Chicken With Lemon And Pepper (Quick and Easy)

This lemon pepper chicken is flavorful and delicious.

This chicken meal is very easy and quick to make, with juicy, aromatic chicken coated in an easy lemon pepper butter and baked to delicate perfection.

Why Is This Recipe So Delicious?

• The lemon pepper butter sauce adds just the appropriate amount of flavor to the chicken without being overly bright or sour. The chicken remains juicy and flavorful, not bland or dry like other baked chicken.
• It’s excellent on its own, but you can also serve it with couscous or mashed potatoes and a side of air-fried asparagus for a quick and easy meal. A lemon pepper chicken breast on a bed of green spinach is also a delicious meal prep choice!
• The baked chicken will keep for 4 days after cooking, which is great for dinner prep! For optimal freshness, keep it refrigerated in an airtight container.
• No, this dish isn’t exclusively for chicken. The lemon pepper butter sauce is also delicious on fish, pasta, and veggies.

Important Ingredients

Chicken – This dish can be made with boneless, skinless chicken breasts or bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, and both will be excellent!

If you like, you may make your lemon pepper chicken with bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. Simply double-check the cook times for each chicken cut on the recipe card below.

Lemon Pepper Seasoning – For the greatest flavor, look for a lemon pepper seasoning that has few ingredients and uses actual lemon peel rather than citric acid.

If you like, you can even produce your own lemon pepper seasoning! 2 parts lemon zest (fresh or dried), 1 part freshly cracked black pepper, and 1 part salt, in general (optional).

You can change the ratios to your liking. In your homemade lemon pepper seasoning, you might want to add some onion powder and garlic powder.

Chef’s Advice

• After you remove the chicken from the oven, allow it to rest for 5 minutes. If you cut into it straight away, all of the wonderful juices will have evaporated, leaving you with dry, tough chicken. Furthermore, the 5-minute break is essential to the cooking process! The lemon pepper chicken won’t be ready to eat right away because it’ll be taken out of the oven at 161° Fahrenheit. However, it will finish cooking while it rests.
• Make careful to baste the chicken halfway through the cooking time! Set an alarm if necessary to prevent the top of the chicken from drying out. You can use a baster or a spoon to squeeze some of the melted lemon pepper butter back onto the chicken.
• Season the chicken last, immediately before putting the casserole in the oven. This will prevent the seasoning from evaporating the meat’s moisture, which is especially crucial for boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Chicken With Lemon and Pepper

This lemon pepper chicken is flavorful and delicious. This chicken meal is very easy and quick to make, with juicy, aromatic chicken coated in an easy lemon pepper butter and baked to delicate perfection.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste, omit completely if your lemon pepper seasoning contains salt
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, see Notes
• 1 lemon sliced
• 2 tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning
• ¼ cup butter softened
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• parsley chopped, optional, for garnish

Equipment

• Baking dish (9×9 or 9×13, based on size of chicken used)
• Fork
• Small bowl
• Oven
• Meat thermometer

Directions For Chicken With Lemon And Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In the bottom of a baking dish, layer lemon rounds.
   Season the bottoms of the birds with salt. Place the salted-side-up on top of the lemon slices.
3. In a small bowl, combine lemon pepper seasoning, softened butter, salt (if using), and cayenne pepper with a fork until thoroughly incorporated.
4. In a small white bowl, combine the butter and lemon pepper.
5. Brush the chicken with the butter mixture. Place some of the butter mixtures under the skin of the chicken thighs.
6. Bake for 25 to 28 minutes (boneless chicken breasts) or 35 to 40 minutes (bone-in chicken thighs) or until internal temperature reaches 161°F. Baste chicken with melted butter drippings from the oven dish halfway through cooking time.
7. Remove the chicken from the oven and set it aside for 5 minutes. While resting, the inside temperature should reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Serve the chicken on individual plates. Serve drizzled with more melted lemon-pepper butter and garnished with parsley.

Notes

• To make it Keto-friendly, make sure your lemon pepper seasoning doesn’t contain any sugar (or maltitol or maltodextrin! ) and use chicken thighs for added fat.
• To make it Paleo/Whole30 friendly, make sure your lemon pepper spice doesn’t contain any sugar (or sugar replacements if Whole30) and replace the butter with ghee.
• Time to Cook: Cooking times will vary depending on the chicken cut. Prepare each chicken piece as directed above.
• Chicken breasts, boneless and skinless: Cook for around 25 to 28 minutes.
• Cooking time for bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs is 35 to 40 minutes.
• Cooking time for bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts is 35 to 40 minutes.

Both chicken thighs and chicken breasts are shown in the recipe photos.

The procedure is essentially the same for either cut of chicken. Cooking times vary slightly depending on the cut and size of the chicken. Varied ovens provide different cooking times.

Instead of cooking periods, use an internal meat thermometer to determine whether the chicken is fully cooked.

When the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 161°F, remove it from the oven. While resting, the chicken should achieve a safe temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

The recipe makes around 4 servings or one piece of chicken per person. The nutritional values displayed are for 1 serving of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. The macros may differ slightly based on the ingredient brands utilized.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1chicken breast (or thigh), Calories: 246kcal, Carbohydrates: 4g, Protein: 25g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 103mg, Sodium: 815mg, Potassium: 500mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 437IU, Vitamin C: 16mg, Calcium: 30mg, Iron: 1mg, Net Carbs: 2g