A quick and easy chicken recipe that is wonderful any time of the year with its no fail partners lemon and thyme in a light sauce.
Especially helpful in the summer for cooking on the stove and not heating up your whole oven to cook in a casserole, but it seems like you have and will hold like it has been.
It can easily be doubled or just add an extra chicken breast if needed, or make extra on purpose if you are doing so because it will reheat nicely.
Chicken
Chicken breasts are high in protein and low in fat and a very good source of the B vitamins. Especially Vit B6 in the chicken breast. Good for the brain, mood and the immune system.
Chicken breasts are easy to use since they can easily be found skinless and boneless, but if you prefer chicken thighs, they come that way too. You can use bone in or out for either cut. (Still high in the B vitamins!)
Thyme
While with some herbs it is better to use fresh, this dish will be cooked long enough to bring out the flavours of dried. You could also use ground thyme but be careful as it is easy to use too much.
If you do not have thyme, do not go and use nothing. There isn’t much more to this simple dish. In fact if you want more lemon, add a generous teaspoon of lemon zest.
Instead of thyme you could use basil, sage, tarragon, or oregano.
Thyme and sage are the predominant herbs in poultry seasoning. They are both often used to season vegetables and soups, so I would say they are most similar when substituting for a dish like this one. Tarragon I like with chicken or eggs often used in French cuisine and has a mild licorice taste. Oregano’s flavour profile is quite similar, but to me aromas of oregano remind me of Italian dishes, although also maybe Greek when heavily used.
Just a few tablespoons of oil are added to naturally low fat chicken breasts and a side of broccoli and carrots, maybe some rice, noodles or steamed potatoes to go with the sauce keeps it that way. Or any other starch if you want to add a starch because the chicken has a sauce, the accompaniments don’t need to be too fussy.
Chicken dredged in flour, seasoned with salt and pepper and then pan seared forms a crust all golden brown it seems a shame to cover it in sauce. Don’t worry, it has not gone to waste! We have just added a lot of flavour and sealed even more in. That extra flour has added a different texture and of course will thicken the sauce along with the excess flour we keep and add back in later.
How to Make Chicken in Lemon and Thyme Sauce
Brown the Chicken
You will need 4-5 chicken breasts, about 560g.
Heat oil in a large frying pan, over medium high heat.
Carefully add the flour dredged chicken breasts. It should sizzle, so be careful of splattering.
Turn the heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes on the first side.
Add another Tbsp oil and turn the chicken over, and brown the other side.
Remove the chicken from the pan. We are just browning the chicken for now, and will add it back later to finish cooking and bring all of the flavours together.
Making the Lemon and Thyme Sauce
Add the last Tbsp oil to the pan on medium heat.
Cook the onion until soft but try not to brown too much.
Add the thyme.
Sprinkle with the reserved flour and cook, stirring, and be careful not to brown. It will be dry.
Carefully and gradually add the chicken broth stirring, it will steam.
Add the lemon juice and bring to a boil, stirring.
Add the chicken breasts back to the pan. (Make sure the plate or tray that was holding the semi cooked chicken is put somewhere to be cleaned right away to avoid cross contamination).
Turn the heat to medium low and cover the pan. Cook, covered, checking a few times to make sure they are not sticking.
Spoon some sauce on a plate and top with the chicken, and/or spoon some sauce over.
Serve with some vegetables, you could also add simply cooked potatoes, rice or noodles.
Chicken with Lemon and Thyme Sauce
Equipment
- 1 Large skillet with a lid
Ingredients
- 5 Chicken breast halves, skinless, boneless (560g)
- ¼ cup All purpose flour (30g)
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion about 1 medium
- 1½ cups unsalted chicken broth (375mL)
- 3 Tbsp Fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp Dried thyme or ¼ tsp ground, or 1½ Tbsp fresh leaves
Instructions
- In a large container with a flat bottom, or a large deep plate, combine the flour, salt and pepper.
- Coat each chicken breast in the flour mixture. Keep the remaining flour.
- In a large frying pan, heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium high heat.
- Carefully add the flour dredged chicken breasts. It should sizzle, so be careful of splattering.
- Turn the heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes on the first side.
- Add another Tbsp oil and turn the chicken over, browning the other side for another 5 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the pan. We will add it back later to finish cooking and bring all of the flavours together.
- Add the last Tbsp oil to the pan on medium heat. Cook the onion for about 5 minutes until soft. Try not to brown too much.
- Add the thyme.
- Sprinkle with the reserved flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring. It will be dry.
- Carefully and gradually add the broth stirring, it will steam.
- Add the lemon juice and bring to a boil, stirring.
- Add the chicken breasts back to the pan. (Make sure the plate or tray that was holding the semi cooked chicken is put somewhere to be cleaned right away to avoid cross contamination).
- Turn the heat to medium low and cover the pan. Cook for about 12 minutes, covered, checking a few times to make sure they are not sticking.
- Spoon some sauce on a plate and top with the chicken, and/or spoon some sauce over. Serve with some vegetables, you could also add simply cooked potatoes, rice or noodles.
