Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet is a quick, easy, one-pan meal of crispy chicken with broccoli and zucchini in creamy, cheesy lemon sauce.
Delicious Parmesan Lemon Chicken makes an amazing Main Dish for busy weeknights. You can make the tender, flavorful chicken, veggies, and sauce all in one pan on your stovetop, which makes things super simple. For more one-pan meals, try One Pot Chicken Caesar Pasta and Greek Chicken and Rice.
Table of Contents
- Sabrina’s Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet Recipe
- Ingredients
- Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- How to Make Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet
- Nutritional Facts
- Cooking Tips & Tricks
- Side Dishes for Your Lemon Chicken Feast
- How to Store Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet
- Ideas to Serve Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet
- Frequent Questions
- Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet Variations
- Related Recipes
Sabrina’s Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet Recipe
Creamy Lemon Parmesan Chicken has easily become a family favorite. It’s no wonder why! The juicy chicken breasts have a delicious, crispy parmesan coating, but the inside stays nice and tender. Then the chicken is prepared with a rich, cheesy sauce, and all it’s finished off with some flavorful veggies.
People especially love this meal because, along with how tasty it is, it only takes about 20 minutes to make. That alone makes Parmesan Lemon Chicken an ideal weeknight dinner. There’s nothing better than enjoying a flavorful, homemade dinner after a long day. Especially when you don’t have to spend lots of time in the kitchen making it.
“Can Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet be made ahead?”
You can make this dish ahead of time but the best way to store it is to store the chicken and the sauce separately. Keep each in an airtight container. You can reheat the chicken in a pan about 2 minutes on each side over medium heat, or in a 350 degree oven. Then heat the sauce in the same pan and add in the chicken to bring it together.
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts: Tender, juicy chicken makes the perfect base for this recipe. Start by slicing the boneless, skinless chicken breast thinly into flat pieces. The flat shape makes the dish easier to cook in a skillet. Season the chicken with salt and ground black pepper to add a little flavor before dredging it in the coating.
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese: You need ½ cup parmesan cheese total for this parmesan lemon chicken recipe, but divide it in half. The first ¼ cup is used with all-purpose flour to make an easy, crispy, flavorful coating for the chicken breasts.
- Creamy lemon sauce: To make the rich sauce for Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet, start with 1 cup chicken broth. Letting the chicken stock reduce makes the flavor more intense. Then you can mix in ½ cup heavy cream and the rest of the Parmesan cheese to make a thicker, richer sauce. The fresh lemon juice and zest from 1 whole lemon add a fresh, slightly tart flavor to the ultra-comforting sauce.
- Veggies: Along with the chicken, you also cook 2 cups broccoli and 1 whole zucchini in the same pan. A major benefit of this recipe is that you don’t have to worry about cooking a vegetable side separately.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Small Mixing Bowl: You’ll use this bowl for the flour mixture so make sure it’s not so small that you cannot get the chicken in it for dredging.
- Large Skillet: Use a large skillet to cook your chicken. You want to be able to fit several pieces of chicken in it without crowding the pan too much.
- Tongs: Grab your favorite tongs so you can flip the chicken pieces while they brown in the pan. The gentler, the better, as you don’t want the crust to come off. Rubber tongs would work great.
- Cup Measure: You’ll just need a cup measure for all of your ingredients. No teaspoon measure required for this recipe.
How to Make Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet
Time needed: 20 minutes.
- Prep Chicken
Begin by slicing the chicken into smaller strips.
- Seasoning
Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
- Dredge
Mix the all-purpose flour with parmesan cheese in a small bowl. Dredge the seasoned chicken breast so that both sides are covered in parmesan coating.
- Cooking Time
Add butter to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Next, add the chicken to the hot skillet. Then cook until golden brown and crisp. It should only take about 2-3 minutes on each side to fully cook tender chicken breasts.
- Cook in Batches
Remove the cooked chicken pieces and add the next batch of chicken until they’re all cooked. To ensure the chicken is done, you can use a meat thermometer to check that its internal temperature is at least 165 degrees.
- Creamy Lemon Sauce
Add the chicken broth, broccoli, and zucchini to the pan. Let the chicken broth reduce for 3-4 minutes while the vegetables cook over medium heat. Then add the heavy cream, parmesan cheese, fresh lemon juice, and lemon zest. Stir the ingredients into a creamy sauce.
- Finish
Add the chicken back into the pan, and stir the mixture gently to combine the parmesan lemon chicken. Sprinkle on extra parmesan and add lemon wedges for garnish if desired. Then serve the Lemon Parmesan Chicken warm.
Nutritional Facts
Cooking Tips & Tricks
Master the art of culinary perfection with these handy hints! (Change to fit recipe)
- Prevent Chicken from Sticking
- In order to prevent the Parmesan Chicken from sticking to the pan while it cooks, first make sure you have measured your butter correctly. You need plenty in the pan to brown the chicken. Next, you should melt your butter and get it hot before adding your chicken to the pan so that it starts to cook and sear right away.
- Prep Your Chicken Properly
- You need to rinse and dry your chicken before you season it and the importance of drying it well should be emphasized. If it is still wet when you add the coating, it might fall off during cooking. Additionally it’s important to salt and pepper the chicken directly, and before dredging so you can fully control how much seasoning it gets. Then coat in the parmesan flour mixture.
Side Dishes for Your Lemon Chicken Feast
This 1-skillet meal already comes with sides cooked in the same skillet and sauce. However, there are a few great options to add more to this dish. It would be a dreamy meal tossed with your favorite pasta to soak up that sauce. Choose any shape you like: angel hair or fettuccini for twirling, bow ties or penne for bite-sized pasta. The choice is yours. You could also serve the chicken alongside Easy Mashed Potatoes, white rice, or brown rice, and they would also soak up the sauce nicely.
How to Store Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet
Serve: After cooking Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet, don’t leave it at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
Store: To keep any leftovers, transfer the chicken, veggies, and creamy sauce to an airtight container. It will stay good in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Freeze: You can also carefully seal the meal to store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Ideas to Serve Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet
Despite how easy this one-pan meal is to make, Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet tastes and looks quite impressive. You can dress it up with fresh parsley and lemon wedges for garnish if you’re serving the meal for a more formal dinner. You can also toss together a fresh salad and serve it with some Crispy Garlic Bread or Soft Dinner Rolls to round out the meal. Who doesn’t love bread to soak up a luscious sauce.
Frequent Questions
If you prefer using boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts, you can absolutely exchange them in this recipe. Usually, about 2 chicken thighs are similar to 1 chicken breast, so you’ll want 4 thighs for this recipe. Slice them into flat strips, and keep in mind that the dark meat in boneless chicken thighs takes a little longer to cook.
If you don’t like lemon sauces, you can make this recipe using a different citrus fruit that will bring a different flavor. Lime juice and zest would work nicely and still pair well with the parmesan. Orange juice and zest would also work really well and would bring a milder citrus flavor you’re sure to love.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts , boneless and skinless, cut thinly into flat pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese , grated and divided
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 1 zucchini , cut into 1/2-inch half circles
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 lemon , juiced and zested
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and mix the flour with the parmesan cheese in a small bowl.
- Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture and heat butter in a skillet on medium-high heat. Place the chicken into the hot skillet.
- Cook the chicken until golden brown, in batches, 2-3 minutes on each side, then remove from the pan.
- Add the chicken broth, broccoli, zucchini and let reduce for 3-4 minutes while the vegetables cook.
- Add in the heavy cream, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest, stirring well.
- Add the chicken back in, stir gently to combine. Serve over cooked pasta with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Nutrition
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Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet Variations
Garlic Lemon Sauce: You can add a bold garlic flavor to the creamy lemon sauce by adding a minced garlic clove or garlic powder. If you opt for minced garlic, cook it in the butter until fragrant before adding the chicken broth.
Italian Seasoning: If you decide to serve the chicken dish over pasta and want more Italian flavors, try adding your favorite Italian herbs to the sauce. Use dried oregano, thyme, basil, sage, and rosemary for a classic Italian seasoning blend. You can also garnish Lemon Parmesan Chicken Skillet with fresh parsley before serving.
Veggies: For extra flavor and nutrients, add other favorite vegetables to the broccoli and zucchini. Try mixing in yellow squash, green beans, yellow onion, and cauliflower. You can also add in fresh spinach at the same time you return chicken to the pot.
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