Easy Spicy Lemon Butter Chicken Recipe + Video

Name: Easy Spicy Lemon Butter Chicken Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts; 1/4 cup all purpose flour; 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder; 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice; 1 teaspoon lemon zest; 2 teaspoons minced garlic; 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes; 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder; 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (cut into 1 inch cubes); 1 tablespoon chopped parsley

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Make this tender and juicy Spicy Lemon Butter Chicken for a quick dinner. It comes together in under 30 minutes using pantry staples.

Spicy lemon butter chicken served on a plate.

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About Spicy Lemon Butter Chicken
Ingredients
How To Make Lemon Butter Chicken
Frequently Asked Questions
Variations
Serving Suggestions
Storage Suggestions
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Recipe Card

About Spicy Lemon Butter Chicken

Crisp, juicy, and tender chicken pieces dunked in the creamiest spicy lemon butter sauce ever – this Spicy Lemon Butter Chicken will surely satisfy your taste buds.

This one-pot chicken dish is super easy to cook using simple ingredients and makes for a great lunch or dinner.

I have pan-fried the coated chicken breasts, but you can definitely bake them in an oven or air fry them for a healthier take.

This lemon butter chicken recipe can be easily doubled or tripled per your requirement. Just make sure to fry the chicken in batches.

If you like chicken, here are some more recipes you will love

Ingredients

Chicken – I used boneless skinless chicken breasts to make this recipe, but you can use chicken thighs too. Chicken tenders are also a great option.

Consider that the cooking time will differ, as chicken thighs take longer than chicken breasts.

If you like crispy skin on the chicken, then you can leave the skin on too.

To Coat The Chicken

You will need all-purpose flour, grated parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Use good quality extra virgin olive oil to pan-fry the chicken. You can use any vegetable oil if you do not have olive oil.

For The Sauce

The crispy fried chicken is topped with a delectable sauce made using lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, salt, black pepper powder, cold unsalted butter, and fresh parsley.

You can replace lemon juice and lemon zest with orange juice and orange zest for a tase change.

There are a lot of Italian seasonings available in the market, but if you can’t find them, you can use a combination of red chili flakes, dried basil, oregano, and black pepper.

You can use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic, but fresh garlic’s taste is hard to match.

Add some heavy cream to the recipe to make the sauce creamier and richer.

How To Make Lemon Butter Chicken

Coat The Chicken

Rinse 4 boneless chicken breasts with water and pat them dry using paper tissues.

Pound them using a meat pounder until they are quite thin.

Mix

¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper powder

in a large shallow bowl.

Flour, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper mixed in a shallow bowl.

Dredge the chicken breast in the flour mixture from both sides.

Pan Fry The Chicken

Heat 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil in a 9-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Shake the chicken breasts to remove the extra flour coating and line them in the hot skillet in a single layer.

Fry for 4-5 minutes without disturbing and then flip the chicken breast using a pair of tongs.

Fry for another 3-4 minutes until golden brown from the other side as well.

Remove the fried chicken breasts to a plate and cover the plate with a lid.

Add the remaining oil to the pan and cook the other breasts as well.

Make The Sauce

Add

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper powder

to the same pan in which we cooked the chicken and stir well to combine.

All the flavors are in the bits of chicken sticking to the bottom of the pan in which we fried it. We don’t want to lose those flavors.

Cook on medium heat until the sauce is reduced to ⅓rd (3-4 minutes), stirring frequently.

Add 6 tablespoon cold unsalted butter (cut into 1-inch cubes) to the pan and cook until everything comes together (1-2 minutes), stirring frequently.

Serve The Chicken

Transfer the cooked chicken breast to the serving plates.

Fried chicken transferred to a serving plate.

Pour the creamy lemon butter sauce over the chicken. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and a few lemon slices, and serve hot.

Ready spicy lemon butter chicken garnished with parsley.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is it important to pound the chicken?

No matter how you cook a chicken breast, one step is very important: pound the chicken. Chicken pieces vary in thickness, and pounding helps get them to an even thickness, so they cook evenly.

Pounding also tenderizes the chicken, which results in a tender and juicy cooked chicken.

Can I make the chicken without the flour crust?

If you want a healthier alternative, season the boneless chicken breast with salt, pepper, and some Italian seasoning, then pan-fry the chicken from both sides. Once done, pour the sauce over it and enjoy it.

Can I bake the chicken instead of frying it?

Preheat the oven to 360 degrees f (180 degrees c). Arrange the flour-coated chicken on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spray some olive oil and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked well.

Variations

Gluten-Free – If you want a gluten-free alternative, use gluten-free flour instead of all-purpose flour.

You can also avoid coating the chicken with all-purpose flour. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the chicken and grill it until cooked. Dunk this grilled chicken in the lemon butter sauce, and your gluten-free chicken is ready to be served.

With Vegetables – Vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli, green beans, spinach, bok choy, and zucchini go well with this lemon butter sauce. Cook the veggies in the same pan after cooking the chicken.

Saucy – Add some chicken broth to the creamy sauce to make your lemon chicken a little saucy.

The flavors from the chicken broth complement the lemon sauce well and make this dish even more delicious. To thicken the sauce, add some cornstarch slurry and cook until the sauce is thick.

Others – Add a splash of white wine to the sauce. You can also add some smoked paprika for a smoky flavor to the sauce.

Serving Suggestions

It is a perfect dish for the whole family for busy weeknights.

This lemony chicken tastes great on its own, but you can also serve some refreshing salads on the side, such as Broccoli Apple Salad, and Greek Salad, or just some grilled vegetables such as asparagus, carrots, beans, etc.

You can also serve some mashed potatoes, melting potatoes, or even a cilantro lime potato salad on the side if serving for your brunch.

Serve it on a bed of plain steamed rice or herbed rice. The buttery sauce tastes really well with the same. It even tastes great with pasta or cauliflower rice.

You can also serve some spaghetti or linguine by the side.

Storage Suggestions

If you have leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container for about a day or 2 in the refrigerator.

You can use the leftover chicken to make a zesty chicken salad the next day.

You can pound and coat the chicken with the flour mixture and refrigerate it until you want to prepare it. Making the sauce is really easy and hardly takes any time. When your chicken gets pan-fried, you can prepare the sauce.