If the sound of golden crispy chicken bathed in a lemon garlic cream sauce makes your mouth water, this delicious, creamy chicken al limone recipe is for you! Simple ingredients that can all be mixed together in just one pan, make for a great recipe for busy weeknights when all you want is some comfort food with minimal effort - all ready in 30 minutes! Serve with garlic smashed potatoes, steakhouse mashed potatoes, or savory garlic monkey, for a complete meal!
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👩🏽🍳Why This Recipe Works
Quick, Easy, Delicious: This easy creamy lemon chicken recipe requires only 8 easy-to-find ingredients, not including pantry-staple seasonings. With just a few simple steps, you can have dinner ready in 30 minutes or less! Nothing fancy needed over here!
One Pan Recipe: No need to worry about washing a bunch of dishes. This creamy chicken limone can be cooked entirely in one pan, which is great for weeknight dinners!
Easily Customizable: This flexible recipe is excellent for adding vegetables like spinach and mushrooms or meats like bacon. The sauce is a great base for endless add-ins.
🥘Ingredients
- Chicken breast cutlets: Boneless chicken breasts make the perfect cut for a filling meal. Cutlets are generally thinner, and cook quickly and evenly. Because of this, cutlets are the best cut for this skillet dish.
- All-purpose flour: Adds a light crust to the chicken, but also helps thicken the limone sauce when the chicken is nestled into the sauce.
- Chicken broth: I advise using reduced sodium chicken broth for this sauce, so that you can be in control of the salt content. If using a chicken broth with salt added, be sure to taste the sauce before adding any additional salt.
- Dry white wine: White wine adds another layer of acidic flavor, aside from the lemon. If you are feeding this dish to the family, including kids, do not worry the alcohol will burn off while cooking. I used a pinot grigio for this recipe, but be sure to use a wine that you would drink!
- Lemon: Fresh lemon juice adds brightness to the sauce. Lemons are the star of this creamy limone sauce, so I recommend using fresh instead of bottled to really get that zesty taste. If you love the brightness that lemon brings, my lemon bucatini and lemon caper pasta have similar flavor profiles!
- Heavy cream: Heavy cream generally has a fat percentage of 35%. A little bit of heavy cream goes a long way in adding creaminess and silkiness to the sauce.
- Salted butter: Butter is a restaurant-style secret to finishing a sauce and making it nice and silky - it makes a delicious difference!
A full list of ingredients with measurements is located on the recipe card, below.
📖Substitutions
- Chicken breasts: If you prefer a different cut of chicken, bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts hold lots of flavor. You can also use this sauce for bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs.
- All-purpose flour: You can opt out of using all purpose flour if you prefer to, or wish to keep the recipe low carb.
- Chicken broth: Chicken bouillon concentrate paste is a good substitute for chicken broth and won't alter the recipe. Be sure to reduce any added salt in the sauce, as bouillon concentrate tends to be on the saltier side. You will also want to add some additional water to the sauce, as bouillon concentrate is not as fluid.
- Dry white wine: You can absolutely leave the wine out - just use more chicken broth and leave out the wine.
- Heavy cream: Half and half cream or creme fraiche will provide the same amount of richness and creaminess to your chicken limone.
🔪Variations
- Greens: If you'd like to add some healthy greens to your chicken limone, toss in some spinach, green beans, or frozen sweet peas a little before cooking is complete.
- Artichokes: Artichoke hearts add an earthy, herbaceous taste that really elevates this quick meal! Just rinse thoroughly, drain, and cook until heated. I advise using canned artichoke hearts as jarred artichokes tend to have too strong a flavor.
- Bacon: Crispy bacon adds a lot of rich flavor and texture to chicken limone. I recommend using freshly cooked bacon cut into pieces for the best results.
- Mushrooms: Sauté fresh mushrooms and add them to your creamy lemon sauce for a more earthy, dynamic dish. Add sliced mushrooms to your pan with the lemon juice and chicken broth.
- Pescatarian-friendly: This sauce will be just as delicious with a white fish like halibut, or your favorite shellfish like shrimp or scallops.
⏲️ Step-by-Step Instructions
Prep Work Before Cooking
Collecting all your ingredients - This will make cooking so much easier. Gather all the spices you will need, and keep them nearby.
Mince the garlic - Using a knife or a garlic press, mince the garlic and set aside.
Season the flour with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika in a large plate. Dredge the chicken breasts on both sides into the seasoned flour and dust off any extra flour. [photo 1]
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoon of butter, and 2 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Heat the oil and butter mixture and add the chicken to the skillet. [photo 2]
Sear the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. The chicken should read 165°F with an instant-read thermometer. Remove the tender chicken breast from the pan and set it aside on a plate.
To the same skillet, add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the minced garlic, and sauté until it is lightly brown and fragrant. Once the garlic is lightly browned, add the white wine to the pan to deglaze. Using a spatula, scrape up the bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the wine simmer for 3-5 minutes to cook off the alcohol and the raw wine taste. [photo 3]
Once the wine has cooked down, add the chicken broth and lemon juice . Cook together and let the sauce continue to simmer for another 3 minutes.
Lower the heat to medium-low, and add the heavy cream and butter to the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and return the chicken to the creamy sauce in the pan. [photo 4]
Let the chicken simmer in the sauce for 2-3 minutes, to allow the flour on the chicken to thicken the sauce slightly. Garnish with lemon zest and fresh parsley, and serve.
💭 Expert Tips
Do not rush the wine: If you don’t let the wine simmer long enough, you will find that your sauce will taste a little bit off, like raw wine. While drinking wine like that is great, it isn’t the best for a sauce.
Shake off excess flour: When dredging the chicken with the flour, shake it gently to remove any excess. This prevents the sauce from becoming too thick or gummy.
Balance the flavors: If the sauce is too sour, you can balance the flavors by adding a pinch of sugar or a drizzle of honey. Start with a small amount and adjust to taste.
🍽 Make Ahead & Storage
Since there are very few complicated elements in this recipe, there is not much that can be prepped in advance.
If you purchase whole chicken breasts, they can be butterflied or sliced in half into cutlets in advance, and stored in the refrigerator.
Before storing leftover chicken limone, allow it to cool to room temperature before refrigerating. This will help avoid any food safety issues.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container. Glass containers with tight-fitting lids work well to maintain freshness. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
The best way to reheat leftover chicken is in a skillet on the stove, over medium heat. If the sauce has thickened up, you can add a splash of chicken broth to the skillet.
⭐ Recipe FAQs
Lemon juice both tenderizes and adds vibrancy to your average chicken dish. The flavor and acidity of the lemon make for a super flavorful, juicy, and tender chicken recipe.
Lemon can have a drying effect on chicken, especially if it is overcooked. As long as you use enough oil in your chicken recipe and don't cook it too long, you should be fine.
📝More Chicken Recipes
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Creamy Skillet Chicken Limone
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken breast cutlets boneless, skinless
- ½ cup All purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon Ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoon Salted butter
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil
For the Sauce
- 4 cloves Garlic minced
- ¼ cup Chicken broth
- ¼ cup Dry white wine
- 1 Lemon juiced
- ¼ cup Heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon Salted butter
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Equipment
Instructions
- Season the flour with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika in a large plate. Dredge the chicken breasts on both sides into the seasoned flour and dust off any extra flour.½ cup All purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon Garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon Ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon Smoked paprika, 4 Chicken breast cutlets
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoon of butter, and 2 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Heat the oil and butter mixture and add the chicken to the skillet.
- Sear the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. The chicken should read 165°F with an instant-read thermometer. Remove the tender chicken breast from the pan and set it aside on a plate.
- To the same skillet, add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the minced garlic, and sauté until it is lightly brown and fragrant. Once the garlic is lightly browned, add the white wine to the pan to deglaze. Using a spatula, scrape up the bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the wine simmer for 3-5 minutes to cook off the alcohol and the raw wine taste.4 cloves Garlic, ¼ cup Dry white wine
- Once the wine has cooked down, add the chicken broth and lemon juice . Cook together and let the sauce continue to simmer for another 3 minutes.¼ cup Chicken broth, 1 Lemon
- Lower the heat to medium-low, and add the heavy cream and butter to the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and return the chicken to the creamy sauce in the pan.¼ cup Heavy cream, 1 tablespoon Salted butter, Salt, Pepper
- Let the chicken simmer in the sauce for 2-3 minutes, to allow the flour on the chicken to thicken the sauce slightly. Garnish with lemon zest and fresh parsley, and serve.
Notes
- Do not rush the wine: If you don’t let the wine simmer long enough, you will find that your sauce will taste a little bit off, like raw wine. While drinking wine like that is great, it isn’t the best for a sauce.
- Shake off excess flour: When dredging the chicken with the flour, shake it gently to remove any excess. This prevents the sauce from becoming too thick or gummy.
- Balance the flavors: If the sauce is too sour, you can balance the flavors by adding a pinch of sugar or a drizzle of honey. Start with a small amount and adjust to taste.
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