My Honey Lemon Chicken is perfect for weeknights! Chicken breast lightly coated in seasoned flour, pan fried until golden and served with a gorgeous honey lemon sauce. At just 320 calories a serve – with plenty of sauce – and on the table in 15 minutes, this is a fantastic back pocket recipe for busy days!
This rarely happens, and it usually only lasts 24 hours, but I can officially say: I’m cooked out. Between cooking for Easter both in real life and for RecipeTin Eats and client work, the amount of food that has come out of my pokey little kitchen over the past couple of weeks is extraordinary.
My freezer is jam packed, the homeless guy is getting 2 meals almost every day, and every friend I see gets sent home with food.
So today, it’s fitting that I share something super fast to make but, as always (!!), super tasty – this Chicken with Honey Lemon Sauce.
I start off by dusting the chicken with lightly seasoned flour which serves two purposes: 1) so the chicken forms a lovely golden brown crust; and 2) it helps thicken the sauce (via brown bits stuck on the pan mixed into the sauce and popping the chicken back into the sauce at the end).
The key to this recipe is the golden brown bits left in the pan from cooking the chicken. It’s gold and it should never be wasted. Whether you’re cooking fish or protein, swish a little liquid of some sort (broth/stock, wine, lemon juice, even water), bring it to a simmer to loosen the brown bits and use a spatular to scrape it off the bottom of the pan and into the liquid.
It’s free flavour and it’s the key to making this simple Honey Lemon Sauce so tasty even though there are so few ingredients in it.
This Honey Lemon Chicken is actually a really healthy meal too, at just 320 calories per serving. Serve it with a simple side salad and a couple of slices of bread to mop up the sauce, and you’ll have a complete meal for less than 500 calories.
Something to mop up the honey lemon sauce is key! It’s rude to lick the plate (in front of others, home alone is perfectly acceptable). So make sure you have some bread to wipe your plate clean!! – Nagi x
Succulent chicken with a lip smacking honey-lemon sauce. Dinner in a snap - 5 minutes prep, 4 minutes to cook the chicken, 3 minutes for the sauce = 12 minute dinner! Dusting the chicken in flour makes the skin slightly crispy which makes the sauce cling to it. Recipe VIDEO below!
- 1 lb / 500g chicken breast (2 pieces)
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup / 35 g flour (any)
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3/4 cup / 185 ml chicken broth / stock
- 1/4 cup / 85g honey
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml lemon juice (fresh)
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp water
- Lemon slices
- Finely chopped parsley
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Slice each chicken breast horizontally to form 4 steaks in total. OPTIONAL (for more even cooking): Pound to even thickness about 1cm/ 2/5" thick.
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Sprinkle each side generously with salt and pepper.
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Place flour in shallow dish. Coat the chicken in the flour, shaking off excess.
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Mix 1 tsp of the flour (reserved from step 3) with the water. Set aside.
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Place butter and oil in a skillet over medium high heat until butter is melted and hot. Add chicken and cook for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Turn and cook the other side until golden brown, then transfer onto a plate to rest.
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Add garlic into the skillet and stir for 20 seconds or until golden. Add chicken broth / stock and bring to simmer. Use a spatula to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan into the liquid.
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Add honey, lemon juice, soy sauce and flour/water mixture (from step 4) into the skillet. Mix and bring to simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until thickened into a syrup. Add salt and pepper to taste.
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To serve, pour Sauce over the chicken and garnish with parsley and lemon slices if using. Alternatively, return the chicken to the pan for 30 seconds (to reheat), turning to coat in the sauce.
1. Bringing the chicken to room temperature really helps to cook the chicken very fast, keeping it extra juicy.
2. TIP: Sometimes I blanch asparagus or other fairly flat vegetables in the sauce while it is simmering. To do this, just add 1/4 cup of water and cook the veggies in the sauce for a few minutes until crisp-tender, by which time the extra water added should have evaporated, leaving you with just the sauce!
3. This can be made with fish or thin pork steaks too! Use thin schnitzel steaks (ie. not breaded / crumbed) or do it yourself - place a sheet of baking / parchment paper over the pork and bash until thin with a rolling pin or large can.
4. To freeze: Don't put the chicken you want to freeze in with the sauce in the pan (it will go soggy when stored), keep them separate. Freeze sauce separately from the cooked chicken. To reheat, defrost chicken thoroughly and bring to room temperature. Heat a skillet over high heat, add a touch of oil and add the chicken to reheat and freshen up the surface and make it golden again. Pour sauce in to reheat, turn chicken to coat and serve.
5. The reason I use both butter and oil is because the butter is flavour for the sauce and chicken, but if you use only butter, it has a tendency to burn. So I use both butter and oil.
6. Nutrition per serving, assuming all sauce is used.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Honey Lemon Chicken recipe video! Note: The recipe is missing the soy sauce which is in the ingredients, returned to the recipe by popular demand by readers who loved the original recipe!
have you ever used chicken thighs for this recipe?
Yep it works 100% great!
Loved the picture so much I had to try it. Cooking for just hubby and myself so I used chicken tenders and kept the same the same. You can never have too much of a good thing. Loved it. Is there a way I can keep my favorite recipes so I don’t have to scroll the index? So far I have made copies . I want to try your Proper Chow mei n next.
My third recipe of yours (following butter chicken & flatbread). This was so easy, and turned out perfectly. Absolutely delicious. Only problem was I made a quick pasta AFTER the chicken, in those 8 minutes, I think I “tasted” the sauce 20 times, so there was just a drizzle left 😲 LOVED it!! (Good thing my husband prefers very little sauce!!!). Thanks for another great recipe!
That’s terrific to hear Betsy! So glad you enjoyed this! N x
question — has anyone tried to make this gluten free?
This was delicious! I made a couple small substitutions due to not having everything on hand, and it still came out great. Will definitely make again!
I am so thankful for the video! I came here from Pinterest. When I saw you use the flour from when you were covering the chicken- I was like that is so smart! Easy things like that I need to pick up. Trying it out tonight, it is a hit on Pinterest.
I hope you love it Stephanie! N xx
Hi Nagi
I have recently discovered your recipe blog after seeing you on Studio 10.
I have made a few dishes now and my family are loving you!
Tonight we had the lemon and honey chicken. I made enough for 8 and the 4 of us finished all of it.
With 2 hungry teenagers, I always double the quantities.
Tomorrow we are having the satay and the next day the cheese macaroni.
All my big celebrity chef cook books are being left on the shelf and I can’t wait to go through all your
recipes. All seem easy to achieve.
Thanks for your great work
Della
Hi Della! Studio 10! Wow!!!! 🙂 I’m so glad you came to have a look around on my recipe site and you like what you see. Especially this one! 🙂 N x
You did it AGAIN! Absolutely lovely. We try your recipes at least once a week and they are always great.
Simple, quick yet tastes like a restaurant meal. Thank you for sharing!
That’s terrific to hear Anka!! So pleased you enjoyed this – N x
The chicken turned out very tasty. However, the sauce needed some help. I followed the recipe but could not get it to thicken and it was incredibly sweet. I realized the above recipe fails to include when to add the soy sauce. Once I added it to the sauce, it really helped cut the sweetness. I also added a generous splash of half & half to help thicken the sauce which gave it some richness. I put the chicken back into the sauce and let it simmer for a good 5 minutes. I served it over a bed of white rice. Chopped scallions would have been the perfect garnish! We’ll give it a 4 out of 5 stars. Thanks!
Oooh, so it was nice with cream added?? I wouldn’t have thought to add cream to honey + lemon sauce?? 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi…I love all your recipes and delicious looking food! Will you marry me?….JTS
Ba ha ha!! Very flattering Tim! 🙂 N xx
I finally made this — and i’m glad i did. My family loved it. It’s so easy and tasty. thank you Nagi!
Wonderful to hear Kathleen! Thank you for sharing your feedback – N x ❤️
You changed this recipe didn’t you? I went to make it again last night and was lazy so i just printed it off before I left for work and noticed it’s different. No soy sauce, more honey? Am I seeing things?? Still delicious but curious….
Hi Nancy! You’re right, I made it again to make a video and improved / simplified it a touch. 🙂
I made it awhile ago and loved the soy sauce! Do you remember how much the recipe called for?
Any chance of posting what changes were made? I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for awhile and we LOVED it. I saw that it was different and tried it anyway, and it was too sweet for our tastes. I can’t remember the old proportions and how much soy sauce to use…
DONE! I dug up the original recipe on an archived version of my site and updated the recipe back to the original – because you are not the first person who has said the same 🙂 So the recipe is now back to the original recipe. N xx
Thank you! My husband and I love this recipe. Sometimes I cube the chicken, then Brown and cook in my pressure cooker. It’s such an awesome sauce!
Made this tonite
Quick and very yummy
That’s terrific to hear! Thanks for letting me know – N xx
This is BEST lemon and honey chicken I have ever cooked. The chicken was so tender and so tasty, I was amazed with such simple ingredients that something like this could taste so good. I wasn’t too sure about the flavour of the sauce at first. Thought it was just another lemon sauce that wasn’t very tasty , a bit tart. But oh my, when the chicken was added to the sauce it just became this restaurant quality meal. We loved this one. Resting the chicken made the chicken even more succulent. I always stay away from chicken breast because of how bland and dry it can be. But I thought I would do exactly what the recipe said and the chicken just melted in the mouth. This is going into my family recipe book, look no further for lemon chicken recipes. I served this with broccolini, carots and roasted potato. Yum!
That’s so great to hear Wendy! Thank you for letting me know – N xx ❤️
Delish! I added some capers, great recipe 🙂
So pleased you enjoyed it Rita! Thanks for letting me know! N xx❤️
Just found your page and I’m really excited about it! This chicken recipe is the first one I will try.
Hope you love it Dawn!
Made it tonight … wife and I loved it. Tks
That’s terrific to hear Joe! Thanks for letting me know! N xx
Made this last week, everyone loved it.
Loved all your recipes so ar.
4 thumbs up.
Thanks Jenny! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed this one too! 🙂 N xx