Succulent chicken in a fresh and zesty sauce with a hint of sweetness.
This honey lemon chicken is ready in 20 minutes. A brilliant weeknight meal to serve with rice or pasta.
This is a slightly different take on my honey garlic chicken recipe - given a Spring feel with lots of lovely fresh lemon juice.
Don't worry, it's not tart or sour though - the honey and garlic balances it out perfectly, giving a lip-smacking moreish taste.
It's one of those super-quick meals to prepare, and means you can make 2 chicken breasts switch between 4 people.
I love how the sauce sinks into the rice or pasta (I still can't decide which is my favourite to serve it with).
📋 What do we need?
- Chicken breast - use 2 large chicken breasts, so you have enough meat for 4 people. Some supermarkets sell 'quick cook' chicken breast steaks - which are basically chicken breast that have already been sliced in half - these work great too. Alternatively you can replace the chicken breast with well-trimmed boneless chicken thighs.
- Lemons - use fresh lemon juice rather than the stuff in a bottle. For this recipe the fresh flavour is important.
🔪 How to make Honey Lemon Chicken
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Coat the sliced chicken breast pieces in seasoned flour and fry in oil and butter until golden.
- Add garlic, chicken stock, lemon juice, honey and lemon slices and stir together, then bring the sauce to the boil and let it simmer for 5 minutes until slightly reduced. The sauce will thicken slightly as it starts to cool.
- Serve with a sprinkling of parsley over pasta, or over rice.
👩🍳PRO TIP I also like this dish served with orzo or couscous and a green salad for an even lighter meal.
🍽️ What to serve it with
- Fluffy boiled rice (this is my no-fail method)
- Shop-bought or Fresh Pasta
- Alongside this noodle salad or pasta salad for a lighter dinner
📺 Watch how to make it
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Honey Lemon Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts - (around 200g/7oz each), sliced in half to make 4 thin chicken breasts
- 3 tbsp plain/all purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 120 ml (½ cup) chicken stock
- 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice - (juice from approx. 1.5 lemons)
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 lemon sliced into half-moon slices
- 1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
To Serve:
- Cooked rice, - spaghetti/linguine or orzo
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place the chicken breasts on a tray or board. Mix together the flour, salt, pepper and paprika. Coat both sides of the chicken with the flour mixture.
- Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat, until the butter melts.
- Add the chicken to the pan and cook for 7-8 minutes, turning once, until both sides are golden brown.
- Add the garlic, stir for 30 seconds (don’t let the garlic burn), then add the chicken stock, lemon juice, honey and lemon slices.
- Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, until the sauce is slightly reduced.
- Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve with rice or pasta.
Video
✎ Notes
Make the whole dish, then cool, cover and refrigerate for up to a day.
Reheat in a pan over a medium heat for 10-12 minutes. Place a lid on the pan to keep the heat in during reheating. It's a good idea to add a good splash (¼ cup or so) of hot chicken stock to help loosen up the sauce again. The chicken also tastes great cold for lunch the next day as part of a salad or wrap. Ingredient swaps
- Swap out the chicken breast for well-trimmed boneless chicken thighs.
- Add some heat with a tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce or a teaspoon of sriracha to the sauce.
- Add some quick-cook vegetables to the pan - such as mange tout, baby corn or asparagus.
Nutrition
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
Jillian says
This recipe is so quick and easy, it's a perfect weeknight meal to make after work. My boyfriend and I both loved it!
Courtney R. says
Delicious!!! My kids loved it. For me, took more time to cook than normal. My chicken wasn't completely thawed, so I had to spend sometime defrosting it. I also doubled the ingredients to have leftovers the following day, still tasty!
Courtney R. says
I also added fresh asparagus and it was a total hit! Will definitely be making this again and again!
Stephanie says
Yum very easy to make and delicious. My kids will love this
Nona says
Yum! Made this tonight and was blown away by the ease in which it all comes together. I think I will tweak the recipe next time and add a twitch of cayenne to the flour - oh, I used corn starch instead. Served with brown rice, streamed green beans and fresh tomato slices. Omg, so delicious.
Kgal says
Moist and the lemon-honey sauce makes it delicious. I cut the breasts into larger strips so I wouldn’t have to brown so long. Hubby loves.
Gary Dunleavy says
Hi Nicky, just finished making your honey lemon chicken dish and it was delicious, added some mange tout as per your tips which gave it a crunch, very happy with the meal and as always your instructions/recipe were spot on
Barrie Smith says
Hey Nikki, yet another lovely looking dish. I can't wait to try this one, along with so many others you have posted.
One of, if not my favourite chef on YouTube.
Ellie says
Love it!!! Made this many times now. X
Sarah says
Hi Nicky, another great tasting recipe. Simple and very quick to make. I served with rice, but next time (and there will definitely be a next time) I’ll add some green beans as well.
Janet Burton says
Haven't tried it yet - does it freeze?
Chris Jones says
Simple, quick, super tasty. Nothing more needs to be said.
Nia says
Thank you! This recipe appeared in my inbox at the very moment I was trying to decide what to cook for dinner this evening using the chicken breasts I had in the fridge. Easy, straightforward, and above all very tasty. I didn't change a thing (a rare occurrence), and served it with tenderstem broccoli and brown rice. It's definitely a keeper!
Rachel Rioch says
Hi Nicky, firstly I want to say how every single recipe of yours I have cooked has been a total success so thank you!
I’m wheat free can I use corn flour to coat the thighs?
Nicky Corbishley says
Thanks Rachel, so happy you're enjoying the recipes. Yes, cornflour is a good replacement.