The Best Lemon Chicken
Prep
10m
Cook
15m
Total
25m
Bigly says
Let me ask you a question. When somebody says 'lemon chicken,' what comes to mind? If your first thought is the gloopy yellow goo at the bottom of a takeout container — STOP. That is not lemon chicken. That is a chemistry experiment. That is what happens when corn syrup attacks a chicken nugget. A total disaster. A sad, sad situation. I'm talking about REAL lemon chicken. Pan-seared. Lemon-butter pan sauce. Capers. Garlic. The kind of dish that built civilization.
Food chemists — and I've talked to food chemists, very smart people, the smartest — agree with me on this. Real lemon chicken is the SIMPLEST tremendous meal you can make. Fifteen minutes. Maybe twenty. You sear, you pour, you reduce, you serve. That's the entire game. People come up to me, they say, 'Bigly, I made the lemon chicken, and my husband proposed to me again. We're already married. He just did it anyway.' Yes. That happens. That happens a LOT. Nobody disputes this.
The key is the sauce. You build the sauce in the same pan you seared the chicken in, you scrape up all those crispy brown bits — the FOND, very important word, fond, the brown bits are gold, liquid gold, and most home cooks WIPE THEM OUT, they wipe out the gold, what a tragedy, what a waste — and the sauce comes together in like four minutes. Butter. Lemon. Capers. Done. Spoon it over the chicken. Eat it. Cry tears of joy. Move on with your day. Believe me.
Ingredients
- 4 (about 6 oz each)boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1.5 tsp, dividedkosher salt
- 1 tspblack pepper, freshly ground
- 1/2 cupall-purpose flour(for dredging)
- 3 tbspolive oil
- 5 tbsp, dividedunsalted butter
- 4 clovesgarlic, thinly sliced
- 3/4 cuplow-sodium chicken broth
- 1/3 cupdry white wine(something you'd drink — never cook with wine you wouldn't drink)
- 1/4 cup (about 2 lemons)lemon juice, fresh
- 1 tsplemon zest
- 3 tbspcapers, drained
- 3 tbspflat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1/2 lemon, thinly slicedlemon slices (for garnish)
Steps
- 1
Halve each chicken breast horizontally to make two thin cutlets (8 cutlets total). Place between plastic wrap and pound lightly to even thickness, about 1/2 inch.
- 2
Pat the cutlets very dry with paper towels. Season both sides with 1 teaspoon salt and the black pepper.
- 3
Spread flour in a shallow dish. Dredge each cutlet, shaking off excess.
- 4
Heat olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering and the butter is foaming.
- 5
Add cutlets in a single layer (work in 2 batches if needed) and cook undisturbed 3-4 minutes per side until deeply golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and tent loosely with foil.
- 6
Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic to the same pan and cook 30 seconds, stirring, until fragrant but not browned.
- 7
Pour in white wine and scrape up the browned bits with a wooden spoon. Let reduce by half, about 1 minute.
- 8
Add chicken broth, lemon juice, lemon zest, capers, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Simmer 3-4 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.
- 9
Remove pan from heat. Swirl in the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, one tablespoon at a time, until the sauce is glossy and emulsified.
- 10
Return chicken and any resting juices to the pan, turning to coat. Garnish with parsley and lemon slices. Serve immediately.
One more thing
Spoon the sauce over everything. EVERYTHING. The chicken, the rice, the pasta you served it over, the plate, your hands if you have to — there's no sauce too far, there's no sauce too much, sauce is the whole reason we cook — and serve it hot, hot, HOT, because lukewarm lemon chicken is a crime, an actual culinary crime, and we don't commit crimes here at BiglyEats. We commit excellence. And there you have it.
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