We can not even begin to tell you how much we love this easy lemon chicken recipe. It’s far from boring. Instead the chicken is moist, flavorful and easy to make. It bursts with lemon flavor along with herbs, such as oregano and thyme, as well as toasted garlic and tangy mustard.
It all starts with chicken thighs that we’ve rubbed with mustard, lemon zest and dried herbs. Then, we sear it in a hot pan, creating a golden brown crust. After that, we add lots of tart lemon juice and savory chicken stock then slide it into a hot oven until moist, juicy and cooked through.
This is no ordinary lemon chicken recipe. It’s one you’ll think about and crave for days.
Not ordinary at all, but the best part? It’s easy and is so versatile. Serve with rice and vegetables or with mashed potatoes. Pasta, even.
We love making this lemon chicken recipe with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, however, you could certainly use chicken breast. If you can find them, try bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. When cooked, they are moist and juicy. You could also use skinless chicken breasts — the chicken won’t be as succulent, but will still be delicious.
Did you like our Lemon Chicken Recipe? If so, we bet you’ll love these:
- Baked Chicken Drumsticks with Old Bay from Inspired Taste
- Lemon Chicken Recipe from Simply Recipes
- Baked Roasted Red Pepper and Chicken Casserole from Inspired Taste
- Lemon Chicken Breasts Recipe from Ina Garten
- All Chicken Recipes from Inspired Taste
What you need to know. At home, we love to use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, which we’ve found to be more moist and flavorful than chicken breast. With that said, this recipe can be made with chicken breasts and will still be very tasty.
Equipment you’ll need. You will need a chef’s knife, two small bowls, a measuring jug, a large oven-safe skillet or frying pan, tongs and a whisk.
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs, skin-on, bone-in, trimmed of excess fat
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (1 teaspoon for rub and 2 teaspoons for sauce)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (1 tablespoon for rub, 1 tablespoon for cooking)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- 1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- Heat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Make rub for chicken. Combine mustard, 1 teaspoon of the lemon zest, oregano, thyme, salt and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a small bowl. Use fingers or a brush to coat chicken on both sides with the mustard rub.
- In another bowl or measuring jug, combine remaining lemon zest (2 teaspoons), lemon juice and the chicken stock. Set aside.
- Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a large oven-safe skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Add the smashed garlic then cook about 1 minute or until you can smell toasted garlic and the garlic has browned around the edges. Remove and discard the garlic, but leave the oil.
- Add chicken, skin-side down into the hot garlic-infused oil and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the skin has turned golden brown.
- Flip the chicken then add the lemon juice mixture from before. Stir then slide the pan into the oven and bake 25 to 35 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads 175 degrees F (79 degrees C).
- Remove pan from oven then transfer the chicken to a plate and cover with aluminum foil. There should still be liquid in the pan. Place the pan over medium heat and bring the liquid to a gentle simmer.
- In a small bowl, use your fingers to mix butter and flour together, making a dry, crumbly paste. Whisk the flour and butter into the sauce. The sauce will thicken slightly and look glossy.
- Nestle the chicken back into the pan then serve.
About the Author
Adam
I'm Adam Gallagher and alongside my wife, Joanne, I photograph and share favorite recipes from our kitchen. Sharing our recipes began as a hobby, turned into a dream and now has become our business. I just love that.
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Oh yum – what a great looking dish. The Silver Palate Cookbook had a lemon chicken recipe that I used to make back in the day, and loved it. Thank you for a reminder of how satisfying the combination of herbs and lemon on chicken is. I’ll have to put this on my dinner list in the next couple weeks!
I have been looking for a good recipe for chicken thighs (my husband and I are both bored with white meat chicken). This one looks really good. Thanks!
Love this! I don’t get to cook with chicken thighs nearly as much as I want to so this dish here is just screaming my name! Plus I always have lemons to use up!
This recipe reminds me a lot of a north African chicken recipe called Yassa! I love the addition of mustard! I will try this tonight for sure!
de verdad me parece tan sencilla que la voyhacer el domingo para comer en familia y luego la hare para mas gente felicitaciones
What dried herbs are best to use?
We used dried oregano and thyme.
what is whole grain mustard?
HI Janice, Whole grain mustard still has whole mustard seeds in it – it is usually sold next to Dijon mustard and is a darker brown than American mustard. If you cannot find it, Dijon mustard is a great substitute.
Hi Joanne and Adam. I am writing you those short lines because I have to say that since I discovered your site 2 months ago, which I think looks fantastic, I tried 3-4 recipes, just in the last 2 weeks. All the recipes that I’ve tried where easy to do, but most importantly, they were very tasty.
I keep on coming back and being happily surprise with all the different delicious and mouth watering recipes all over your site.
I know, I know; I might not be the first one to tell you that but I felt like letting you know anyway.
Keep those inspiredtaste recipes coming our way.
May God bless you, your husband and your business.
Kindly and sincerely
Philippe
This was awesome. I made it for New Years Eve dinner for my family. Served it with rice and steamed carrots…fabulous lemon flavor!
This was so yummy! I made it while I had the flu and my taste buds were super de-sensitized, and it was still incredibly delicious. Made it exactly as the recipe stated, and I’ll continue to do so
This is quickly becoming my new favorite blog!
So sorry you were unwell, but so happy the lemon chicken was flavorful enough for you
Hope you feel better!
Made this for dinner tonight and we all loved the flavor. This will be added to our “keepers”! I used whole grain dijon mustard, and for the herbs, used Penzy Italian seasoning. I did take the skin off for half of the chicken, as some of my family is trying to cut down on calories. Both versions (skin on and skin off) were well enjoyed. Thanks for the great easy recipe!
Wonderful! Thank you so much for coming back and letting us know about skin-on vs. no skin
Bone-in, skin-on chicken THIGHS??!! The scandal!! Hahaha! I love a good chicken thigh, and accidentally bought them bone-in and skin-on, so I’m truly looking forward to trying this recipe
Thanks for your easy to understand site; I’ve enjoyed every recipe I’ve tried.. tonight, blueberry muffins!
I made this chicken last week to rave reviews from my husband. It was fairly simple to make and tasty enough to motivate me to buy a skillet that can be used on the stovetop and in the oven. I didn’t have the skillet when I made this so I had to use the workaround. It worked fine, but one skillet would definitely be easier.
We are trying to eat healthy so I used 3 large boneless, skinless, chicken breasts and cut each breast in half so that the chicken would be easier to deal with. Although I am sure not as tasty as skin-on thighs, this dish was still outstanding.
I did not have grainy mustard so just used whatever we had (dark mustard). It worked out just fine. I served the chicken with brown rice and broccoli and it was a very tasty meal.
Thanks!
I made this last night and it was delicious my husband and even my very picky 2 year old daughter loved it! I took the Skin off my chicken, I doubled the rub and used dijon mustard since that’s what I had. Since I don’t have an oven safe pan I just transferred the chicken after browning into a glass baking dish. It was perfect, juicy and full of flavor! I served with white rice and sauteed zucchini. I will definitely be making this again!
Trying it now!!! Will let u know!!!
Turned out good!!!
Thank you so much for posting this! I have been using chicken thighs lately because they are more tasty and wanted to find something new that was easy. So far this is a complete WINNER! I have made this a few times for myself and found that it was totally addicting. This recipe really worked well using a large cast iron skillet both for the taste and easy clean up. I’ll be making it again in a few days for a few close friends. I plan be paring it with a hot dish made out of quinoa, roasted garlic, spinach and tomatoes…..and maybe a greek salad on the side.
I originally made it with the bone-in thighs, but I might make it with boneless/skinless this time. Either way I’m sure they will love it as much as I do!
Not only is this dish delishes, it’s super easy!!! Thank you for sharing. We will definitely be making this again. I’m going to use the left over sauce to make pasta premavera later this week.
Hi guys
Made this for dinner this evening and “wow” love it!. Used drumsticks that needed to be cooked and had to use a mix of Dijon and yellow American mustard as I had run out of everything even lemons. I always have great NZ Savignon Blanc at home so used that instead the lemon. Followed rest of recipe and was fabulous. Thanks so much for making my family happy.
Cheers
From New Zealand
This recipe is awesome! I put the chicken over some angle hair pasta and used the sauce as a delicious addition to the meal! It is super easy to make, just be careful not to grab the handle after it has been in the oven and now on top of the stove (my mind slipped a bit!) Thank you for sharing!