This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Our delicious Creamy Lemon Chicken has tender chicken smothered in a creamy lemon, thyme, and shallot sauce.
Add this Creamy Lemon Chicken recipe to your must-try list this week! It’s one of those recipes that would be perfect for a weekend dinner party – but it is easy enough you could make it for dinner during the week.
How do you make Creamy Lemon Chicken?
You can make Creamy Lemon Chicken with either chicken breasts or chicken thighs – or a combination of both as we did.
You’ll start by butterflying the chicken – see our cooking lesson here – so the chicken is flat and uniform in thickness.
Sprinkle the butterflied chicken with seasoned flour and let it rest to allow the flour to absorb any excess moisture before frying.
While the chicken rests, cook pasta for serving with your Creamy Lemon Chicken. Also prepare and measure out the rest of the ingredients for the lemony-thyme cream sauce.
Now – you’re ready to cook! Saute the chicken for about two minutes on each side – just to start a little bit of browning. (The chicken will finish cooking in the sauce.)
Cook up a simple sauce by sauteing shallots and lemon zest in oil. Then add white wine and lemon juice to deglaze the pan, plus fresh thyme. Add chicken stock and simmer until reduced.
Remove the sprigs of thyme from the sauce, and nestle the pieces of chicken into the sauce to finish cooking. Serve over the cooked pasta.
What do I serve with Creamy Lemon Pasta?
Here are some delicious side dish options:
- Green Beans with Tarragon
- Perfect Asparagus
- Spring mix topped with Favorite Vinaigrette
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Creamy Lemon Chicken
Our delicious Creamy Lemon Chicken has tender chicken smothered in a creamy lemon, thyme, and shallot sauce.
Ingredients
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts and thighs (any one or the other or a combination)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 pound linguine or fettuccini
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 cup shallots, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup white wine, such as chardonnay
2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 small bunch fresh thyme (about 12 stems)
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream (half pint)
3 tablespoons cold butter
Lemon slices, for garnish
Instructions
- Butterfly chicken to even out the thickness. Does not need to be thin, just even thickness. Lay chicken out onto a platter or your cutting board and sprinkle both sides with the kosher salt.
- Mix flour, pepper and paprika and place in a small sieve and using a spoon, tap the side of the sieve to sprinkle the flour mixture over both sides of the chicken. Then let the chicken sit untouched at room temperature while you prepare the other ingredients, at least 30 minutes.
- Place a pot of salted water on to boil and cook the pasta to al dente. Drain and hold for serving.
- While pasta is cooking, in a large non-stick saute pan over medium high heat, place two tablespoons of the olive oil and once hot, add the chicken and only cook two minutes per side. Remove chicken and hold. The chicken will not be fully cooked yet.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining oil, shallots and zest and cook for two minutes.
- Increase heat to medium high and add wine, lemon juice and fresh thyme sprigs.
- Cook to evaporate all liquid, about two minutes then add the chicken stock.
- Reduce the stock down to about ¼ cup, about more five minutes.
- Remove and discard thyme sprigs then add cream, the partially cooked chicken (including any juices from the dish) and cook on medium heat to thicken the sauce slightly and to finish cooking the chicken, about another five minutes. Turn chicken pieces over a few times as you cook to get them coated in the sauce. Do not overcook the chicken.
- Remove chicken to a serving platter and off heat, stir in the cold butter to thicken the pan sauce further.
- Cover the cooked chicken with the pan sauce and serve the pasta in a separate bowl.
- Garnish with lemon slices.
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
You’re recipe Creamy Lemon Chicken – I can’t find on your website how to butterfly a chicken breast. Can you email
me the steps on how to do this, please? I have tried many of your recipes I’ve received via email. My husband and I
love them all! Thank you! 🙂
Hi Terri – Here is the link to the post: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/how-to-butterfly-a-chicken-breast/ – it has photos to show you the steps so I can’t really email that to you.
Also – anytime you want to find a topic on our site, just type in the topic in the search bar and press enter.
The recipe looks good. However, I noticed with amusement that on the pinterest post it’s described as a ‘vegetarian’ recipe. Maybe you cloned the description from another recipe??
Hi Donna – Pinterest adds that designation on their end – and obviously made a mistake!