This quick and simple Lemon Pepper Chicken recipe is an easy 30 minute dinner bursting with flavor! Juicy chicken breasts are tenderized, pan fried, and topped with a zesty lemon butter garlic sauce!
Easy Lemon Pepper Chicken Recipe
We are always looking for new ways to serve chicken breasts and this Lemon Pepper Chicken is our new favorite easy dinner! There’s just something magical about the combination of freshly squeezed lemon juice, garlic and bold lemon pepper seasoning that bring out all of the best flavors in chicken.
Besides the crave-worthy flavors at play here, the consistency of this chicken is also what makes it remarkable. The chicken is first sliced in half and tenderized, then coated with flour and lemon pepper before being sizzled to perfection in a hot, buttery skillet.
Towards the end of cooking, butter, chicken broth, garlic, and lemon juice are added to the skillet to make an incredibly savory sauce. The end result is a crispy and juicy piece of chicken dripping in a flavor packed lemon garlic sauce. I promise you there will be no leftovers when you make this Lemon Pepper Chicken!
If you like this easy chicken breast recipe, make sure to check out our favorite Crispy Chicken Piccata! It’s a similar dish, but with salty capers added!
What Is Lemon Pepper Seasoning?
Lemon pepper seasoning is a dried seasoning made from lemon zest, black pepper and salt. It is a common seasoning blend sold in most grocery stores in the spice aisle. Some lemon pepper seasoning will have citric acid added to it instead of real lemon. If possible, I recommend using one with real lemon listed in the ingredients instead. It will have better flavor!
You can also create your own Lemon Pepper Seasoning by combining 2 tablespoons dried lemon zest, 1 tablespoon black pepper and 1 tablespoon salt.
Ingredients Needed
You only need a handful of ingredients to make this easy chicken dish:
- Chicken – For this recipe, be sure to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You can use frozen ones, but they’ll need to be fully thawed prior to cooking.
- Lemon Pepper – Any brand will do the trick, but I recommend finding one that uses real lemon instead of citric acid. You can also make your own, I shared the recipe above!
- Staple Ingredients: Salt, Flour, Olive Oil, and Butter
- Garlic – Use fresh garlic, not pre-minced or paste garlic!
- Lemon Juice – It’s VERY important to use freshly squeezed lemon juice, not the bottled junk.
- Chicken Broth – Just like with the butter, you can choose to use unsalted or regular chicken broth. Either will work. You can also use a dry white wine instead of broth.
How to Make Lemon Pepper Chicken
This recipe moves quickly, so have your ingredients ready to go!
Slice and pound the chicken. Slice chicken breasts in half to make two thin pieces of chicken. Place chicken on a cutting board and using a meat tenderizer pound chicken breast on both sides.
Season and coat the chicken. Season chicken on both sides with lemon pepper and salt. Then coat chicken in flour and set aside.
Prepare the skillet. In a medium size skillet, add olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat.
Cook the chicken. Add chicken and cook until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes, flip and repeat. Cook until chicken is cooked through and reaches 165°F. Remove chicken and place on a serving platter.
Add the final ingredients. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter, garlic, lemon juice and chicken broth to the skillet.
Simmer. Stir and simmer for 3-5 minutes, just until it starts to get slightly brown. Remove from heat and pour over the chicken breast.
Enjoy! Garnish with lemon wedges and fresh parsley and serve immediately!
Tips for the Best Lemon Pepper Chicken
- Replace the tenderizer. I recommend using a meat tenderizer, but if you don’t have one, you could try using a rolling pin, a mallet, or even a wine bottle.
- Make sure to tenderize the chicken. Tenderizing the chicken is optional, but it does make a difference to the finished dish! The best part about this chicken is the thin piece of pan fried chicken to soak up all that sauce!
- Use bone broth. I used chicken bone broth because it adds so much more flavor! Don’t have any broth? Feel free to use equal parts of a dry white wine (like a Sauvignon Blanc).
- Tame the garlic. If you’re not a person that really loves garlic, simply sauté garlic in butter for about 2 minutes before adding the lemon juice and broth. This will tame the garlic a little more.
- Add Capers. If you love the combination of salty capers and lemon, you will love adding some capers to this recipe. To add capers, drain the juice and pour them into the skillet when making the sauce.
Serving Suggestions
There are a ton of side dishes that will complement this Lemon Pepper Chicken. Here are a few of our suggestions:
- Green Salad: a light and fresh green salad with a refreshing vinaigrette would be great with this. We have an awesome Greek Salad Dressing that you could toss over a bagged salad.
- Buttery Parmesan Noodles
- Mashed Potatoes (or Mashed Cauliflower!)
- Veggies: Any roasted vegetables would be great, but here are a few suggestions: Broccoli, Southern Green Beans with Bacon, Asparagus, Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts or our favorite Skillet Fried Corn.
Storing Leftovers
Once it’s cooled to room temperature, you can store your leftover Lemon Pepper Chicken in an airtight food storage container. Properly stored in the fridge, your leftovers will keep for about 5 days.
However, I will warn you, this dish is best served fresh. Once the sauce is poured on top of the pan fried chicken, it will never reheat as well as it was fresh out of the skillet. It’s still good leftover, just not as crispy!
Lemon Pepper Chicken
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon lemon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Slice chicken breasts in half to make two thin pieces of chicken. Place chicken on a cutting board and using a meat tenderizer pound chicken breast on both sides.
- Season chicken on both sides with lemon pepper and salt. Then coat chicken in flour and set aside.
- In a medium size skillet, add olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat.
- Add chicken and cook until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes, flip and repeat. Cook until chicken is cooked through and reaches 165°F. Remove chicken and place on a serving platter.
- Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter, garlic, lemon juice and chicken broth to sauce pan.
- Stir and simmer for 3-5 minutes, just until it starts to get slightly brown. Remove from heat and pour over the chicken breast.
- Garnish with lemon wedges and fresh parsley and serve immediately!
Notes
Nutrition
Looking For More Easy Chicken Dinner Ideas?
Lucky for you we have a ton! We are always looking for more ways to use chicken for dinner. Here are a few of our favorite chicken dinner recipes:
