This Chinese lemon chicken is crispy battered chicken breast pieces smothered in a sweet and tangy lemon sauce. A remake of the take out classic that tastes just as good as what you’d get in a restaurant!
I always order lemon chicken at Chinese restaurants, but it’s actually quite easy to make at home! Add some steamed rice and veggies for a complete meal that the whole family will love.
I am on a quest to make all my Chinese food favorites at home. So far I’ve conquered some of the classics like beef and broccoli, kung pao shrimp and egg rolls. Next up is this crispy Chinese lemon chicken, and it’s a good one!
How do you make Chinese lemon chicken?
The first step to making Chinese lemon chicken is to batter and fry your chicken pieces. I use chunks of boneless skinless chicken breasts, but chicken thighs will also work just fine. The chicken pieces are dipped in a seasoned egg mixture, then coated in a blend of cornstarch and flour.
The chicken pieces then go into hot oil and get fried to crispy perfection. I use canola or vegetable oil for frying, and I always use a thermometer so I can keep track of how hot the oil is. The oil should be in the 350-375 degrees F range. If the oil is too hot, the coating will burn before the chicken is cooked through. If the oil is too cold, the chicken coating will absorb a lot more of the oil and be greasy.
What is a lemon sauce?
While the chicken is frying, I make my lemon sauce, which is a simple mixture of fresh lemon juice, sugar, water and cornstarch. Do not be tempted to use store-bought lemon juice here, fresh squeezed lemon juice is an absolute must. The sauce may look a little pale in color compared to the chicken at your Chinese restaurant. This is because some restaurants use yellow food coloring to enhance the color of the sauce, which I haven’t done in this recipe.
The chicken gets coated in the lemon sauce and then topped with lemon zest, green onions and sesame seeds for garnish.
What goes well with lemon chicken?
My favorite way to serve Chinese lemon chicken is over steamed rice. I also serve a simple steamed veggie like broccoli or asparagus. You could also serve this lemon chicken with a side of Chinese noodles such as chow mein.
This Chinese lemon chicken is best served immediately, as the crispy coating on the chicken will start to soften once it’s tossed with the sauce.
Your whole family will go crazy for this crispy lemon chicken! There’s no need to call for takeout when it’s so easy to make your own Chinese food at home.
More Chinese food recipes you’ll love
- Pepper Steak Stir Fry
- Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
- Firecracker Chicken
- Mongolian Beef
- Sweet and Sour Shrimp
Chinese Lemon Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- oil for frying canola or vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons sliced green onions
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Instructions
- Place the eggs, salt and pepper in a bowl. Stir to combine.
- Place the flour and 1/2 cup of cornstarch in a shallow bowl or on a plate. Stir to combine.
- Dip each piece of chicken into the egg mixture, then into the flour. Repeat the process with all of the chicken.
- Heat 3 inches of oil in a deep pan to 350 degrees F.
- Add 7-8 pieces of chicken to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. Repeat the process with the remaining chicken.
- Drain the chicken on paper towels.
- While the chicken is cooking, make the sauce. Place the lemon juice, sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the lemon juice mixture.
- Bring the sauce to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes or until sauce has thickened.
- Toss the lemon sauce with the chicken. Stir in the lemon zest. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions, then serve immediately.
Cecille says
February 9, 2019 at 10:29 amHi Sara!I made it last night and my daughter and her family liked it so much. I paired it with rice.
I just added a little brown sugar to the sauce to make it sweeter.
This recipe is perfect. Will definitely cook it again.
I’ll share it with my other children.
Thank you Sara for perfecting this recipe. Ill try your other chicken recipes and let you know the feedback of my children.❤️😍😍
Sara says
February 9, 2019 at 2:54 pmSo happy to hear that everyone enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
Debbie says
September 24, 2018 at 3:56 pmWow! Looks so good and easy!
Jocelyn @ Hip Mama's Place says
September 20, 2018 at 3:50 pmI love all the ingredients you used in this recipe. We eat Chinese all the time and this reminds me of honey-sesame chicken. Yum!
Heather says
September 19, 2018 at 4:55 pmI don’t eat meat but I’m sure that my family would love this. There is something about the citrus with the chicken that makes them happy.
Jane T says
September 24, 2018 at 12:46 pmI don’t eat meat either (and before I gave up chicken, I didn’t eat red meat, that is no reason why you cannot enjoy this with Quorn pieces or some other brand/shop’s own mock-meat pieces or fillets. Because I am cooking/serving it, they get the mock-meat as well, as they have always done.
It would have been more helpful not to trawl through comments saying how much people thought they would like it, but reviews on what the dish actually tasted like or other tips, cook it & then review it, I thought that’s what the comments were for.
I cooked it, lemon (& the more rare orange) chicken in the UK is normally plain chicken in sauce, only sweet & sour are found in puffed-up batter like fish, so I was intrigued. Chow Mein are dishes here, not the noodles themselves, but I provided both rice & noodles, with sauteed asparagus/brocolli & bok choy, sauteed with ginger, garlic & soy sauce. I shall make it again soon, loved it.
Sara says
September 24, 2018 at 2:13 pmSo glad to hear you enjoyed it, thank you for reporting back!
Anosa Malanga says
September 18, 2018 at 9:20 pmI must confess, I have never heard of this recipe before. Well, I guess this is good for me, I could try this at home and practice my cooking skills then. Yay! New recipe to try on.
Marysa says
September 18, 2018 at 4:03 pmLooks like an easy enough dish to prepare on one of our busy weeknights. Thanks for sharing this recipe, I really need some new recipes to try out.
Terri Steffes says
September 18, 2018 at 2:28 pmI know I would adore this. Making it for my family would be such a surprise as I rarely cook dinner anymore!
Ricci says
September 18, 2018 at 1:14 pmOh my! I am such a savory person and this chicken looks and sounds amazing!! I need to try it ASAP!!
Pam says
September 18, 2018 at 12:59 pmOh, this looks delicious. I order lemon chicken a lot but I have never tried making it at home.
Natalie says
September 18, 2018 at 12:45 pmI like the presentation of this meal. That is also a very interesting combination of flavours.
GiGi Eats says
September 18, 2018 at 10:11 amWow, this looks phenomenal! Looks straight out of a Chinese restaurant!
Melanie says
September 18, 2018 at 9:31 amI have had Chinese Orange Chicken, but never lemon chicken. I will have to try this recipe for dinner soon. I think my husband would really like it.
1stopmom says
September 18, 2018 at 7:34 amI love chicken! I have never heard of lemon chicken before but the flavors sound pretty good. I always keep chicken breasts in the house so I think I need to make this. I think I have everything but the sesame seeds. Thanks for the recipe, I can’t wait to try it.
Jeanette says
September 18, 2018 at 7:05 amI was actually looking for a dinner for tonight! This looks like it would be amazing. I have not heard of lemon chicken I am always heard of orange chicken. I think I would like this better than orange chicken.
Tabitha Blue says
September 18, 2018 at 6:19 amI’ve had orange chicken, but not lemon chicken! This looks delicious and not too hard to do!
candy says
September 18, 2018 at 5:38 amThis is wonderful and one more way to not eat out. We love this meal and will be making it when everyone is wanting chinese.
Amber Myers says
September 18, 2018 at 5:18 amYum, this looks incredible! I love lemon stuff. And Chinese food. I’ll have to give this a try for sure. This would be a tasty dinner one night.
wendy says
September 18, 2018 at 5:10 amWow that looks great! My son loves this kind of chicken too so I have to try to make some for his next visit.
Heather says
September 18, 2018 at 4:55 amThis looks so delicious! I love chinese food. I would probably try to get around frying the chicken and make it that way.
Tasheena says
September 18, 2018 at 4:00 amI used to make Chinese orange chicken for my family all the time. I would love to try lemon chicken. It looks delicious.