This lemon pepper chicken with butter sauce is a simple recipe that’s ready in just 20 minutes! The perfect dinner for a busy weeknight.
When I need easy dinner recipes, I turn to classics such as Chicken Vesuvio, chicken adobo, stuffed green peppers, slow cooker chicken breast, and this zesty lemon pepper chicken.
I’m back with another chicken recipe – because really, is there ever such a thing as too many chicken recipes?! This lemon pepper chicken recipe is on the table in 20 minutes, perfect for those nights where you need dinner on the table ASAP. You probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry to make it tonight! Add an Italian salad and some roasted red potatoes for a memorable meal.
Table of Contents
Lemon Pepper Chicken Ingredients
To make this recipe you’ll need chicken breast, flour, lemon pepper seasoning, salt, olive oil, butter, lemon juice and parsley.
How Do You Make Lemon Pepper Chicken?
Star by mixing together flour, lemon pepper seasoning and salt. Coat both sides of the chicken breasts with flour, then cook them in a large skillet until they’re golden brown. Remove the chicken from the pan, then add butter and lemon juice to the pan. Place the chicken back in the skillet, then spoon the sauce over the top, sprinkle with parsley and serve. Garnish with lemon slices and parsley sprigs if desired.
Tips For The Perfect Dish
- All lemon pepper seasoning is not created equal. When I purchased my lemon pepper for this recipe, I read the ingredients of 4 different brands and they varied quite a bit. Some lemon pepper brands contain salt, others use citric acid instead of actual lemon peel, and some even use yellow food coloring! I recommend choosing one with a more natural ingredient list.
- I recommend using thin cut chicken breasts because they cook quicker and more evenly than thick chicken breasts. If you don’t have thin cut breasts, you can pound regular ones to a thinner consistency with a meat mallet.
- Leftover lemon pepper chicken will stay fresh in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
quick Tip
No fresh parsley on hand? Try using a different herb such as basil, thyme or chives.
Recipe FAQs
The sauce for this dish is made with drippings from the pan, lemon juice, and butter. The lemon pepper seasoning is added to the chicken coating rather than the sauce so that it’s evenly distributed and you get plenty of lemon pepper flavor in every bite.
Serve your chicken with a side of mashed red potatoes, rice pilaf or angel hair pasta. I also recommend vegetables such as sauteed asparagus, roasted broccoli or green beans almondine.
I do not recommend using a substitute such as lemon juice and pepper for lemon pepper seasoning. It will not have the same intensity of lemon flavor compared to lemon pepper seasoning, which uses dried lemon peel. You would need to use a lot of lemon juice to replicate the flavor, which could make the dish too acidic.
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Flavor Variations
While this dish is great as-is, you can change up the ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.
- Protein: Instead of chicken breast, try thin cut pork chops, or fish fillets such as tilapia. You can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs if you pound them thin.
- Vegetables: Feel free to add veggies to the pan to cook after you remove the chicken. Some great options include onions, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, or mushrooms.
- Flavorings: Amp up the flavor of the lemon sauce of this dish with dried Italian seasoning, minced garlic, a splash of heavy cream, garlic powder, onion powder, fresh lemon zest, or finish the dish off with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
I’ve made this lemon pepper chicken countless times over the past few months, even my kids love it! I hope your family enjoys this dinner as much as we do.
More Chicken Recipes
Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
3 hrs 5 mins
Baked Bacon Ranch Chicken
50 mins
Firecracker Chicken
50 mins
Chicken Ranch Tacos
30 mins
Lemon Pepper Chicken Video
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Lemon Pepper Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 thin cut boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning or more to taste
- salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- sliced lemons and parsley sprigs optional garnish
Instructions
- Mix together the flour, lemon pepper seasoning and salt to taste. Pour the flour mixture onto a plate or into a shallow bowl.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat.
- Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture, turning to coat evenly.
- Place the chicken in the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes per side or until done.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and place on a plate. Cover to keep warm.
- Melt the butter in the pan, and whisk in the lemon juice. Season with salt to taste.
- Place the chicken back in the pan. Spoon the sauce over the chicken.
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve, garnished with lemon slices and extra parsley sprigs if desired.
Notes
- All lemon pepper seasoning is not created equal. When I purchased my lemon pepper for this recipe, I read the ingredients of 4 different brands and they varied quite a bit. Some lemon pepper brands contain salt, others use citric acid instead of actual lemon peel, and some even use yellow food coloring! I recommend choosing one with a more natural ingredient list.
- I recommend using thin cut chicken breasts because they cook quicker and more evenly than thick chicken breasts. If you don’t have thin cut breasts, you can pound regular ones to a thinner consistency with a meat mallet.
I love chicken. I heard a lot about the dish lemon pepper chicken. It also look delicious. i must try to make it. thanks for sharing this recipe.
LOVE this recipe! Can I share the link to this page from my Blog? Putting together a fast, easy & delicious dinners for working moms blog post together. Here is a link to my blog https://www.shelbyshousehunt.com/blog
Sure that’s fine!
I made this last week and we loved it! It is so simple and so yummy! Making it again this week. 🙂 I love this. Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
We absolutley love this recipe but i was wondering if you could bake this instead. Thanks
I’ve never tried baking it, only because you kind of need to sear the chicken to get a crispy browned crust. You might be able to try brushing it with butter or oil and baking it at high heat to try and get a browned exterior. Hope that helps!
Do you drain the oil from frying the chicken before adding the butter or leave it?
Either way is fine, there’s usually not a lot of oil left over!
Could this be cooked in the oven instead?
You could sear it on the stove then cook it in the oven to finish it, but if you just put it in the oven the crust won’t brown.
I tried this with the chicken breasts and LOVED IT!!!! Actually did my own version or lemon pepper flavoring with lemon juice and pepper jsut because I didnt have the seasoning and it came out amazing…however, do you think the same technique can be sued with chicken legs? (extra cook time of course)
I think it could work, just maybe sear the outsides of the legs and them put the pan in the oven to bake so that the chicken will cook through all the way!
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. My picky eaters gave it two thumbs up. My little one even asked if I would make it again on her birthday, which is right around the corner!
My family says “THANK YOU”, they fell in love with chicken!!! I give you ????????????????!
I need to tell you how simply outstanding this dish was last night. My whole family loved it and begged for me to add it to the regular rotation. Thank you so much for this simple, elegant dish. It is beautiful when it’s served atop pasta. I served it with a creamy garlic pasta and veggies. YUM!!! You’re amazing.
What if you don’t have lrmon juice? Can you substitute with squishing else? Or just skip the olive oil and lemon juice mixture?
The chicken is still delicious as is without the lemon sauce!
I rarely leave comments but this was AMAZING. I was looking for quick easy recipes and stumbled upon this one! Pair it with green beans and it’s a fantastic quick and easy meal!
SO glad you liked it, thanks for reporting back!
Another easy recipe which I love!
This was quick easy and taste amazing! Thank you for posting.
Getting ready to make this. In the directions it mentions butter but butter is not in the list of ingredients?
Nevermind computer acting up i see it now.
Wonderful combination of flavors. You can almost taste the chicken with the beautiful close up pictures!
Sara a perfect reminder to prepare this perfect lovely food. Well get well all of you and I pray YOUR Thanksgiving will be perfect and blessed this season!
Thanks so much Hugo, I appreciate the kind words!
Lemon chicken is one of my favourite meals and I’m always looking for new ways to cook it up. Love this version! Simply perfect 🙂
This recipe looks delicious! We eat lots of chicken, and I always love new recipes that are quick and easy. I think that I have all the ingredients on hand. But I guess I need to look at my lemon pepper and see what’s in it. Thanks for sharing!
True Lemon is the best! It’s crystallized lemon, pepper, and garlic. Amazing flavor.
I believe this is the perfect weeknight meal Sara! LOVE lemon pepper and moist tender, easy chicken. Thanks so much.