Why You’ll Love This this Fresh Lemon Pepper Chicken Sauté
This lemon pepper chicken sauté brings together tender, seasoned chicken with a creamy, savory sauce that’ll have your taste buds doing a little happy dance.
The best part? It’s a one-skillet wonder that goes from prep to plate in about 30 minutes, which means less cleanup and more time to actually enjoy your dinner instead of scrubbing pans like some kind of kitchen martyr.
Plus, those baby carrots and green onions add just the right amount of color and crunch to make this dish feel fancy enough for company, but simple enough for a Tuesday night when you’re running on three hours of sleep and pure determination.
Ingredients List
For this lemon pepper chicken sauté, you’ll need just a handful of simple ingredients that probably won’t require a special trip to the fancy grocery store.
- 1 1/4 teaspoons McCormick lemon-pepper seasoning
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup baby carrots, quartered lengthwise
- 1/3 cup sliced green onion
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon McCormick parsley flakes
A Few Things to Keep in Mind About These Ingredients:
- This recipe is actually pretty well-balanced nutritionally – you’ve got lean protein from the chicken, some fiber and vitamins from those baby carrots, and the butter and sour cream add richness without going completely overboard
- If you’re watching sodium, keep in mind that both the lemon-pepper seasoning and chicken broth can be on the salty side, so you might want to look for low-sodium versions
- The carrots bring natural sweetness and a nice pop of beta-carotene, while the green onions add a mild bite and some vitamin C
- At roughly 300-350 calories per serving, this dish won’t completely derail your day, and the protein will actually help keep you satisfied longer than that sad desk salad you were considering
Step by Step Directions
Making this lemon pepper chicken sauté is straightforward and takes about 20 minutes from start to finish.
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- Rub the lemon pepper seasoning evenly over both sides of the chicken breasts.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add the seasoned chicken to the skillet and sauté for 7-10 minutes per side until fully cooked and no longer pink in the center.
- Remove chicken from skillet and set aside, keeping it warm.
- Add the quartered baby carrots and sliced green onions to the same skillet.
- Sauté the vegetables for 2 minutes until they begin to soften.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth and flour until smooth.
- Pour the broth mixture over the vegetables in the skillet.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Stir in the sour cream and parsley flakes.
- Continue simmering for another 2 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.
- Spoon the vegetable sauce over the chicken and serve immediately.
For best results, use professional stainless steel cookware which provides even heat distribution and superior cooking performance for this sauté technique.
Substitutions and Variations
- Fresh herb upgrade – Swap those parsley flakes for fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, or actual fresh parsley, which will make your kitchen smell absolutely divine.
- Sauce thickness tweaks – Want it thicker? Use heavy cream instead of sour cream, or add an extra teaspoon of flour to the broth mixture.
- Make it lighter – Greek yogurt can replace the sour cream, though add it off the heat to prevent curdling, because nobody wants chunky sauce drama.
- Seasonal touches – Toss in whatever vegetables are lurking in your crisper drawer, just keep the cooking times similar so everything finishes together.
Additional Things to Serve With This Dish
This lemon pepper chicken practically begs for sides that can soak up that gorgeous, creamy sauce.
- Rice or grains – Fluffy white rice, wild rice pilaf, or even quinoa will catch every drop of that lemony goodness, because wasting sauce should be illegal.
- Pasta options – Egg noodles, penne, or angel hair pasta turn this into a complete one-bowl comfort meal that’ll have you doing a little happy dance.
- Potato sides – Mashed potatoes, roasted baby potatoes, or buttery egg noodles create the ultimate snug dinner atmosphere.
- Fresh vegetables – A simple green salad, steamed broccoli, or roasted asparagus adds color and crunch to balance all that creamy richness.
- Bread for sopping – Crusty dinner rolls, garlic bread, or even a warm baguette lets you get every last bit of sauce, which is really the whole point here.
Cooking Tips & Tricks (Chef’s Notes)
Getting this lemon pepper chicken just right is all about timing and a few sneaky little shortcuts that make all the difference.
- Don’t skip the rub time – Let that lemon pepper seasoning sit on the chicken for at least 10 minutes before cooking, because rushed seasoning is sad seasoning that barely penetrates the meat.
- Use a meat thermometer – Chicken breasts are done at 165°F internal temperature, and guessing leads to either rubber chicken or the kind of pink that makes everyone nervous.
- Pound those thick spots – If your chicken breasts are uneven, give the thick parts a gentle whack with a meat mallet or rolling pin so everything cooks at the same pace.
- Make a slurry smoothly – Whisk that flour and broth together in a separate bowl first, because nobody wants lumpy sauce that looks like it has commitment issues.
- Keep the heat medium – High heat will brown the outside before the inside cooks through, and medium heat gives you that perfect golden color without the panic.
- Rest the chicken briefly – Let it sit for 3-4 minutes after cooking so the juices redistribute instead of running all over your cutting board like they’re making a break for it.
- Double the sauce recipe – Trust me on this one, because there’s never enough of that creamy lemon goodness, and leftover sauce makes everything better tomorrow.
Nutritional Facts
This lemon pepper chicken delivers solid protein with moderate calories, making it a balanced weeknight dinner option.
- Calories per serving: Approximately 285 calories (based on 4 servings)
- Protein powerhouse: 26 grams of lean protein per serving from the chicken breast
- Total fat: 14 grams, with 8 grams from saturated fat (mainly from butter and sour cream)
- Carbohydrates: 8 grams total, with 2 grams of fiber from the carrots
- Sodium content: Around 480mg per serving, largely from the lemon pepper seasoning and chicken broth
- Vitamin A boost: Baby carrots provide about 40% of your daily vitamin A needs
- Low sugar: Only 4 grams of natural sugars from the vegetables
- Calcium contribution: Sour cream adds approximately 60mg of calcium per serving
- Iron content: 1.2mg of iron, primarily from the chicken
- Cholesterol: 85mg per serving from the chicken and dairy ingredients
- Zero trans fats: All fats come from natural sources like butter and sour cream
Fun “Did You Know?”
While lemon pepper seasoning might seem like a modern convenience, this flavor combination actually traces back to ancient Mediterranean cooking where lemons and peppercorns were luxury ingredients traded along spice routes.
I find it fascinating that what we casually sprinkle on chicken today was once reserved for wealthy merchants and nobility.
The McCormick company didn’t introduce their popular lemon pepper blend until 1962, making it relatively new despite its ancient roots.
Here’s another fun fact: the acidic properties in lemon actually help tenderize chicken while the peppercorns provide antimicrobial benefits that naturally preserve meat.
