Lemon Pepper Chicken on rice with berries and roasted veggies on a blue plate

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Written by on in Main Dish, Recipes
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Lemon Pepper Chicken is a family favorite. It is full of flavor and can be ready in less than 45 minutes if your chicken is thawed. Fresh lemon juice, white cooking wine, and good quality parmesan cheese give this dish it’s delicious flavor. We like to serve this over white rice, but you could use brown rice or cauliflower rice too.

I have been making this dish for probably more than 15 years. And I think I have made this dish for my husband on his birthday most of those 15 years too. It’s one of his most favorite meals. I hope it will become one of your family’s favorite meals too!

One note on Parmesan cheese…please, please do NOT use parmesan cheese that has been pre-shredded or that you shake out of a container. This dish deserves a good quality cheese. You can get a triangle of Parmesan cheese for less than $5. It isn’t that expensive. And because of the depth of flavor that Parmesan cheese brings, you don’t need a lot.

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Sliced sautéed chicken is covered in a delicious cream sauce made with fresh lemon juice and white cooking wine. Then you top it with parmesan cheese and broil it just long enough to brown the cheese adding and extra depth of flavor. Serve over rice.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Broil time 5 minutes
Total Time 32 minutes
Course dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 6 people

Equipment

  • 1 large skillet
  • 1 9×13 glass pan
  • measuring cups spoons, etc
  • knife, spoon, citrus fruit hand juicer
  • cheese grater, fine grater size

Ingredients
  

  • 2 large chicken breasts, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
  • 3 TBSP olive oil may need more, just enough to sauté the chicken
  • sea salt and black pepper to season chicken
  • 3 TBSP white cooking wine
  • 1 1/2 fresh lemons, juiced
  • 2 C whipping cream I never use heavy, just regular whipping cream
  • more sea salt and black pepper
  • 3/4 C fresh parmesan cheese, grated finely don't buy the pre-shredded cheese. It won't work the same

Instructions
 

  • Slice your chicken breasts into somewhat thin slices for even cooking. If they are very big, I like cut the slices in half too.
  • In a large skillet on medium heat, add olive oil and sauté chicken until lightly browned. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Note: if your chicken was frozen, it can have excess water release as you cook it. I like to pour out some of the excess water so you don't boil your chicken). This should take 7-12 minutes depending on how thin you sliced your chicken and how large your skillet is.
  • Remove browned chicken to a glass 9×13 pan and set aside.
  • Quickly add in the white cooking wine to deglaze the pan. Scrape all those yummy brown bits from your pan into the wine, and cook for 1-2 minutes. Then add the lemon juice. Turn the heat down to low.
  • Add the cream and stir well. Add more sea salt and black pepper. I GENEROUSLY season at this point. Remember with sauces, if you are adding them to a rice dish, you will need enough seasoning to still give adequate flavor to the dish. Your sauce should be warmed through in just a few minutes.
  • Pour sauce on top of chicken in the 9×13 pan. Top with the shredded parmesan cheese. BROIL on LOW for 5-6 minutes or until cheese browns nicely.
  • Serve over rice of your choice.
  • I like to let this dish sit for a few minutes before serving. It just helps the chicken to absorb more of that yummy cream sauce.

Notes

If you are serving rice, remember to start your rice BEFORE you start the chicken.  Rice can take a bit of time to cook.  If you time it right, your rice and chicken will then be done at the same time.
You can also Broil some veggies while you are prepping the chicken and cooking it.  So prep your rice and veggies, then start your chicken.   If you do these three things, dinner might take an hour total, but I promise this meal is worth it.
Keyword chicken and spinach with a lemon cream sauce, chicken dinner, cream sauce, dinner with chicken, lemon pepper chicken, main dish, main dish with chicken

You will feel like a fancy chef as you deglaze your pan to add flavor to this dish. Deglazing a pan is so fun, but if you haven’t done that before, remember it will boil up quite a bit of steam as the white cooking wine first hits the pan. Just scrape the pan quickly and you are all set.

I hope this Lemon Pepper Chicken makes dinner time less stressful. For side dish ideas, you can broil some veggies, serve with fresh fruit, or a nice green salad.

Let me know how this recipe goes for you!

Emma

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