Buttery Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

2 Comments

5 from 1 vote
4 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
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Buttery Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken makes the juiciest, buttery chicken in 30 minutes with bold and refreshing flavors from lemon juice and garlic powder.

This recipe makes the perfect Chicken Dinner for a simple weeknight meal that’s packed with buttery and citrus flavor. For more chicken with a refreshing lemon taste, try our Chinese Lemon Chicken and Slow Cooker Creamy Lemon Chicken Recipe.

Buttery Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken in pan with lemon wedges

BUTTERY LEMON GARLIC BAKED CHICKEN

Buttery Lemon Garlic Chicken is such a delicious comfort food dish. The lemon and garlic add tart and bold flavors to the oven-roasted chicken, while the butter makes it wonderfully rich and tender. Baking the chicken with pats of butter on top makes it so that the butter melts in the oven, pools over the chicken, and soaks into the meat for the ultimate juicy chicken dish. 

Because baked lemon chicken has a bold, zingy lemon flavor, it is perfect to serve with simple food for the side dishes. For some basic and filling sides, you can serve the oven-roasted chicken with Mashed Potatoes or Brown Rice. Spoon any remaining lemony cooking liquid over the top of the sides and garnish with lemon slices to give the entire dish the same amazing flavor profile.

Buttery Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken in pan

If you want a more refreshing meal with some crisp vegetables, you can serve the baked lemon chicken with a salad. It would taste great with a Wedge Salad or Italian Salad, especially if you top the salad off with a zesty lemon dressing.

MORE CHICKEN RECIPES

BAKING TIPS FOR BUTTERY LEMON GARLIC BAKED CHICKEN

  • Prep: If the boneless, skinless chicken breasts are frozen, make sure you put them in the fridge a day ahead of time so that they have time to thaw before starting the recipe. Once the chicken has thawed, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees, and use a kitchen mallet to pound the chicken into an even thickness.
  • Lemon and garlic: Add the lemon juice to a shallow bowl, and drench each piece of chicken in the mixture. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then sprinkle garlic powder on each side.
  • Cooking time: Place the seasoned chicken in the baking dish, and add sliced pats of butter over the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, then use an instant-read thermometer at the thickest point to check if the chicken is done. If the cooking thermometer doesn’t reach at least 165 degrees, spoon cooking liquid over the top of the chicken and continue cooking for an additional 5 minutes. 

Buttery Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken in pan with butter

VARIATIONS ON BUTTERY LEMON GARLIC BAKED CHICKEN

  • Seasonings: You can try different flavors in this recipe by using fresh herbs and spices. Try sprinkling some paprika, onion powder, chili pepper flakes, parsley, thyme, rosemary, or an Italian seasoning mixture over the chicken. 
  • Add-ins: For more flavor additions, try slicing up some mushrooms, green beans, or spinach to serve with your chicken dish. You can also sauté onions and minced garlic cloves in butter, then add them to the pan to bake along with the chicken. 
  • Lemon butter sauce: You can use any excess cooking liquid in the baking dish as a lemon garlic sauce to serve along with the Buttery Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken recipe. However, if you want even more lemony flavor, you can make an additional lemon butter sauce to pour over the dish before serving. To make the lemon butter sauce add 8 tablespoons butter, and 2 cloves minced garlic to a saucepan. Heat until fragrant and browned. Then add ¼ cup chicken broth and ¼ cup lemon juice. Whisk the ingredients together and cook the lemon butter sauce for 2 minutes before pouring it over the cooked chicken. 

Buttery Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken on plate with asparagus

SIDE DISHES

HOW TO STORE BUTTERY LEMON GARLIC BAKED CHICKEN

  • Serve: After cooking, you shouldn’t leave chicken at room temperature for more than 2 hours. 
  • Store: Let the Baked Lemon Chicken cool down, then transfer chicken to a Ziploc bag or another airtight container to store in the fridge for 3-4 days. 
  • Freeze: You can also seal and freeze the Buttery Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken recipe for up to 6 months. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating the meal.

Buttery Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken in pan with lemon wedges

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Dinner, then Dessert

Buttery Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken

Buttery Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken makes the juiciest, buttery chicken in 30 minutes with bold and refreshing flavors from lemon juice and garlic powder.
Yield 4 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Buttery Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken in pan with lemon wedges
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 2 chicken breasts , boneless and skinless, and sliced in half
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter , sliced

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish or large oven-safe skillet.
  • Mix together salt, pepper, flour and garlic powder in a low flat bowl.
  • Dip the chicken into the lemon juice and press into the flour mixture.
  • Place the chicken into the baking dish and top with slices of butter.
  • Cook, uncovered for 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Nutrition

Calories: 303kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 117mg | Sodium: 719mg | Potassium: 513mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 562IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg

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Buttery Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. this chicken was immaculate. My tastebuds melted with the delicious juices and meat. Thank you for sharing this heavenly dish, and for cleaning my tastebuds like mr clean with a sponge all up and down my throat

    Reply