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Say hello to your new favorite one skillet chicken dinner that’s topped with a lemon garlic butter cream sauce. I used thin chicken breasts, but this recipe would be delicious with boneless chicken thighs too!
Hello, hello to my new favorite creamy, garlicky, lemony, delicious skillet chicken!
You guys, I’ve gone completely head over heels for today’s meal.
As many of you have probably guessed, I love white meat chicken. It’s no dark meat for me. But the good news is that today’s chicken dinner is customizable to your chicken needs. Boneless skinless chicken thighs, sure, why not! *Applause* you’ve only just waited half of FOREVER for me to bring you something that could be made with something other than boneless skinless chicken breast.
This one skillet chicken recipe is my go-to chicken dinner of the week decade. Obvi, this recipe requires just one pan. This means we make the lemon garlic chicken and the sauce all from start to finish in one skillet. We’re talking tender chicken covered in a lemon garlic butter sauce that’s creamier than anything you’ve had before.
And if you love capers, don’t be afraid to throw some into the sauce right before you turn the knob to off and serve up this delicious lemon garlic chicken.
Should I just stop here? Are you on your way to the kitchen, cuz ya should be!
This was PHENOMENAL. I have 4 boys and they devoured it!!! Going on the regular rotation. Easy too!
One Skillet Lemon Garlic Chicken Video:
This recipe is somewhat, kinda sorta adapted and inspired by my Garlic Butter Salmon in Foil. Today’s Lemon Garlic Chicken recipe is inspired by the same sauce, only we add a splash of cream at the end and deck the whole thing out in an abundance of chopped fresh parsley.
Why you’ll love this family favorite recipe!
What makes this chicken dinner to the next level is chicken broth and a big splash of heavy cream. The sauce has a nice creamy consistency that would taste AMAZING tossed in some angel hair pasta. The pasta-abilities are ENDLESS. Seriously. Serve with buttered noodles and some air fryer broccoli for a delicious dinner.
How to make one skillet chicken with lemon garlic cream sauce
Not that you’ll actually have any leftovers because that sauce is actual dynamite. But if you do, you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat, toss in the microwave, and you’ve got a weeknight-friendly, protein-packed dinner on the table in no time!
Leftovers can also be kept in the freezer; I would just reheat them in the microwave slowly, stopping and stirring often so that the sauce doesn’t break!
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
- One Skillet Chicken with Fiesta Cream Sauce
- One Skillet Chicken with Garlicky Mushroom Cream Sauce
- One Skillet Chicken with Tomato Basil Cream Sauce
- Cheesy Baked BBQ Chicken
- Garlic Butter Tomato Baked Chicken with Mozzarella
One Skillet Chicken with Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ⅓ cup finely diced shallots or red onions
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley or basil
- Prepared broccolini for serving
Instructions
- Using a mallet, pound down the chicken breasts/thighs into ½ inch thickness. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken.
- In a 2 cup measuring cup or a small bowl, combine the chicken broth, lemon juice, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
- Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 375ºF.
- Heat the olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and allow it to brown on both sides for 2-3 minutes per side. Don't worry if the chicken isn't cooked thoroughly; we'll finish it in the oven. Remove the chicken to a plate.
- Reduce the flame to medium, and add the shallots to the skillet along with the chicken broth mixture. Using a whisk, scrape the bottom of the pan so all the brown bits are loosened. Kick the heat back up to medium-high and let sauce come to a simmer. Continue to cook the sauce for 10-15 minutes or until about ⅓ cup of the sauce remains.
- When the sauce has thickened, remove from the flame, add the butter and whisk until it melts completely. With the skillet off the flame, add the heavy cream, whisk to combine. Place the skillet back over the flame for just 30 seconds, DO NOT allow the sauce to boil.
- Remove from heat, add the chicken back into the pan and drizzle the sauce over the chicken.
- Place the skillet in the oven for 5-8 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked through.
- Top with chopped parsley or basil and serve warm with additional lemon slices. Serve with prepared rice, pasta, or sauteed veggies on the side.
Notes
- Use boneless skinless chicken breasts/thighs that about the same thickness. I pounded mine down to about ½ inch.
- After a few comments from readers, I’ve adjusted the amount of time it takes to reduce the sauce (step #5). Keep in mind, the key is to reduce it to ⅓ cup and that I can only provide an estimate. It may take you more or less time than what is actually listed.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
I think this is the household favorite, even my mom likes it and she is extremely picky when it comes to trying new food. The name is so long everyone has resorted to calling it “crack chicken”.
Wow i was gonna comment on the reduce heck perfection is perfection. Im happy.
This is my husband’s favourite chicken dish….I have made it many times during our pandemic lockdown. It is easy to make and tastes fabulous.
This was delicious!! Such a simple dinner with so much flavor and what an easy clean up! I made one variation, I floured the chicken first before frying it. Either way, this would be great. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us 🙂
Finally a sauce my kids didn’t complain about!!! This was fantastic!
LOVE this recipe! My fiancé & I have been making this about once a week to once every 2 weeks for years! This recipe needs to be in everyone’s weekly/monthly meal rotation. Super simple & DELICIOUS! Top 3 fav recipes of all time that I make (:
Just cooked this and it’s quite good! I personally next time will up the raw ingredients for the sauce. After reducing prior to the butter and cream addition, I was left with a bit more than the 1/3 cup she lists here, but when all said and done, it’s doesn’t leave enough for drizzle over each chicken breast, especially as leftovers (used two thick chicken breasts sliced into 4 thinner breasts as I don’t have a Mallot). Would recommend for the home cool overall, especially because it’s a pretty fast recipe in the grand scheme of things.
Loved it…thank you
I don’t have an oven-proof skillet. Can I make this recipe like your chicken, carmelized onion, thyme in cream sauce recipe, cooking the chicken completely and making the entire sauce in the pan on the stove?
I made this with chicken thighs skin on. I think we would have liked it better with skinless breasts. I pounded the boneless thighs to about 3/4″ thickness. I didn’t think 5 minutes in the pan and another 8 in the oven would be enough to cook chicken so I did about 8 minutes in the pan and another 10 in the oven. They were still just barely cooked. The sauce however is very good.
Nutrition facts
I make this recipe soooo much. I love it so much and so does my family. Sometimes I add capers but I always serve it over rice. 10/10 meal!
I love love love the sauce! I also use this sauce on my husband’s shrimp and grit cakes.
I changed mine up this way: I doubled the lemon (because I love sour), added a spoon of honey (to cut the acid of the sour) and a glug of dry white wine (because what is chicken without wine?) and . . . WOWZER!
I’m making this recipe again for dinner tonight. This is probably the 5th or 6th time. This dish is absolutely amazing. I have VERY picky eaters and they gobble it down. The only thing I change is that I triple all the ingredients except the chicken and the red pepper flakes. It takes significantly longer to reduce due to the volume, but it’s well worth the wait. The sauce is the best part of the meal, we make angel hair pasta or rice (sometimes both) and top it with the chicken and sauce.
Lovely flavors , I did my own take on this ,used veg stock because I was out of chicken stock .
Nailed it! I’m a chicken psycho so I overcooked it a tad but my fam didn’t notice. I added the capers and bam! They soaked the sauce up with a spoon! Broiled some asparagus which paired nicely. I was scared of the volume of sauce when I let it reduce, but it was perfect! Will make again!
So glad to hear it was enjoyed, Sara! And love that you added capers 🙂
Family loved this! Only problem- sauce never thickened at all. Was I supposed to use flour or corn starch?
Hi Tracy! No flour in this recipe, you needed to let the sauce reduce for longer than 10 minutes if it didn’t thicken. Hope that helps in case you decide to make it again 🙂
Delicious recipe and so easy to make! I substituted oat milk for cream and vegetable butter for dairy and it turned out so good. I forgot to take a picture.
So glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing your substitutes!
This is now a card night favorite with my besties! Adjusted a little by dicing the chicken, doubling the sauce and using egg noodles or penne. Been adding squash also since my garden has been abundant. Yum!! Thanks for this recipe!!
Yum! Sounds delish!