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
Lalabubz
Ivr only takrn off a star because it woukd have been AWESOME *in capiral letters* if the stock could have been thickened. But it was Awesome with a capital A! I added extra lemon zest, and a tablespoon of honey, as our stocks here have no sugar in them. I disagree wholeheartedly with Jaggi, as the oven time built the flavours massively. Good job, lady! Oh..and i added leek to the onion mix, as mine looked sad and definitely wouldn't have been ok for another day..
Lalabubz
I can actually spell...my phone cannot. 😉
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Hello, thank you for sharing your additions to the recipe!
Jaggi
I think use of the oven in this recepie is redundant.
Rest is all pretty optimum n tasty output.
NoOne
I was tired of the same old chicken go-to recipes so I tried this and it made me happy. The recipe is pretty foolproof and it was so tender, juicy and flavorful. Not only that, but it can go with almost any side dish. I don’t think I’ve ever given a recipe 5 stars before, but this gets it. I will be making this again, garunteed.
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Wow! Thank you for the amazing compliment! Truly appreciate the praise and so happy this recipe is a go-to for you.
Liz
Fast, fun, delicious, I really loved this recipe. I used thigh cutlets and did it all on top of the stove, just put a lid on the frypan. Oh, and I added a touch of fennel
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Hi Liz, thank you for the feedback - love the fennel addition! It's great when readers can talk about what they did so others can see.
Elizabeth Johnson
I found I needed to deglaze after the chicken, so I think I will do the onions and garlic first, then a deglaze and then the chicken. Also, I am reducing the liquid quite a bit before serving all over pasta.
JANE
Where does the spinach come in
Tina
Instruction number 9 covers the spinach.
Patti
I found this recipe by chance. Made it for dinner tonight. It was quick and easy as well as delicious. Will be adding it to my repertoire!
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Hi Patti - thank you for sharing and we love hearing when we get added to the dinner rotation!
Tammy davis
Wow nice job. U really made this interesting and very personal I think I’m going to try this!!
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Hi Tammy - thank you!
Lizzette Romero
This was amazing and my husband said to make it for him twice a week for the rest of his life. That's an amazing compliment coming from him.
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Hi Lizzette - Wow how wonderful, that's amazing! Thank you!
JT
Loved this! Thanks for sharing it. It is going to be one of my new favorite recipes!
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Hi JT - thank you! So glad you enjoyed it.
J Harvey
My husband and myself live this recipe. We had it with rice and a green salad.
Thank you.
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Hi J - Thank you for this wonderful compliment!
Stacie
This was a huge winner with my husband and me. It wasn't difficult to make and it was very flavorful and delicious!
Elizabeth
This was delicious! I substituted spinach with a bag of fruit frozen kale that I had on hand. I also just continued cooking it on the stove top instead of heating up the oven. I served steamed broccoli and brown rice as sides. Washed it all down with a nice cold glass of Chardonnay.
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Hi Elizabeth, love hearing how you made it your own! Also, we are 100% behind a good wine pairing!
Julie
Loved the flavors in this dish. Followed the recipe to a tee. Husband loved it too! Thank you!
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Hi Julie, thank you for the comment. It always feels good when a new recipe is family (or husband) approved!
Christine B Pappas
This was fabulous! My husband is Greek and we make a Greek Chicken and Spanakorizo (spinach and rice). I needed to add more spinach (iron) to my diet, and that's how I found your recipe. We made this with boneless chicken breasts. We made a Greek salad to go with. The perfect combination. We also squeezed lemon (yes, more!) on our chicken and spinach. Never too much lemon or garlic!! This is a KEEPER! Next time, being spinach lovers, we will add more spinach. Thank you for your delightful recipe.
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Thank you for the comment, Christine! We LOVE hearing about your success and how you added to it! That Greek salad sounds like a perfect side.
Waheeda
Hi,
quick question, I would love to use up my extra white button mushrooms, do I add them sliced or chopped the same time as the onions?
Thanks!
Jessie
Hi Waheeda! Sliced or chopped are both fine (I like sliced because I love mushrooms, but I chop them when I'm cooking for people who don't like them as much!) I'd let the onions cook for a few seconds on their own just to get going, then give them a stir and then add the mushrooms in. Hope that helps!