Garlic Lemon Chicken

These basic instructions to make garlic lemon chicken will become your new favorite chicken dish. This creation will transform a  - shall we say dull - chicken breast into a savory, flavorful eating experience with some heat and tanginess that’s simply addictive. I’m not kidding. It’s amazing. 

Jump to:

• 🧾 Ingredients
• 🥘 How to make the chicken
• 📝 Recipe

When I was making my garlic lemon chicken recipe the other night, I used thinly sliced chicken breasts. They very neatly absorbed the flavor from the sauce, and because they are thinly sliced, they cooked in just a few minutes. 

You can use regular chicken breast and adjust the cooking time (longer). Regular chicken breast will be less savory, though, as there is much more meat per the amount of sauce. And regular chicken breasts can be a little tricky to cook perfectly, as they can very quickly turn dry. The nearly fail-safe chicken cut to use would be skinless, boneless chicken thighs. It’s normally my go-to cut when making anything chicken. 

But the other day, when my brain suddenly somehow told me to make this dish, thinly sliced chicken breast was on sale at my local grocery store, so I decided to try my recipe with this cut.

I also picked up a bunch of Italian flat leaf parsley (my herb garden is still mostly “hibernating”). The rest of the ingredients are in my pantry. 

Fresh lemon juice with garlic. Capers and a couple anchovy fillets melted into the olive oil. Some hot chili pepper. Then finish with some butter to make it magic. Can you taste it yet? Oh yeah, this is chicken on steroids. 

So let’s get started: wash your hands, pat dry the chicken with a paper towel, and add salt and pepper. Wash your hands again 🤓

🧾 Ingredients

• Thin cut chicken breast
• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Capers
• Anchovy filets
• Hot pepper flakes
• Butter
• Lemon juice
• Italian flat leaf parsley
• Kosher salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper

See the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and their measurements.

🥘 How to make the chicken

In a skillet (I used my 20-year-old Lodge pan), over medium heat, heat the olive oil.

Add garlic, capers, anchovies, and hot pepper flakes. Make sure the oil is not too hot, so it doesn’t burn the garlic (not a good thing).

After about 5 minutes, the anchovies will have nearly disappeared (broken down) and all the other ingredients will have neatly added their flavors to the olive oil. You can go ahead and taste...be careful, though, it’s going to be hot. 

⭐ Tip: Eating an anchovy fillet by itself can be a pretty daunting task (aka salty, strong tasting), but if you let them cook in a sauce or olive oil, they basically just disappear and add a ton of flavor (umami) to your dish. Even if you think you don’t like anchovies, give them a try. You’ll surprise yourself. 

Next, you'll add the chicken and cook on both sides until done. Mine only took about three minutes per side due to their thinness (chicken breasts will take longer). Remove chicken and set aside. 

Add butter to the hot oil and scrape all the bits and pieces off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Heaven starts to build right there, in front of you, in your pan.

Within less than a minute, you can add the fresh lemon juice. Now is the perfect time to taste again. Make sure you like the balance. There are a lot of strong-flavored ingredients in here, so make sure none of them wants to be in the front of your taste buds alone. Balance is the key here. Maybe it needs a little more lemon juice, or maybe butter. Maybe now you feel that you’d like it spicier. No problem, add more hot pepper flakes.

You know where I’m going with this. That’s when you are cooking! You are the cook, this recipe is just a guideline. Make it yours. 

⭐ Note: If you prefer using anchovy paste from a tube instead of fillets, ½ teaspoon anchovy paste equals about one anchovy fillet. 

Once the sauce it’s done, you can put the cooked chicken back in the pan for a minute, just to warm it up before serving. 

Serve on a warm plate, garnish with some flat leaf Italian parsley and a side of your choice. That night, I quickly whipped up some super simple mashed potatoes. Another delicious way to serve this dish is with your favorite salad and a nice French baguette to mop up the sauce. 

Please try this creation and let me know how much you liked it. And what changes you made. And what chicken cut you used. 

Did you make this Garlic Lemon Chicken recipe? Let us know in the comments below!

📝 Recipe

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