24 Recipes That Show Why Lemon and Chicken Belong Together
Lemon brightens these easy chicken dinners, from oven-baked chicken breasts to chicken and dumplings.
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Cara Cormack
Lemon and chicken is a tried-and-true combo to rival the best food pairings, especially when bolstered with fresh herbs like rosemary and thyme. From aromatic roast chickens to lemony classics like Chicken Piccata, here are some of our favorite lemon chicken recipes, many of which come together quickly on a busy weeknight.
Lemon and Garlic Baked Chicken Thighs
Diana Chistruga
These weeknight-friendly, crisp-skinned chicken thighs are baked with roasted lemon, garlic, and thyme. The drippings are then transformed into a luscious pan sauce.
Roast Chicken with Lemons
This classic Marcella Hazan roast chicken recipe includes — and we’re not kidding — two ingredients (save salt and pepper): a whole chicken and two lemons, which are stuffed in the bird’s cavity. No basting required.
Pan-Roasted Chicken Thighs with Lemon and Cherry Tomatoes
Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are browned on the stovetop and transferred to the oven, where they cook with lemon slices, garlic, and cherry tomatoes. Serve with crusty bread to sop up the lemony pan juice and garlicky Swiss chard pesto.
Chicken in a Pot with Lemon Orzo
Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Kelsey Moylan / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle
This is one of chef and cookbook author Nigella Lawson’s favorite meals to cook at home. Two entire lemons infuse a whole chicken and orzo with loads of bright, tangy flavor.
Chicken with Lemon, Oregano, and Feta Cheese
Photographer: Kelsey Hansen, Food Stylist: Annie Probst, Prop Stylist: Breanna Ghazali
This Mediterranean-style roast chicken is dressed with lemon juice, oregano, and butter before getting baked, then topped with tangy feta cheese, which melts under the broiler. It’s served with the lemony, buttery pan juices.
Herb and Lemon Roasted Chicken
Cara Cormack
This roast chicken is slathered with a lemon-herb butter before getting baked, yielding crispy skin and juicy meat. The pan drippings get a second life as as a chunky jus to serve alongside.
Roasted Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs with Potatoes
Instead of relying on dried lemon-pepper seasoning, these bone-in chicken thighs are seasoned with fresh lemon juice and zest, fresh dill and oregano, and chopped garlic cloves. They bake at the same time as seasoned potato wedges, making for an easy sheet-pan dinner.
Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings with Hot Honey Glaze
These wings are topped with a lemon pepper seasoning and cooked until crispy in an air fryer. A buttery hot honey glaze is balanced by lemon zest and juice.
Chicken Freekeh Skillet with Warm Feta-Lemon Relish
These fragrant chicken thighs are nestled into a bed of freekeh, a cereal grain with a smoky flavor, but you can also substitute bulgur. They’re served alongside a garlicky and tangy relish.
Lemon-Brined Fried Chicken
This juicy chicken from chef Thomas Keller is soaked in a lemony brine overnight, then coated in a flour mixture and buttermilk before being fried to crispy perfection.
Tandoori Chicken
Legendary cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey offers up the charcoal grill as an alternative to the tandoor oven for home cooks to replicate the charred flavors of this classic Indian chicken dish. Skinless chicken thighs and drumsticks are dressed in salt and lemon juice before getting soaked in a flavorful yogurt marinade and grilled until lightly charred.
Chicken Piccata with Radishes
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Debbie Wee
Chefs Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook created this simplified version of the Italian-American classic for home cooks. Chicken breasts are coated in seasoned flour, pounded thin, and cooked in a skillet. The luscious and tangy pan sauce is made with garlic, butter, lemon juice, capers, parsley, and chicken stock.
Lemony Chicken and Dumplings
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless
This cozy and fragrant chicken soup from chef Carla Hall is brightened with lemon peel strips. Drop dumplings come together easily and cook right in the broth.
Hot Honey Chicken Thighs with Lemon-Oregano Potatoes
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christine Keely
This one-skillet dinner includes seared chicken thighs and herbed potatoes cooked in the drippings. A simple hot honey lemon drizzle and salty feta finish the dish and contrast beautifully with the crispy chicken and tender potatoes.
Chicken Diane
For this one-skillet classic, the delicious browned bits from seared chicken thighs and mushrooms get transformed into a velvety pan sauce. Fresh lemon juice helps to balance the rich sauce.
Juicy Lemon-and-Herb Roast Chicken
This roast chicken from chef Greg Vernick is brined in a soaking liquid that includes kombu, a dried kelp that adds complex umami flavor. The chicken is stuffed with lemon halves and rosemary and thyme sprigs, and served with a buttery skillet sauce brightened with lemon juice.
Chicken and Barley Stew with Dill and Lemon
For this warming one-pot dinner from Gail Simmons, browned chicken breasts and barley cook in an aromatic stock. The dish is brightened with lemon juice and fresh dill.
Avgolemono Chicken Soup with Rice
Avgolemono, a traditional lemon-egg sauce in Turkish, Arab, Balkan, Greek, and some Jewish cuisines, is often transformed into a broth, as in this recipe. Rotisserie chicken and cooked rice make it a cinch to prepare; the rice is pureed into the lemon-egg broth for thickness and mixed into the soup itself, adding texture and contrast.
Zesty Braised Chicken with Lemon and Capers
Seasoned bone-in chicken thighs are dusted with flour and browned in a skillet before getting cooked in a delectable, zippy wine sauce of sauvignon blanc, stock, lemons, thyme, and capers. Braising the thighs in the oven yields tender, juicy meat.
Lemon-Onion Roast Chicken Legs
These chicken legs are tossed in a lemony marinade, then baked alongside onions and lemon slices. Requiring just 10 minutes of active cooking time, this dish is an ideal weeknight meal.
Lemon-Brined Smoked Chickens
Chef Brian Perrone soaks chickens in a lemony brine to keep them juicy throughout a lengthy smoking process. The Paprika Ancho-Chile Spice Rub packs in the flavor, and can also be reserved for other recipes.
Golden Chicken Thighs with Charred Lemon Salsa Verde
Chef Nancy Silverton roasts lemon slices so they’re lightly charred before stirring them into a tangy salsa verde. Its the perfect foil to crisp-skinned chicken thighs marinated in a mixture of lemon juice, smashed garlic, olive oil, chopped herbs, and crushed red pepper.
Grilled Chicken Breasts with Lemon and Thyme
These easy, spicy chicken breasts are marinated in a mixture of red pepper flakes, thyme, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. You can swap the thyme for other herbs like oregano or marjoram if you prefer.
Honey-and-Lemon-Glazed Roast Chicken
This lemony chicken recipe from chef Piero Incisa della Rocchetta was inspired by Peking duck. Whole chickens are stuffed with lemon, garlic, and rosemary, then brushed with a mixture of soy sauce, honey, and lemon juice, yielding delectably crispy skin.
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