspoons Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
- To a gallon-sized ziptop bag, add the flour, salt, pepper, chicken, seal, and shake to coat chicken evenly.
- To a large skillet, add the butter, oil, and heat over medium-high heat to melt the butter.
- Add the chicken, evenly sprinkle with lemon pepper, and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on the first side. Flip, and cook about 2 to 3 minutes on the second side, or until lightly golden browned and chicken is cooked through. If your skillet is not big enough to hold all the chicken at once, cook in batches, adding butter and oil as necessary. Place all cooked chicken on a large serving platter, cover with foil to keep warm; set aside.
- Turn the heat to medium-low and add the lemon slices to the skillet in an even, flat layer.
- Drizzle with 1 to 2 tablespoons honey. Cook for about 3 minutes per side, or until as caramelized as desired. After flipping, add another 1 to 2 tablespoons honey, or to taste. If necessary while the lemons are caramelizing, add a bit more oil to help the caramelization process along.
- Taste sauce for seasoning balance and add additional honey, salt, pepper, etc. as desired.
- Pour sauce and lemon slices over the chicken, evenly sprinkle with parsley, thyme, and serve immediately.
Notes
Storage: Chicken is best warm and fresh but extra will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 504Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 160mgSodium: 842mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 1gSugar: 18gProtein: 54g
More Easy Chicken Dinners:
My Favorite Easy Chicken Recipes are ALL HERE
One-Pan Honey Lemon Chicken and Roasted Potatoes — Juicy chicken with a honey lemon glaze that’s tangy-sweet and so good! Healthy, fast, so easy, and cleanup is a breeze!
Honey Lemon Chicken with Angel Hair Pasta – Easy, ready in 20 minutes, and you’ll love the tangy-sweet flavor! A healthy weeknight dinner for those busy nights!
One-Skillet Orange Chicken with Vegetables – Easy, ready in 15 minutes, healthy (no breading, no frying), and the orange flavor just pops! Perfect for busy weeknights, a family favorite, and you’ll make this over and over!
Sweet and Tangy Jerk Chicken with Caramelized Pineapple and Mango – Easy and ready in 15 minutes! Dinner that tastes like a tropical vacation is a guaranteed hit!
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken — The easiest orange chicken ever because your slow cooker does all the work! Super juicy, tender, and coated with a sweet-yet-tangy orange glaze that’s irresistible!
Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken with Pineapple — Tender chicken with lots of pineapple makes you feel like you’re eating dinner on a Hawaiian vacation without leaving home! Ridiculously easy, packed with flavor, and a hit with everyone!!
15-Minute Sheet Pan Teriyaki Chicken and Pineapple — Fast, EASY, and loaded with fabulous teriyaki flavor! Tender chicken, juicy pineapple, and crisp-tender veggies make make for a DELISH one-pan meal with zero cleanup.
I wasn’t sure if you were supposed to eat the lemons but I did –
Good
Wow you are brave! I don’t eat them, too intense for me, but I am glad they were good!
I just made this and the lemon sauce is very intense. The chicken is crispy from the flour and I left the skin on and I’m afraid the sauce will diminish the crispiness. I think it best to just put the lemons with very little sauce so its not soggy chicken.
Yes the sauce is definitely intense in this dish. Thanks for trying the recipe.
Very nice and so easy to do. I found this recipe at 10:00am and was eating a nice meal at 12 noon. It was really delicious.
This chicken looks so unbelievably delicious! Love your photos!
Thank you girl :) That means SO much coming from you!
This is such a pretty dish, I love the thyme and caramelized lemons!
Thanks, Laura!
Seriously gorgeous dish here Averie! Those lemons are making my mouth water! Pinned!
Thanks for pinning Trish :)
Carmelized lemons are now on my list of things to try! I have never had them. Lemon chicken is always a hit with my kids too.
Hi Averie… I read on one of your blogs tonight while I was printing off some more of your recipes to make… “That it doesn’t take rocket science to make your recipes” … Averie that is why I love your blog so much & I love the recipes… So please keep on doing what your doing because I read your blog every night that I can… To me you have one of the best blogs out there ….
Thanks for the compliments and your support and glad you’re enjoying the recipes!
This is absolutely stunning! Those lemons look to die for.
Thank you my friend!
omg the caramelized lemons look SO good, love love love to eat them like that!!! if you ever caramelize them again (I’m sure you will) throw them into an arugula salad with strawberries and goat cheese, it’s so good :)
Oh that sounds like a dream salad!
OMG looks delish…i was looking for a dish to serve for my parent’s anniversary party next month and this looks like a winner! Winner Winner Chicken dinner :)
This looks so good and I don’t even eat chicken! I do love lemon though and I bet this would be great on tofu….grilled, of course!
I have never grilled tofu! I would think it would stick to the grates and just…crumble apart into nothing. Now you have me curious!
Ooh, I can almost taste it through the screen!
This dish looks so beautiful…I’m with your daughter lemons are the best. I can’t wait to try this.
Chicken is my go-to. I love chicken and those caramelized lemons wow!! I bet they’re amazing, I sometimes grill them for Caesar salad but I’ve never cooked them this way!
Thyme pairs so perfectly with lemon, I can’t wait to try this!!
It’s VERY lemony! My daughter is a lemon freak and she loved it :) I don’t have a grill (I know, I know – no space!) but I bet grilled lemons are amazing!
I’ve never caramelized lemons before but I must try it–the sauce looks amazing and the recipe is quick and easy! This gives me another great idea for some weekend cooking.
The flavor is really good when you caramelize them and really intense :) but then again, lemons are always intense! If you try this, LMK!