Chicken Breasts With Lemon
Updated November 26, 2023
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cybelle Tondu.
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
½ cup flour for dredging
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, about 6 ounces each
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup chicken broth, fresh or canned
2 tablespoons butter
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
16 grams carbs; 140 milligrams cholesterol; 396 calories; 8 grams monosaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 18 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 586 milligrams sodium; 41 grams protein; 1 gram sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Season flour with salt and pepper, and dredge the chicken all over. Remove the excess flour.
- Step 2
Heat the oil in a heavy skillet large enough to hold the chicken pieces in one layer. Add chicken and cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Step 3
Flip the chicken and cook for 5 minutes more, or until cooked through. Carefully remove the oil from the skillet, leaving the chicken. Discard the oil.
- Step 4
Add the thyme, shallots and garlic, and cook for about a minute. Do not burn the garlic. Add the lemon rind, the lemon juice and the broth.
- Step 5
Scrape the skillet to dissolve the brown particles that cling to the bottom. Add the butter, and cook for 3 minutes longer. Serve immediately.
Private Notes
Comments
This looks really good, but I'm confused about something. After you brown the chicken on both sides, you discard the oil, add the broth, etc., how long do you continue to cook the chicken? It would have to be at least half an hour. I want to cook this. Any advice?
I like to brown the chicken and then remove from the pan. Pour off any excess oil and then cook the shallot and garlic and thyme leaves briefly and then add the liquid (wine, chicken broth) along with the lemon zest and juice. After it simmers for a few minutes to thicken a little add the butter to the sauce and return chicken to pan to finish cooking (five minutes)
Chris - I cooked as indicated, 5 mins one side (Step 2), flipped and cooked another 5 mins (Step 3), cooked another minute with thyme, shallots and garlic (Step 4) and finally an additional 3 mins (Step 5). Came out perfect!
Followed the recipe. This is one of the most boring chicken recipes I have made in years. Does not mention cooking the chicken to 165 degrees...
On vacation in Denmark in a friend’s sparsely-equiped kitchen- cooked this up according to the recipe except for slicing the chicken breasts lengthwise as many have noted so they would be of a thinness that would cook nicely-served with fluffy jasmine rice and sauteed green beans -delish !
If your sauce ends up too salty, try adding a dash of sugar to even it out.