Lemon butter chicken

This oven-baked lemon butter chicken recipe is juicy and delicious. With tons of flavors and crispy skin, it will win your heart forever. It’s a healthy and easy-to-make lunch or dinner idea that’s ready in 25 minutes.

Jump to:

• Ingredients and substitutes
• Step by step directions
• Should you wash your chicken before baking it
• Fats and carbs in lemon butter chicken recipe
• Serving ideas
• FAQ
• More keto chicken recipes
• Recipe

Ingredients and substitutes

Chicken - We'll need 8 boneless skin-on chicken thighs or 4 chicken quarters. You can also use boneless skinless chicken meat if you want. I would not recommend using chicken breasts for this recipe as they can come out dry.

Lemon - This lemony chicken won't be possible to make without lemon juice and lemon slices. Use lemon juice at room temperature, so it mixes well with melted butter. Also, you'll need thin slices of fresh lemon to place on top of the chicken before baking it.

Butter - Melt your unsalted butter in a microwave before combining it with lemon juice.

Garlic - Press 2 cloves of garlic into the butter and lemon sauce and mix well. You can skip using garlic if you want.

Seasoning - I use salt and pepper to season the chicken, but you can add other spices such as cayenne pepper or ground chili pepper if you want.

Cilantro - Use freshly-chopped cilantro for garnishing.

Step by step directions

Let’s start making our chicken recipe with lemon and butter by seasoning the thighs or quarters with some salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides. Then, place them skin up on a baking tray lined with foil. Let the meat marinate like this for 15-30 while the oven is preheating to 390F (200C).

Meanwhile, let's make our easy lemon butter sauce for chicken by combining all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl.

When the oven is hot, cover the chicken thighs’ skin with the sauce , top it off with thinly sliced fresh lemon, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165F (74C) and the skin turns golden brown. Broil for 1-2 minutes for extra crispiness if desired but keep an eye on the lemon slices; don’t let them burn completely.

When done, take it out from the oven and let the chicken rest for around 3 minutes before serving it.

Enjoy your oven-baked lemon garlic butter chicken recipe topped with some freshly chopped cilantro and a side dish of your choice.

Should you wash your chicken before baking it

You should never wash raw chicken meat before cooking it! The problem is, when you wash it under running water, many small droplets of water bounce off of the meat and travel up to 50 cm in your kitchen, spreading campylobacter bacteria inside your sink and on other utensils that are lying close by. This bacteria is the reason people get food poisoning from improperly cooked poultry. To avoid contamination, don’t wash chicken meat at all! However, if you really want to wash your chicken, do it in a deep pot filled with water in advance. Don’t forget to wash the pot, sink, and everything that came into contact with “chicken” water, including your hands (duh!).

Fats and carbs in lemon butter chicken recipe

Chicken thigh is the fattiest part of the chicken, after the skin of course. Therefore, it’s perfect for people who follow a keto diet or for those who want to increase their consumption of healthy fats while reducing carbs. Like other types of meat, chicken has 0 carbs in it – but what about fats? I’m happy to tell you that there’re plenty of fats in the skin on chicken thighs! 13g per 100g of the product to be specific, and if you cook them in our lemon butter chicken sauce, it’s going to be even more!

Serving ideas

This butter lemon chicken recipe is seriously delicious and I have so many ideas for what you can serve with these lemon butter chicken thighs.

Garnish this dish with spicy and citrusy Keto salsa fresca. Slice this chicken with lemon butter sauce and serve warm with a crispy, freshly-made salad, or make a tasty chicken sandwich with my Microwave keto bread.

Another great combo will be to serve this oven-baked chicken along with Easy roasted carrots and parsnips, Creamy keto cauliflower mash, or Low carb keto cauliflower rice.

FAQ

More keto chicken recipes

BRINED AND BAKED MUSTARD CHICKEN BREASTS
KETO CHICKEN THIGHS RECIPE WITH MUSHROOM SAUCE
SLOW-COOKED CHIPOTLE CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS

Recipe