Lemon Butter Chicken

This is one of the recipes that after I made it, I thought of all the extras that could make it better. I’ll give you the baseline but this one is super customisable thanks to the creative freedom that white rice gives you.

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This is one of the first things I learnt how to cook from scratch when I was at university because at its very most basic form it is simply four ingredients. Lemon. Butter. Chicken. Rice. I got better at cooking eventually but for a while I was eating a lot of rice (cheap) with jars of sauce (cheap) and pre-cooked chicken (cheap), so you’ll see a theme from self-taught University Recipes.

WARNING: This Recipe WILL make a mess of your oven top. The butter goes everywhere and you will find yourself covered in a fine mist of lemon juice and butter. You have been warned. It’s delicious but you will have to wipe down your whole kitchen afterwards.

I had to make the spice mix for Lemon Pepper so I’ll link that here. I haven’t found it able to purchase anywhere but it isn’t difficult to make.

You can use chicken breasts or skinless boneless thighs based on what you prefer and like I said at the start I made this very basic so you can choose different veggies to make this dish even better, I would suggest peas, diced pepper and maybe caramelised onions stirred through the rice.

Lemon Pepper Chicken

SERVES 4. PREP 15 MINS. COOK 30 MINS.

What you need:

• Rice
• 4 Chicken Breasts (or 6 boneless, skinless thighs)
• 4 Lemons
• 3 Cloves of Garlic
• 5 Tbsp Lemon Pepper Seasoning (here)
• 2 Tsp Garlic Salt
• 300g All purpose flour
• Butter

Method:

1. Cut your chicken so that you can flatten it out. I wrapped the cut chicken breasts in clingfilm and then hit it with a rolling pin so that it was flatter.
2. Half one lemon, juicing one half and finely slicing the remaining half. Save the slices for later.
3. Chop your garlic for later and begin cooking your rice. I like to add a stock cube and the juice of half a lemon to the water.
4. In a large bowl add the flour and mix in the garlic salt and lemon pepper seasoning. Stir until combined.
5. In a skillet or large frying pan, add a generous amount of butter and melt on a low heat. While your pan is heating up coat your chicken on both sides in the flour and seasoning mix. Shake off any excess flour.
6. Once the butter is melted, turn up the heat to high so the pan is sizzling hot when you add the chicken. Be careful not to burn the butter.
7. Add the chicken once the pan is hot and cook, turning frequently to prevent it from burning. Be careful not to crowd the pan.
8. Once the chicken is cooked, reduce the heat and add the juice of 3 lemons to the pan and allow to cook for 2 minutes. Remove the chicken and keep in some foil for later.
9. Add the garlic and any vegetables you wish to add to the pan and allow to cook.
10. Drain your rice keeping a small amount of the water to one side.
11. Use the rice water to deglaze the skillet, add all of the juices and vegetables from the pan to the rice.
12. Add the chicken back to the pan to heat up, using your slices of remaining lemon to caramelise in the pan with the chicken.
13. Assemble and enjoy!

It seems like a lot of steps here but once you’re into the process of cooking and assembling it’s easy. It’s a delicious summer dish that always reminds me of being abroad for some reason.

Like always, if you make and enjoy this let me know what you think! You can find all my social media in the links above and I hope you have a wonderful day!