This Lemon Chicken recipe is packed with flavor, incredibly fast, and really delicious!
Tender chicken is pan-fried to perfection and tossed in a tangy-sweet lemon sauce that will turn everyone into a lemon lover!
Serve it over rice for a complete and satisfying weeknight meal.
The Easiest Lemon Chicken Sauce
When we go for Chinese, lemon chicken tops my list! It’s always so tender and perfectly sweet and tangy.
At home, my family loves this easy lemon chicken recipe. Not only is it packed with flavor, but the sauce is made with just 4 simple ingredients that you probably already have. Broth, cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice are all you need to make the perfect lemon sauce.
I prefer to keep it simple but you can add a couple cloves garlic to the chicken when stir frying if you’d like.
How To Make Chicken Tender
Have you ever had a stir-fry and wondered how they get the meat so darn tender? Most often, it’s due to a technique called velveting.
Meat (beef or chicken) is marinated in a combination of egg white, cornstarch, oil, and often other additives like vinegar. Cornstarch is a natural tenderizer (and used in this recipe as well as many other stir fry favorites like Mongolian Beef)!
How To Make Lemon Chicken
- Dice chicken breasts and toss with egg mixture (per the recipe below). Refrigerate while making the sauce.
- Stir fry the chicken in batches until golden brown.
- Add the sauce and cook until thick and bubbly. Toss with chicken and serve.
Garnish with lemon slices, green onion or chives, and sesame seeds.
It’s great served over rice or noodles with a side of fresh veggies like Sesame Bok Choy or even simply steamed broccoli.
Leftovers
Lemon Chicken is a great dish to make ahead or make a double batch so that you’ll have lots of leftovers. It will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days for easy lunches!
Better Than Takeout Dishes
Did your family love this Lemon Chicken recipe? Leave us a comment and a rating below!
Lemon Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts diced
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Sauce
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Optional Garnish
- sesame seeds and thinly sliced green onion
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine chicken with egg, cornstarch, and soy sauce. Allow it to marinate in the fridge for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour.
- In a small bowl, mix together the sauce ingredients.
- In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from the egg mixture, allowing any excess to drip off. Discard the marinade.
- Add chicken to the pan in batches and stir-fry until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes.
- Stir the sauce well to ensure the cornstarch is fully incorporated. Pour it into the pan with the chicken. Let it simmer on low heat until it thickened, about 3-4 minutes
- Garnish with sesame seeds, thinly sliced green onion, and lemon wedges if desired.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Main Course
Cuisine American, Asian Fusion© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Great quick meal!
I am in New Zealand and have found Holly’s site. Having a great time with all these lovely recipes and helpful tips. Cooked this in the weekend and it was a instant winner. Delicious and easy to make. Looking forward to trying many more. Thanks.
I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes Fiona!
just loved the lemon chicken, so tasty and so easy to make.
looking forward to trying more of your mouthwatering recipes.
This was amazing and so easy. Cut back on sugar and added a orange yellow and red sliced pepper. Served over jasmine rice will definitely make again.
Positively delicious!!! Another winner from Holly!!
Just finished devouring this delicious dish! ok, I added a 1/4 cup of vodka to the sauce, and I’ll probably reduce the sugar a little next time, but this recipe is dinner party-worthy! The velveting technique is very simple and will be used in all of my stir-fries going forward. A++, Holly!
I hope to make this dish soon. Is the chicken supposed to be skin on? Thank you!
Karren
I use boneless skinless chicken breasts. Enjoy the recipe!
It was really good especially with the sesame book chop. Easy to make and also quick.
Glad you enjoyed it Jeff!
wonderful dish will make it often
So glad you loved it!
can you substitute flour for cornstarch?
I haven’t personally tried substituting flour for cornstarch in this recipe, so I can’t say for certain how it would turn out. However, a general rule of thumb is that you would need to use twice as much flour as the amount of cornstarch called for. Let us know how it goes!
Easy! And loved by five boys! I had know idea about the corn starch tenderizer. Thank you!
OMG, was that ever delicious!
My boyfriend said it was the best chicken he ever had! So tender! Sauce was perfect!
Will definitely make this again and again!
That is great, Deborah! So happy to hear he enjoyed it.
This is an outstanding, simple Lemon Chicken recipe. I made it first for myself and loved it. I then made it for a small dinner party and everyone raved about it….no leftovers. The chicken is very, very tender. The one thing I did change was the size of the chicken pieces. I made larger pieces than suggested. Still worked very, very well. Bravo!!!
So glad you loved this!
great food
Thanks Dina!
yum, delicious! the chicken had amazing flavor and texture. i served it over lo mein noodles with steamed broccoli on the side, and it was the perfect meal!
Great recipe and really nice to learn about velveting. It really works, the chicken had the perfect texture. The sauce was also spot-on to what I’ve had in Chinese restaurants. I do like a little more lemon so I squeezed some fresh lemon over the top after dishing. Thanks for the recipe, I’m sure we’ll make it again.
I’m going to make this Lemon Chicken for special friends tomorrow. Serving it over a bed of Jasmine Rice.
Just made the lemon chicken for supper tonight. Absolutely delicious! Easy recipe. Will definitely make again soon!
Love your recipes Holy. I was recently put on a low calorie diet. Do you have any good low calorie diet recipes? Will you please write a book? Thanks
Thank you Irene!! I do hope to have a book someday and will be sure to make a post when it’s coming! You can find healthier choices here. Enjoy!
Do you add the marinade from the chicken to the pan too when browning the poultry?
The marinade is discarded.