This lemon pepper chicken is as easy as it is delicious.
Juicy chicken breasts are baked on a bed of zucchini and smothered in a tangy lemon sauce.
This Lemon Pepper Chicken recipe is sponsored by McCormick.
Lemon Pepper Chicken is a Family Favorite Because…
- Quick to prep, this dish comes together with basic pantry ingredients and a few minutes in the oven!
- Lemon pepper chicken is simple to make and packed with flavor from a simple homemade seasoning.
What You’ll Need For Lemon Pepper Chicken
Chicken: I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts in this recipe. You can replace the chicken breasts with boneless chicken thighs—the cooking time will need to be adjusted.
Seasoning: I make homemade lemon pepper seasoning since it has more flavor without being too salty. Ensure the lemon zest is dry if storing leftover seasoning or store it in the freezer.
Sauce: Fresh, whole lemons give this sauce a fresh lemon flavor. It’s slightly thickened with flour and seasoned with a homemade lemon pepper blend.
Stock/Wine: Use extra chicken stock or chicken broth instead of white wine if desired.
Zucchini: Zucchini can be replaced with other colorful summer squashes or sliced mushrooms.
How to Make Lemon Pepper Chicken
- Soften the zucchini slightly and transfer to a casserole dish.
- Brown the chicken and add it to the dish.
- Simmer the sauce in the same skillet and spoon it oveer the chicken.
- Bake until the chicken is cooked through (recipe below).
Storage and Reheating
- Store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Reheat sauce in a pan, whisking in a little milk to emulsify. Add chicken to the sauce and reheat on low until warmed through.
- Freeze chicken and sauce separately in zippered bags for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Tasty Chicken Dishes
Did your family love this Lemon Pepper Chicken? Leave us a rating and a comment below.
Lemon Pepper Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 2 ½ teaspoons lemon pepper seasoning divided, recipe below
- 6 green onions thinly sliced
- 1 medium zucchini sliced, or 8 oz mushrooms
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Sauce
- ½ cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup white wine
- 1 small lemon juiced
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour I use flour from the dredge mixture
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- In a bowl, combine zucchini, 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning, and green onions.
- In an ovenproof skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat. Add the zucchini mixture and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly softened. Transfer to a 2-quart casserole dish or Dutch oven.
- In a shallow bowl, combine flour and 1 ½ teaspoons of lemon pepper seasoning. Dip the chicken breasts in the flour mixture and shake to remove any excess (reserve the remaining flour to thicken the sauce).
- Add the remaining olive oil to the skillet and brown chicken over medium-high heat until golden, about 3 minutes per side. Place on top of zucchini.
- Place broth, wine, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of the leftover flour mixture and garlic powder in a jar and shake well to combine.
- Pour into the warm skillet while whisking and bring to a boil. Simmer 1 minute while whisking and scraping up any brown bits in the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over chicken breasts.
- Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Remove cover and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes longer or until the chicken reaches 165°F.
Notes
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Dinner, Main Course
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I will be making this tomorrow…wondering if this can be made the night before?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Maria, but it should be just fine. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Are the chicken breast skinless or with skin on
For this recipe, we use skinless chicken and dredge it in a flour mixture for the perfect coating.
Great flavors, but struggled to get the sauce to thicken. I added a little extra flour to try and thicken, but it didn’t seem to work for me. I will definitely try this recipe again and see if I can get it to work. I love your site, and I have cooked numerous meals that my husband and I love!
So happy to hear that these recipes are a hit with you and your husband Shae. If the sauce isn’t thickening you can definitely add in more flour or try simmering it a little longer to reduce the liquid. Let us know how it goes!
So delicious! I used sumac because I didn’t have lemon pepper and sumac is quite lemony as well. And added some peppers to the vegetables. The chicken was amazingly tender! Thanks.
Those sound like great additions Adina! Thanks for sharing.