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Tangy Lemon Chicken

Tangy Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with foil, then place a wire rack within.
  2. Prepare chicken: Divide chicken breasts in half crosswise and place them into a medium-sized bowl. Whisk sesame oil and soy sauce together in a small bowl. Pour over chicken breasts and toss to coat each piece of chicken.
  3. Place all of the ingredients for the breading into a small bowl and stir to combine. Spill breading onto a large plate. Take pieces of chicken, one at a time, placing them onto the crumb mixture then flip to coat the other side. Transfer breaded pieces onto the wire rack. Repeat until all pieces are breaded. Spoon any remaining crumbs over top. Transfer to oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until cooked through to an internal temp of 165˚F. 
  4. Prepare sauce: While chicken cooks, place chicken stock, vinegar, sugar and cornstarch in a pan on moderate heat. Heat while stirring until sauce is bubbling and thickened. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, pineapple and lemon extract. Stir to combine. Just before chicken is done, stir in carrots, snow peas and green onions.
  5. To serve: Remove chicken from oven and cut into 1-inch wide strips. Place chicken onto plate or serving platter. Spoon sauce over chicken. Add a sprinkle of chopped green onion to garnish.
  6. Serve with steamed rice and a vegetable side dish.
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Tangy Lemon Chicken

5 / 5. 3

Oven-baked chicken breasts breaded with crispy panko and topped with a tangy lemon sauce…

  • clock icon
    35 MIN
  • 4 SERVINGS
Tangy Lemon Chicken

Need a recipe the whole family will love? Well, here it is, our TANGY LEMON CHICKEN!

This recipe for TANGY LEMON CHICKEN exceeds all expectations, so prepare to be amazed. Not only is it really delicious with the hallmarks of a classic sweet and sour Chinese lemon chicken recipe, but it’s also surprisingly easy to make – good news if you’re thinking of weeknight family dinner ideas or casual get-togethers with friends. The entire recipe only takes 30 minutes to make from start to finish, and you can complete the meal with just some simple sides like steamed rice and a favourite vegetable dish. This is the best lemon chicken recipe we’ve ever tried, and after just one bite we know you’ll agree.

Because this main course recipe is so tasty, we know you’ll be making it again and again. We suggest you PIN the recipe to a favourite main course page or BOOKMARK this tab for easy access. SHARE it with friends so they can tell the world about it too. We’d also appreciate seeing pics of this lemony chicken dish when you make it. Use #weekendatthecottage when you post on Facebook and Instagram. Thanks!

Now, here are some additional things to keep in mind when you go to make our TANGY LEMON CHICKEN:

Chicken breasts plus panko, soy, sesame oil and corn starch.
Fear not, three chicken breasts are enough to serve 4 guests.

INGREDIENTS

We’re posting two photos of the ingredients needed to make this recipe, the first focusing on just the chicken portion of the program: chicken, crunchy panko, and some seasoning to build a pleasing, memorable flavour profile. This is one of those classic recipes that prove it doesn’t take an entire grocery cart filled with ingredients to make something delicious. All you need is the perfect combination to make something wonderful.

Skinless boneless chicken breasts with sesame oil and soy sauce.
This recipe also works with skinless, boneless chicken thighs, too.

CHICKEN BREASTS

We crafted this post using skinless, boneless chicken breasts, that we divided in half crosswise, cutlet-style. Pro tip: skinless, boneless chicken thighs work perfectly, too.

The chicken breasts cut into cutlets next to the ingredients for the panko breading.
Imagine that! No dredging in flour nor dipping in eggs.

Some LEMON CHICKEN recipes suggest tenderizing the chicken with a meat mallet, creating something called a “paillard”, or thinned cutlet that is usually breaded and pan-fried. Although this works when frying up “paillard” of beef, veal, pork or chicken for schnitzel, we skipped the step entirely. Read on to find out why.

Six breaded chicken cutlets resting on a baking sheet.
Elevating the chicken breasts on a wire rack ensures the undersides get crispy too.

BREADED CHICKEN

The chicken could have been prepared in a number of different ways, but we opted for the more traditional breading method. Once that was agreed upon, we then thought about how to cook it. Is it deep-fried in batches, oven-baked or, pan-fried in a shallow skillet on the stovetop? We determined that oven-baking the cutlets would yield crispy chicken with the meat still tender in a coating of light, seasoned breading.

Crispy, panko coated oven-baked chicken breasts.
Perfectly golden yet still tender and juicy.

The process could not be more perfect. To begin, the divided chicken breasts are coated in a light mix of sesame oil and soy sauce. Yup, you read that right, no messy flour dredge and egg dipping required. Instead, the thinned cutlet of meat is flipped in a mix of crispy panko crumbs and cornstarch with a seasoning of garlic powder, salt and pepper. The cornstarch helps the crumbs adhere to the meat while baking, ensuring tender, juicy chicken. The entire process produces something way tastier without all the pounding, heavy batter and time-consuming frying.

All of the ingredients needed to make a tangy lemon sauce.
No wonder our lemon sauce is so tangy!

LEMON SAUCE

Trust us, we get it – this truly is the tangiest, most tastebud-thrilling lemon sauce ever. You’ll get a sense just by looking at the ingredients in the above photo. It all begins with the classic combination of a sweet and sour sauce; sugar, vinegar, chicken stock and cornstarch. Warming these ingredients over medium-high heat gets the sauce bubbly and it thickens quite easily. We suggest making the sauce portion of this recipe while the chicken bakes. You can leave it to simmer on low until you’re ready to serve.

Lemon juice, lemon zest, crushed pineapple and lemon extract all flavour the sauce along with snow peas, carrot and green onions.
Adding the fresh veggies gives the dish a gorgeous pop of colour.

Now, here comes the good part! Building that lemony flavour profile relies on the addition of both lemon juice and lemon zest, plus an unexpected zing thanks to crushed pineapple. We also decided to add a bit of colour to the sauce by adding a julienne of snow peas, carrot and green onion. You can stir those colourful veggies into the sauce right before you serve. The final ingredient is this recipe’s game-changer; we add a teaspoon of WATKINS PURE LEMON EXTRACT. Seriously, you’ve never had lemon chicken like this before.

The chicken breasts cut into strips revealing a tender, juicy interior.
Told you it’s tender and juicy!

TO SERVE

This TANGY LEMON CHICKEN is best enjoyed as follows, so promise you’ll follow our lead and not overthink the presentation of this exceptionally tasty meal. Bring the perfectly baked breaded chicken breasts from the oven to your cutting board and slice each into thin strips. Then transfer them to a serving plate or platter.

Tangy Lemon Chicken
Beautiful and delicious.

Wait, this is important; did you notice how tender and juicy the meat is? The outsides are golden and crispy but the morsels of chicken remain perfectly tender. We suggest snagging a preview bite before adding the sauce just so you can taste how perfect the chicken is by itself.

Tangy Lemon Chicken served with rice and vegetables
Serve extra sauce on the side.

ENJOY

To finish this stellar main course idea, ladle the fragrant lemon sauce over the chicken, making sure to include some of the colourful veggies when you do. Adding a sprinkle of chopped green onion is also a nice touch. There should be enough sauce left to serve on the side should guests wish a little more; I know I certainly appreciate it. This meal can be enjoyed with just simple steamed rice or noodles, but we suggest trying it with our pleasing THAI COCONUT RICE and our OVEN-ROASTED ASPARAGUS or this ASIAN COLESLAW.

Enjoy the easy perfection of our TANGY LEMON CHICKEN!

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Tangy Lemon Chicken

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Tangy Lemon Chicken

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Ingredients

  • For the chicken:
  • 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • For the panko breading:
  • ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • For the lemon sauce:
  • ½ cup chicken broth
  • cup white vinegar
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
  • juice and zest from 1 large lemon
  • ¼ cup pineapple, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon pure lemon extract
  • 1 small carrot, julienned
  • 12 snow peas, julienned
  • 2 green onions, trimmed and julienned
  • To garnish:
  • 1 green onion, chopped

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with foil, then place a wire rack within.
  2. Prepare chicken: Divide chicken breasts in half crosswise and place them into a medium-sized bowl. Whisk sesame oil and soy sauce together in a small bowl. Pour over chicken breasts and toss to coat each piece of chicken.
  3. Place all of the ingredients for the breading into a small bowl and stir to combine. Spill breading onto a large plate. Take pieces of chicken, one at a time, placing them onto the crumb mixture then flip to coat the other side. Transfer breaded pieces onto the wire rack. Repeat until all pieces are breaded. Spoon any remaining crumbs over top. Transfer to oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until cooked through to an internal temp of 165˚F. 
  4. Prepare sauce: While chicken cooks, place chicken stock, vinegar, sugar and cornstarch in a pan on moderate heat. Heat while stirring until sauce is bubbling and thickened. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, pineapple and lemon extract. Stir to combine. Just before chicken is done, stir in carrots, snow peas and green onions.
  5. To serve: Remove chicken from oven and cut into 1-inch wide strips. Place chicken onto plate or serving platter. Spoon sauce over chicken. Add a sprinkle of chopped green onion to garnish.
  6. Serve with steamed rice and a vegetable side dish.

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