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You are here: Home / Dinner / Chicken / Creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken

By Karina 20 Comments Filed Under: Chicken

Creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken

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Creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken

With simple ingredients and half the fat of the usual creamy sauces, this lemon chicken is crispy and tender, so full of garlic and rustic flavours, it’s guaranteed to knock your socks off.

Creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken made in one pan with less the fat than regular cream sauces! | https://cafedelites.com
Lemon. Garlic. Sweet Paprika. Thyme (or even parsley). Cream. Everyone loves this one pan chicken dinner ready in under 20 minutes!

Creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken Collage

So many of you have made the Creamy Sun Dried Tomato + Parmesan Chicken Zoodles, tagging me in your pictures on Instagram, loving the flavours, but asking how to cut the fat content of the cream sauce without compromising on flavour.

The answer is chicken stock (or chicken broth). With most of the sauce made of stock, and only a small amount of cream, you can still have the creamy sauce with less than half the fat of a regular cream base.

Creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken | https://cafedelites.com
And with the added bonus of crispy chicken.

Creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken | https://cafedelites.com

Creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken | https://cafedelites.com

Creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken

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Prep: 4 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 19 mins
Serves: 6

Ingredients

  • 6 chicken thigh cutlets (skin on and bone in)* See Notes
  • 2 tablespoons butter (or olive oil)
  • 1 onion , finely chopped
  • 4 large cloves garlic , minced
  • 6 cloves garlic , crushed with the back of a knife (not minced)
  • 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
  • 1 teaspoon lemon pepper (or cracked pepper - optional)
  • 3/4 cup chicken stock (or broth)
  • 1/2 cup cream (thickened/heavy cream or coconut cream may be used)
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • salt to season
  • 4 fresh sprigs of thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme is fine)
  • Lemon wedges to serve

Instructions

  • Wash chicken cutlets and thoroughly pat dry with paper towel. Season with salt. Melt the butter in a large oven-proof frying pan (or skillet) on medium heat. Place the chicken cutlets, skin side down, and fry until golden and crisp (place a lid on the frying pan to avoid the fat from the chicken spitting all over the stove). Turn chicken and continue to fry until browned. Take off the heat; transfer chicken onto a plate and drain most of the fat from the pan (leave about 2 tablespoons of the oil for flavour).
  • Return the pan to the stove and reduce heat to low. Add the chopped onion, minced and crushed garlic, paprika and lemon pepper (if using) to the oil left in the pan, occasionally stirring until garlic is fragrant and onion is transparent. Season with salt to taste and add in the thyme.
  • At this point, preheat your oven to grill/broil setting on medium heat.
  • Pour in the stock/broth, cream and lemon juice and bring to a slow simmer. Return the chicken back into the pan; cover with lid and allow to simmer gently in the sauce for a further 10 minutes, or until cooked through.
  • Place the pan into the oven and allow the skin to crisp up (it takes about 5 minutes).
  • Serve with lemon wedges or slices and fresh sprigs of Thyme.

Notes

*Substitute chicken thighs for chicken drumsticks or skinless breast for a lower fat option
Creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken | https://cafedelites.com
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Amber says

    January 20, 2020 at 4:07 am

    5 stars
    Made it for my family. Used garlic powder, onion powder, and Lawreys for the salt on the chicken. I also added mushrooms. It was amazing! Our plates were all scraped clean!

    Reply
  2. Ellie says

    March 09, 2017 at 1:40 pm

    I made this today and it was really good my family and I loved it. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

    Reply
  3. Joyce says

    August 28, 2016 at 10:05 am

    5 stars
    I made this and used chicken tenders cause it was what I had. I doubled the sauce and poured it over fettuccine. We scraped the bowl clean. So good.

    Reply
  4. Mel says

    May 12, 2016 at 3:41 pm

    5 stars
    I’ve now made three of your creamy chicken dishes. All fantastic, but this one is the best!

    Reply
  5. Erica says

    April 18, 2016 at 2:44 am

    4 stars
    Cooked this today. Recipe was really easy to follow. Came out perfect. Was delicious & tasty.

    Thank you

    Reply
    • Karina says

      April 18, 2016 at 7:16 am

      Erica that’s so great to hear! Thank you for your feedback 🙂

      Reply
  6. Dan says

    March 04, 2016 at 7:52 am

    What if I wanted to use skinless, boneless breasts?

    Reply
    • Karina says

      March 08, 2016 at 5:05 pm

      Hi Dan. Chicken breasts are fine to use in this recipe also! They won’t need as long as thighs. I’d say 8 minutes less than the normal cooking time. I’d even suggest cooking them stove top only as they cook much faster than bone-in thighs 🙂

      Reply
  7. Sandy says

    January 22, 2016 at 3:12 pm

    5 stars
    This sounds really silly but do i put it in the oven to broil with the lid still on?

    Reply
    • Karina says

      January 23, 2016 at 8:31 am

      No no. Uncovered into the oven. Sorry I should state that in the recipe! Thank you for picking that up Sandy!

      Reply
  8. Sheri says

    January 20, 2016 at 8:01 am

    If I use chicken breasts do I still have to do step 5? And what side dish would you recommend to go with this dish? I can’t wait to make it! 🙂

    Reply
    • Karina says

      January 23, 2016 at 8:28 am

      No you won’t need to as Breast fillets cook faster than thigh cutlets! I truly hope you enjoy it Sheri!

      Reply
  9. Lidia says

    January 06, 2016 at 11:35 am

    5 stars
    Delicious! My family loved it. I didn’t have heavy cream and used sour cream instead – still tasted great! The only problem was figuring out what is “medium” broiler setting…

    Reply
  10. Doug Resar says

    December 14, 2015 at 5:12 am

    5 stars
    This recipe was excellent , but my to taste it was a little to tart so I added 2 table spoons of honey. The family absolutely raved about it, so Karina big thanks to you and I can highly recommend this recipe to anyone.

    Reply
    • Karina says

      December 19, 2015 at 10:50 am

      Doug that’s great to hear. I’m so glad to adjusted it to your tastes! Thank you for the recommendation!

      Reply
  11. Vanessa says

    December 03, 2015 at 3:50 am

    Do you think I can use half and half in lieu of the cream?

    Reply
    • Karina says

      December 12, 2015 at 9:59 pm

      Hi Vanessa! Yes, half and half is fine with this chicken 🙂

      Reply
  12. amie says

    November 24, 2015 at 7:58 pm

    Hi Karina
    How many propoints for this recipe?

    Reply
    • Karina says

      November 25, 2015 at 10:02 pm

      Hi Amie! I’ll work this one out and let you know tomorrow 🙂

      Reply
  13. Wendy says

    November 23, 2015 at 6:28 am

    Mmmmm, sounds delicious!

    Reply

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Welcome! My name is Karina and this is my internet kitchen hang-out. A self-confessed balanced foodie sharing some waistline friendly recipes that are full of flavour. Life is too short for bland and boring. …

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