Lemon Butter Chicken
Easy, one skillet dinner recipe idea for tender chicken thighs with the creamy lemon butter sauce poured all over the top. The delicious sauce is the star of this dish!
I can’t believe I’m even saying this while in the midst of April but as I’m typing this I’m sitting outside in 80 degree weather, bright blue skies and sunshine. This is the first time Rochester has seen 80 degrees so far in 2015 (or probably even about 70 is probably safe bet). It’s one of those gems of a day where the entire city is trying to savor every second they can outdoors since days like this only come around once in a blue moon during the springtime. I swear everybody in the entire city is outdoors right now coming out of hibernation. Well played, Rochester….well played.
This lemon butter chicken skillet dinner is the epitome of spring and is one of those dinners you can really impress your family and friends with. I first saw it posted on a wonderful blog called Damn Delicious. The first time I made it I followed her way of making it verbatim. The second time I made it I tweaked it more to my liking and I loved it even more.
The sauce in this lemon butter chicken recipe is very versatile and can be used with other meals, as well (think a fish dinner or a variety of pasta dishes). You will want to make this over and over again because the flavor will be unforgettable. Just make sure to have a big soup spoon nearby so you can savor every last bit of this creamy lemon butter sauce!
- 7-8 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup chicken stock
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 3 cups baby spinach
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Season chicken thighs with paprika and enough salt and pepper, to taste.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; drain excess fat and set aside.
- Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the skillet. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes (do not let it burn). Stir in chicken broth, heavy cream, Parmesan, lemon juice and thyme.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat, stir in spinach, and simmer until the spinach has wilted and the sauce has slightly thickened, about 5 minutes (you don't want the spinach to wilt too much). Return chicken thighs to the skillet.
- Place into oven and roast until completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175 degrees F, about 25-30 minutes.
- Serve immediately by placing chicken on plates and spooning sauce over it. Enjoy!
Recipe source: adapted from damndelicious.net
That sauce looks incredible! I could just slurp it up with a spoon or dip a nice crusty baguette in it and call it a day. 🙂
This looks crazy good! I’ll just put some angel hair pasta underneath this to soak up all that great sauce! : )
The lemon butter sounds pretty fantastic!
Haha yea I don’t ever remember it being that warm there when I was growing up. If I were still in Memphis that’d be totally normal though. Glad I found something in between with Ohio. But anywho, I am loving the look of this dish.
Thanks, this looks really good. Going to try if in a couple of days.
once again thanks for these great recipes
Thank you, Mike! I’m glad you like all of the recipes!
Butter chicken is one of my favorite go-to dinners because it’s so easy and luxurious. Love the extra garlic in yours, Ashley!
Always extra garlic when it comes to me! LOL
Wait! It’s 80 in Rochester??? What???? It’s in the high 70s here in Atlanta today -with rain in the forecast for every.single.day! Clearly I need dishes like this! All that lemon and spinach will make my heart -or stomach – feel like it’s 80 and sunny here too!
This is screaming springtime!
mmmm way for pretty weather!!!
and this skillet dinner is AMAZING-I love chicken and that sauce looks irresistible!
Anything that has lemon and butter with chicken has to be good! I love to see your variation of this great combination!
Today may be the nicest day for us here in SE PA so far in 2015, I can’t wait for it to unfold! My kids especially would loooove this!
This looks amazing Ashley! And I’d totally soak all of those yummy juices up with some crusty bread. This is going on my must-try list!
80 degrees?!! Wow! So nice for so early. And you made this terrific lemon chicken to celebrate! Works for me. 😉 This looks terrific — thanks.
Could I use boneless chicken thighs? Also, what would you serve with it… Rice?
Yes you can! I serve it with rice or a potato side dish. You can even do it over angel hair pasta or egg noodles! Possibilities are endless 🙂
Yes, this spring has been sooooo nice! I hope it keeps up. I’m not even a fan of chicken usually, but this looks amazing.
Would it work well in a crock pot? If so, would I need to adjust the recipe at all?
I tried this and it came out perfectly…my husband couldn’t get enough of it and your right the sauce is awesome!! I will be making this again…thank you for sharing.
Made it, loved it. made this last night using what I had on hand. 6 bone in chicken thighs with skin removed. used beef stock instead of chicken because that’s what I had already. Not sure it made much difference. I did add a little chicken bouillon powder to make up for it. Used half & half instead of heavy cream. didn’t have any fresh spinach, so made it without it. (Hubby would have tried to avoid the spinach anyway). I moved everything to a casserole dish to cook since I needed my frying pan back for something else. I did use the full amount of garlic, maybe more lemon, and used fresh thyme since I have it growing now. It was really good, chicken was tender, sauce was very tasty, and there was plenty of it to soak the noodles I served it with. I hate it when there’s not enough sauce. I think the sauce could stand alone on it’s own merit & be sued on a variety of other dishes. This one’s a keeper.