This easy one pan lemon garlic chicken recipe is ready in no time! A quick, weeknight chicken dinner that tastes great over rice or pasta.
This easy lemon garlic chicken is one of my favorite fall recipes.
It's ready to go in under an hour, uses just one pot, includes spinach because #vegetables, and makes a simple, lemon-y, garlicky broth that's perfect for pouring over rice, pasta, or sopping up with a few slices of homemade crusty bread.
Also, this lemon chicken recipe makes great leftovers (perfect for meal prep!)
Ingredients you'll need
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs - We're using chicken thighs here because they pack a ton of flavor, stay a bit more tender than other cuts, and are easy to fit in the pan. Boneless skinless chicken breasts work just as well here though!
- Diced yellow onion and plenty of minced garlic - We'll sauté these aromatics together to create the base of our sauce.
- Fresh thyme gives some extra depth to this recipe. Dried thyme works, too!
- Lemon is the star of the show here: Fresh lemon juice adds brightness and flavor to our sauce. Use more or less lemon juice depending on your preference!
- Chicken stock (or chicken broth) gives our sauce some volume and extra flavor.
- Fresh spinach lends a pop of color and plenty of nutrients.
- You'll also need a few basics: olive oil, salt, and pepper help us bring this dish together.
Order of operations
First, sear the chicken
Adding a quick sear to our chicken thighs locks in a bit of moisture and gives us some super flavorful drippings to use as the base for our sauce.
Season your chicken thighs on all sides with plenty of salt, then sear the chicken with a bit of oil in a deep, large skillet until the meat is lightly browned on all sides. Set the chicken aside, then use the same pan to make the sauce.
Build your sauce + bake
- Sauté onion and garlic with a bit of oil until soft.
- Add salt, pepper, and fresh thyme, then squeeze in the juice of one lemon.
- Stir chicken stock and spinach into the sauce.
- Return the chicken thighs to your saucepan, then bake in a hot oven until cooked through.
Riffs and substitutions
These lemon garlic chicken thighs are ultra forgiving and easy to customize! A few of our favorite swaps and additions:
- For a creamy sauce, stir in a splash of heavy cream or Magic Cauliflower Cream.
- Use white wine in place of ½ cup of the chicken stock for extra flavor!
- For more lemon flavor, add the lemon zest from your lemon in addition to the juice (or add another lemon entirely!) You can also top the chicken thighs with lemon slices just before baking for a beautiful presentation and extra flavor.
- Add diced potatoes, asparagus, broccoli, kale, or carrots to make it a little heartier.
- Use whatever cut of chicken you have on hand - this recipe is equally delicious with boneless, skinless chicken breast (just make sure to add a few minutes to the cook time if you're using a larger cut- a good meat thermometer can help you with this).
What to serve with lemon garlic chicken
We love serving this chicken with pasta (we love ravioli or tortellini!), rice, quinoa, farro, or a pile of zucchini noodles. It's also great with:
- Small Batch Crusty Bread
- Classic Homemade Mashed Potatoes
- 5 Minute Lemon Arugula Salad (you can also use spinach in this salad!)
PS - Love this recipe? Try our Spinach Artichoke Chicken →
VIDEO: HOW TO MAKE LEMON GARLIC CHICKEN
📖 Recipe
Easy Lemon Garlic Chicken
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
- Category: Main Dish
- Cuisine: American
Description
An easy baked lemon chicken recipe for busy weeknights!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 large sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 lemon
- 1 ½ cups chicken stock
- 2 heaping cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
Instructions
SEAR THE CHICKEN (10 MIN)
- Heat oven to 400° Fahrenheit.
- Season both sides of chicken thighs with salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat olive oil in a large, oven-safe pan (I like to use a wide, deep skillet) over medium heat.
- Place chicken thighs in the hot pan and sear for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown.
- Remove chicken to a plate and set aside, then return pan to stove over medium-high heat.
MAKE THE SAUCE (5-10 MIN)
- Add onion and garlic to pan. Sauté until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. If the pan is looking a little dry, add another drizzle of olive oil to help the onion cook.
- Pull leaves off of thyme sprigs. Add thyme leaves to the onions.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Juice the lemon, removing any seeds, and add lemon juice to the onion mixture. Stir to combine.
- Add chicken stock and spinach to onions and stir to combine. Bring mixture to a simmer.
- When mixture has reached a simmer, return seared chicken thighs to pan and spoon some of the broth over the top of them to help them stay moist.
BAKE (15-20 MIN)
- Place pan in 400° F oven, uncovered, and cook 15-20 minutes more until chicken is cooked through. Serve immediately.
Notes
Can I make this in an Instant Pot? Yes! Visit our Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken post for full instructions.
Substitutions. Use bone-in, skinless chicken thighs or boneless, skinless chicken breasts if you prefer. With larger or bone-in cuts, you may need to extend the baking time to ensure chicken is cooked through (when we tested this recipe with boneless, skinless chicken breasts, we increased the cook time by 8 minutes or so). Use ½ cup of white wine in place of ½ cup of the chicken stock if you like. Add kale, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, or any vegetables you have on hand in place of or in addition to the spinach. We recommend adding broccoli, cauliflower, or carrots just as you put the chicken in the oven to avoid overcooking.
How to serve this lemon garlic chicken: Serve this lemon chicken over rice, quinoa, farro, pasta (we love ravioli and tortellini!) or mashed potatoes. It's also delicious as a stand-alone entree with some roasted vegetables on the side.
For added texture, wait to add the spinach until you're ready to serve. Stir it into the hot broth and let it wilt just slightly. (We add the spinach before baking in this recipe for ease, so you can go right from the oven to the table - but if you have the time and prefer your spinach to have more texture, add it right at the end!) This recipe has a very light, broth-y sauce.
If you prefer to thicken the sauce, stir in a cornstarch slurry, a splash of heavy cream, or a few spoonfuls of our Magic Cauliflower Cream just before serving. (You may also want to check out our creamy one pan chicken and potatoes recipe, which features a thicker, creamy sauce!)
To make this recipe in a slow cooker, sauté the onions and garlic in a small skillet. Add sautéed onion mixture to your slow cooker along with the remaining ingredients and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir chopped spinach in when you're ready to serve. (While you can certainly skip the sauté step if you like, we strongly recommend sautéing the onions and garlic even if you're using a slow cooker because the texture is so much better!)
Save leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, warm in a skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat until heated through. Taste and add extra chicken stock, lemon juice, and seasonings as necessary before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 362
- Sugar: 1.9 g
- Sodium: 357.8 mg
- Fat: 15.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 6.5 g
- Protein: 47.6 g
- Cholesterol: 215.8 mg
Alma
Thanks so much for this recipe! I made some modifications based on some of the other suggestions and what I had in my pantry. After sauteing the onions, I deglazed the pan with 1/4 cup of dry sherry and let it reduce before adding the liquid. I included the zest of the lemon. I didn't have any chicken broth, but used 1.5 cup water and 1.5 teaspoon of Better than Bouillon. In the last 10 minutes of cooking, I tossed in about 2 cups of asparagus for some extra veggies. I served it over rice. My husband loved it. Super simple and delicious!
Jessie
I'm so glad you liked it, Alma! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out (and I LOVE your tweaks!)
Helen
Excellent! Thank you. Vvv easy. Have made too much though...can I freeze what's left? H
Jessie
I haven't tried freezing this once it's cooked but you can certainly give it a try! I imagine it would work fine - you may just need to add an extra splash of liquid when you heat it up again.
Suze
Husband brought home boneless thighs. I searched the internet and found this. I thought it was delicious; husband was less enthusiastic: I wouldn't want this every week or every month, but it's okay. The heck with him; I had two helpings. The garlic mixed with the spinach was out of this world. I don't love thighs; I told husband, "When you bring home thighs, this is what I am making." And there's even enough left for lunch tomorrow!
Jessie
I'm so happy you liked it, Suze! If your husband wants a little more flavor, I definitely recommend substituting a bit of white wine for part of the stock or adding extra veggies. Thanks for letting me know how it turned out!
Kristin
I added the zest from the lemon, and I’ll use a little more garlic next time, but this recipe is definitely a keeper. Tasty, simple, quick, and healthy....... Checks all my boxes.
Jessie
So happy to hear that, Kristin! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out!
Kathy
Can you use dried thyme?
Jessie
Definitely! Typically when substituting dry herbs for fresh I use 1/3 of the suggested amount since dried herbs can be more potent.
ann
Does the recipe call for 1.5 cups of chicken stock or .5?
Jessie
1.5 cups (one and a half cups!)
Kim
Absolutely delicious! Kind of misread the amount of chicken so multiplied the other ingredients accordingly but it was still delicious and you can never have too many veggies IMHO. Served it over rice. I have shared the recipe and will definitely be making this again!
Kim
Oh, and I couldn't find any thyme in my cupboard or the store so I bought dried Bouquet Garni which has thyme in it. It was fine. I'm sure Italian Seasoning would have worked too! Once winter's over and I have my garden going again I would like to try lemon thyme in this!
Jessie
Agreed - the more veggies, the better! So glad you liked the recipe, Kim!
Keri Catucci
Made this tonight, modified it a bit by flouring the chicken and doubling the sauce.Served over linguine,it was delicious! definitely a keeper.
Jessie
Yum! So happy you liked it, Keri!
Shelly
This recipe was excellent. Thank you! I used my copper chef frying pan - didn't need much oil - My husband love it!
Jessie
I'm so happy you liked it, Shelly! Thanks for letting me know how it went!
Shelly
I had this again tonight for dinner - we really love it - I triple the Garlic!!! - just sent it to my Mom and Daughter - thought you should know. I am all the time cooking recipes I find online - there are a few that I keep and make over and over - This is one!!!!
Jessie
I'm so so happy to hear that, Shelly! Thank you so much (and you can never have too much Garlic!!)
jim
my only oven safe pan is cast iron. would you recommend using it?
Kim
Yes! I love cast iron and it's what I used to make this recipe, from stovetop to oven 🙂
Jessie
I love cooking with cast iron - a cast iron pan works great here!
Maria
If my pans aren't oven safe, would it be okay if I just seared the chicken a little longer in the beginning and just covered it at a simmer at the end for 15 minutes to finish cooking through?
Jessie
That should be fine! As long as the chicken is cooked through (to 165 degrees F) you'll be good to go!
Tomica
Made this for dinner just now. Had a little taste before my kids basketball practice. So excited to get home an actually have the kids try it. Recipe was so simple and I had all of the ingredients.
Jessie
I'm so happy to hear that, Tomica! I hope the kids loved it!
Barb
I had boneless chicken thighs and needed a quick recipe for tonight. Google to the rescue and I found your recipe. I actually had all of the ingredients on hand and served it over rice. It was delicious! Next time I will try adding some capers.
Dawn H.
I emailed this to my hubby in the afternoon and he had it ready when I got home from work. Win all the way around. He made it according to the recipe and served it with roasted rosemary potatoes. We absolutely loved it and it was actually tastier the following day as leftovers. The sauce is delicious and we thought the amount of lemon was perfect. The spinach was a nice addition as well. YUM!!!
Jessie
I'm so happy you liked it, Dawn! LOVE the idea of serving it with rosemary potatoes!
Kay McConnell
I'm sure this recipe will be delicious. Will try it tonight!
Debi
Thank you for this recipe. I’m trying it tonight!