Chinese Lemon Chicken
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This scrumptious Chinese Lemon Chicken has an incredibly tasty and crispy coating, served with a delicious lemon sauce and is ready in just 30 minutes! This is a classic Chinese takeout recipe, but can be easily made at home!
Chinese Lemon Chicken Recipe
Chinese Lemon Chicken is such a classic takeout dish, almost as popular as the Orange Chicken. But if I had to pick a favorite, I’d probably go with this lemon chicken. I’m talking about a super crispy coating and a totally addicting lemon sauce. When paired together, it’s a match made in heaven!
This lemon chicken comes with plenty of sauce, and it’s such a delicious lemon sauce with a bit of sweetness added to it. But the best part of this chicken dish is the super crispy coating, so go ahead and keep on reading to see how it’s done.
Why You Should Make This Lemon Chicken
- Easy Fast Steps
- Super Crispy Chicken
- Ready in just 30 Minutes
- Crowd Favorite
- Perfect for Busy Weeknights
- Chicken: I am using chicken breast for this recipe, sliced in half to get a thinner form. Boneless chicken thighs work as well.
- Eggs: Two large eggs will be used to help the flour and cornstarch mix to stick to the chicken pieces.
- Seasoning: Salt and pepper to taste.
- Olive Oil: Regular or extra virgin works well.
- Cornstarch and Flour: Besides using it to thicken our lemon sauce, this is my secret ingredient that I use to dredge the chicken through. Combine this cornstarch with some flour and we got ourselves super crispy coating on our breast fillets.
- Butter: I usually use unsalted butter so I can control the intake of sodium in this recipe.
- Lemon: One lemon will be cut into wedges and the other will be juiced.
- Sugar: Regular granulated sugar works well.
- Broth: I like to use chicken broth for this recipe with low sodium.
- Green Onions: roughly chop them to garnish the final dish.
- Prepare the Chicken. Slice the chicken breasts in half lengthwise (butterflied) to get two thinner pieces from each breast. Combine the eggs with salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. In another bowl combine the ½ cup cornstarch with the flour and mix well. Dredge the chicken through the egg first, then through the flour mixture.
- Cooking your Chicken. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken to the skillet, as many as you can fit, and fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until golden and crispy. Transfer the chicken to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with remaining chicken.
- Make the Sauce. Drain any leftover oil from the skillet. Add the butter to the skillet and melt. Add the lemon juice, sugar, chicken broth, ¼ tsp salt and 1 tbsp of cornstarch. Whisk everything well together and cook until the sauce has thickened and is smooth.
- Ready to Serve. Slice the chicken into thin strips and pour lemon sauce over. Serve with rice.
Do I Have To Use Only Chicken Breasts?
Absolutely not. You can work with boneless chicken thighs as well. Just make the chicken gets fully cooked. Chicken is fully cooked when the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
Can I Add Some Veggies To This Lemon Chicken?
For sure! Try adding some asparagus, green beans or even zucchini! They will complement the chicken nicely.
Serve This Lemon Chicken With
The Ultimate Parmesan Roasted Broccoli
Cilantro Lime Rice
Skillet Green Beans
Roasted Potatoes With Garlic Sauce
Expert Tips
- Usually, the lemon sauce that is served with lemon chicken in restaurants, usually is more yellow in color. If you’d like to achieve that neon yellow color, add 2 or 3 drops of yellow food coloring.
- After you fry the chicken, make sure you place a paper towel on the plate to soak up any extra oil and to leave the chicken nice and crispy.
- If you’d like your sauce thicker, add a bit more cornstarch to it, until desired consistency.
Storing Leftover Lemon Chicken
Fridge
Store leftover lemon chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
Freezer
Freeze this in an airtight containers for up to 3 months! Allow to thaw overnight in the fridge before heating back up in the oven, on the stove, or on the microwave.
More Great Chinese Recipes To Try
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Chinese Lemon Chicken
Video
Ingredients
Chicken
- 3 large chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
Lemon Sauce
- 2 tablespoon butter (unsalted)
- ½ cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- ¼ cup sugar (granulated)
- ⅔ cup chicken broth (low sodium)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Garnish
- 2 green onions (chopped)
- 1 lemon (cut in wedges)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Butterfly the chicken breasts: Slice the chicken breasts in half lengthwise (butterflied) to get two thinner pieces from each breast.
- Prepare the dredge: Combine the eggs with salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. In another bowl combine the ½ cup cornstarch with the flour and mix well.
- Dredge the chicken: Dredge the chicken through the egg first, then through the flour mixture.
- Fry chicken in batches: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken to the skillet, as many as you can fit, and fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until golden and crispy. Transfer the chicken to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with remaining chicken.
- Make the lemon sauce: Drain any leftover oil from the skillet. Add the butter to the skillet and melt. Add the lemon juice, sugar, chicken broth, ¼ tsp salt and 1 tbsp of cornstarch. Whisk everything well together and cook until the sauce has thickened and is smooth.
- Finish the dish and serve: Slice the chicken into thin strips and pour lemon sauce over. Serve with rice.
Notes
- The lemon sauce that is served with lemon chicken in restaurants, usually is more yellow in color. If you’d like to achieve that neon yellow color, add 2 or 3 drops of yellow food coloring.
- After you fry the chicken, make sure you place a paper towel on the plate to soak up any extra oil and to leave the chicken nice and crispy.
- If you’d like your sauce thicker, add a bit more cornstarch to it, until desired consistency.
- Store leftover lemon chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
- Freeze this in an airtight containers for up to 3 months! Allow to thaw overnight in the fridge before heating back up in the oven, on the stove, or on the microwave.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Absolutely delicious and so easy. I crumbed my chicken in Panko Crumbs as I love the crunch. We could have drunk the sauce as it was so good and the butter really rounded it out.
Delighted to know you enjoyed it and found it easy! Using Panko for extra crunch is a great idea, and I’m glad the sauce was a hit!
My sister shared this recipe with me! Absolutely delicious! I had more than one helping and so did my kids! One of them said it was the best dinner ever. Thanks for the great recipe. I made extra sauce because u made extra chicken and we devoured it.
That’s wonderful to hear! When a dish gets the “best dinner ever” title from a child, you know it’s a winner.
Tried this my husband is begging me to make every second night it was delicious
So glad to hear that your husband enjoyed it so much! It’s always a win when you find a recipe that your family loves. May your future meals be just as delightful!
Oh my goodness! This was absolutely delicious! We will definitely make this one again.
So happy you loved it! Thanks for giving it a try, and can’t wait for you to make it again!
I had a beautiful large bush lemon and the recipe was lovely. I used thighs because i like them and it was so great.
It looks great, glad you enjoyed the dish!
The 1st time I tried it something went horribly wrong! I used Baking Powder instead of Cornstarch 🤦🏻♀️ lol! I remade it and it was delIcious! 5 ⭐️
Hi. Has anyone tried making this with Splenda or another sugar substitute? I know some recipes work fine with a sugar sub and others are a disaster. Thanks!
While I haven’t personally tested this recipe with a sugar substitute, I believe it should work fine. Splenda, for example, is often used as a one-to-one replacement for granulated sugar, which could work in the sauce for this recipe. However, it’s important to remember that sugar substitutes can sometimes alter the taste or texture slightly, and the sauce might not thicken in the same way as with sugar. If you do decide to try it, I’d love to hear how it turns out!
So Delicious!!! Gonna make it for a second time tomorrow
I’m absolutely thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the recipe so much! 🍋🍗 Don’t hesitate to try some fun variations if you feel like it. Happy cooking and enjoy your meal tomorrow! 😊
A first time hit. I will be adding this to my regular list.
This is the second time I made it and THIS time I nailed the sauce!
The first time I made it I followed the instructions but somehow made the sauce all lumpy when I added the cornflower. I always turn off the heat when doing so in other sauce related meals too so I don’t know what I did wrong.
Anyway this time I made the chicken stock (let it cool)and cornflower mix separately and just added after.
I cannot express how DAMN YUMMY this dish is 😀
Even my father who dislikes chicken breast due to it’s dryness & & anything sweet loved it.
THANK YOU for sharing this great recipe and I look forward to trying out more.
I just have to work on my presentation lol
It looks pretty damn good to me!! Glad you enjoyed it!
Very good recipe!! The wifey, liked it.!!!
I made this was moist and tender chicken but I used too much lemon juice
Will fix that next time.
made this last night, absolutely beautiful and will be making this again
Love this easy to follow recipe and tastes great! I’ve made it into freezable batches as no one else in my family likes lemon chicken! I’ll be enjoying it for lunches or dinners when I need to grab something quick! Thank you!
It looks great, glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I like to cut the chicken and make into chicken nuggets for the grands. They love to dip.
I loved this recipe. I always have a hard time getting the batter to stick to the chicken and it definitely takes more than a half hour to make. I think next time I’ll make the lemon sauce first so my chicken isn’t cold. Also, the green onions make it so don’t skimp on them!
Whip up a egg white to coat the chicken (glue) before breading. also dry chicken well with paper towels first.