Lemon chicken and asparagus? It’s bright, fresh, healthy, and ready on your table in 20 minutes. Easiest meal of all time, right here, right now.
Let’s talk juicy, delicious, barely-breaded, pan-fried chicken soaked in peppery lemon flavor and served with tender bites of asparagus and honey butter-ish sauce.
Or, let’s not, and just go ahead and start making it for dinner.
Super Simple Ingredients
Shall we count the short, sweet ingredients for this Lemon Chicken together?
👏 CHICKEN
👏 ASPARAGUS
👏 FRESH LEMONS
👏 FLOUR
👏 LEMON PEPPER
And a little bit of butter, and a little bit of salt, but you already have those things I bet, so I’m counting those as freebies.
The Easiest Grocery List
It’s no secret that I love really simple recipes *cheers and applause* and one of my favorite things is making a recipe that doesn’t require a massive trip to the grocery store for 80 million ingredients.
Or should I say massive multiple trips to the grocery store – because without fail, I will go for asparagus and lemons, and come back with peanut butter, oatmeal, almond milk, spinach, a few frozen dinners, chocolate chips, bananas, and yogurt, and I’m putting the groceries away and it’s so great to have all these yummy foods in my house and what will I make with the chocolate chi… OMG I did not get the lemons and asparagus. WHAT and WHY. This is my life.
But when the ingredient list can be managed on one hand – even I can handle that.
So yes, this recipe technically has more than 5 ingredients, but the only ones you need to pay attention to are chicken, lemons, asparagus, and a lemon pepper seasoning because let me guess –> you probably already have butter, flour, and salt, you well-stocked pantry person, you.
Let’s Make Lemon Chicken
Now get ready because this is so beautifully and awesomely easy.
- Coat the chicken. (It gives the chicken that extra something so you get some lemon pepper flavor and the chicken absorbs a little more of the pan sauce.)
- Sauté everything. Easy.
- Serve! The end.
I’m serious THAT’S ALL. Put a little piece of whole wheat bread, brown rice, or quinoa on that plate if you wanting a carb buddy, and dig the heck into that fresh, bright, healthy dinner.
Yummy-roo for you.
More 5 Ingredient Meals To Love
- 5 Ingredient Spicy Pork (a fancy-feeling meal that comes together in a snap)
- Homemade Cauliflower Gnocchi (little nuggets of pillowy goodness)
- 3 Ingredient Creamy Tomato Shells (so velvety and nutritious!)
- Life-Changing Crispy Fried Pizzas (but for real, LIFE-CHANGING)
Watch How To Make This Recipe
Common Questions About Lemon Chicken
That’s normal for this recipe actually. The lemons are going to be bitter, especially if you really let them caramelize like shown in the picture in this post. With that in mind, you can use them just as a garnish (pretty!), or you can eat them if you like bitter things, or you can try to make them less bitter by boiling them for a few minutes before adding to the pan. I opted for the garnish.
For the honey butter sauce, I just melted the butter and honey in the hot pan after caramelizing the lemons and poured it over the chicken. This mixture definitely picked up some of the residual caramelizy-lemon flavor from the pan, so if that isn’t your thing, just melt the butter and honey in a separate pan.
Sure can! We’d recommend using a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour.
5 Ingredient Lemon Chicken with Asparagus
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 3–4 (nutrition is for 4 servings) 1x
Description
Juicy, pan-fried chicken with peppery lemon flavors and tender bites of asparagus with a honey butter sauce. A bright and fresh 5 ingredient dinner on the table in 20 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
- 1–2 cups chopped asparagus
- 2 lemons, sliced
- 2 tablespoons honey + 2 tablespoons butter (optional, see FAQ notes)
- parsley for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Chicken: Cover the chicken breasts with plastic wrap and pound until each pieces is about a 3/4 of an inch thick. (NOTE: If your chicken breasts are really thick,you can just cut them in half horizontally to make thinner pieces rather than pounding. Works like a charm.) Place the flour and salt and pepper in a shallow dish and gently toss each chicken breast in the dish to coat. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat; add the chicken and sauté for 3-5 minutes on each side, until golden brown, sprinkling each side with the lemon pepper directly in the pan. When the chicken is golden brown and cooked through, transfer to a plate.
- Asparagus and Lemons: Add the chopped asparagus to the pan. Sauté for a few minutes until bright green and tender crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside. Lay the lemon slices flat on the bottom of the pan and cook for a few minutes on each side without stirring so that they caramelize and pick up the browned bits left in the pan from the chicken and butter. (NOTE: adding a tiny pat of butter in with the lemons also helps prevent sticking and promotes browning.) Remove the lemons from the pan and set aside.
- Assembly: Layer all the ingredients back into the skillet – asparagus, chicken, and lemon slices on top.
Equipment
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- Category: Dinner
- Method: Sauté
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: lemon chicken, chicken with asparagus, chicken recipe
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our must-have lemon recipes page. Check it out!
Just made this and yum, so delicious. My chicken was a little dry but only because I am paranoid of undercooking. The flavor of the asparagus was so good. My kids and hubby liked it and our neighborhood friend had seconds. Definitely a do over. Thank you!!
This is one of my favorite chicken recipes! SO easy to make and SO yummy!
Did I miss it?
Where does the honey come in?
Hi Ansje! Check the FAQs above the recipe card for information on how to use the honey in this recipe!
Lemon chicken with asparagus was easy and excellent.
Hi Lindsay,
Printing out several of your recipes but the print is gray, which makes it so faint that I cannot read it…Any way that you can change the font to black to I can print it out and make these? The recipes look great and I’d really like to try them.
Thanks!
Martie
Hi Martie! The recipe text should be dark, dark gray, if not black when printed. Perhaps your toner or ink cartridge needs to be changed?
I have the same problem. The print is to light you can’t read it. I do not believe it is toner or printer. I have tried it on two different machines.
Quick and easy. Looks fancier than it is. I would definitely use the sauce.
This was so amazing! I always get worried cooking chicken that it’ll be dry and taste too healthy but this was amazing-the juiciest most flavorful chicken ever!! The honey butter sauce is a must to cook in the same pan! It really gives it a great flavor.
So glad to hear it, Tessa! Thanks for the comment!
Looks great. It would be more helpful to talk about the honey- butter sauce in the directions rather than in the notes.
This is seriously a favorite. I make it all the time now. Thank you!
So happy to hear that, Jeni!
this was a great recipe! i haven’t been cooking real dishes for very long and this wasn’t overly challenging, other than the part with the lemons.
i forgot to mention the asparagus was so great! i don’t normally like asparagus very much but the way it’s cooked in this recipe is amazing. i’m probably gonna make asparagus like this next time we have steak!
Thanks for sharing, Kait!
This is a very recipe. Making it a second time tonight. Family loves it.
I don’t eat chicken so I put everything but on top of rice. Delish!
🎉
Where’s the honey used in the recipe? 😬
Hi, Ashley! You can see how we used the honey butter sauce in the notes section of the recipe card. Enjoy!
I had to search in your post about the honey butter sauce. I read it in the “notes” AFTER I printed the recipe. I think it would have been better if you included it in the recipe. I will be making this!
I totally agree. I had all ingredients out, and was like…… OMG. Where is it, what now… but, it’s all good and turned out great ; )
This was simple and Great!! Love the honey/butter ending! PS I just used some lemon juice, S&P cuz did not have any lemon pepper seasoning…
I have been circling around 3 large chicken boobs that I thawed from my freezer all day! THANK YOU! I am on it!… will get back to you . It just sounds perfect for tonight.
So good! Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed this, Lynda!
Loved this recipe of Lemon Chicken. Thanks for such amazing recipe. Please visit http://www.temptingrecipe.com
I love this recipe! About the lemons being bitter, cut the lemon meat out of the slices and caramelize. This will reduce bitterness and make them palatable.
Where in the hell is the lemon butter info?! I can’t find “notes” or “faq section” anywhere and I’m so over scrolling through this post another 30 times trying to find it. And why is it hidden, anyway?
The FAQ section is above the recipe. Here’s the info:
How do I make the honey butter sauce?
For the honey butter sauce, I just melted the butter and honey in the hot pan after caramelizing the lemons and poured it over the chicken. This mixture definitely picked up some of the residual caramelizy-lemon flavor from the pan, so if that isn’t your thing, just melt the butter and honey in a separate pan.
Enjoy, Nicole!
Thanks for the tip, Athena! 👍
Can you make this recipe using almond flour instead of regular flour? I am trying to do anti inflammatory diet
It was perfect the first time. I learn so much from you as well! Keep it up great post.
This was delicious! I had to substitute the asparagus for frozen Brussel Sprouts as I’m running low on fresh vegetables during this pandemic. I steamed the Brussel Sprouts and cut them in half before putting them into skillet and caramelized them . I melted the butter and put in the honey then I added everything back in the skillet. My husband thought it was great. He squeezed the lemon on the chicken for an extra lemon taste. Thank you for this easy recipe that made me look like a seasoned chef!
Glad to hear you enjoyed this, Leslie! 🙂
Tried your recipe , came out perfect!!!
Everyone loved it, thankyou!
So glad to hear you enjoyed this!
Hi LINDSAY! This dish tasted yummy with that lemon pepper seasoning. My mouth gets shut and I am big no to “asparagus” usually but now I think I will include it as my diet item with this chicken dish.
Glad to hear you enjoyed this, Alekhya!
Made this tonight and it was awesome.
Only change was added fresh grated ginger at the end to bring together the honey and lemon.
Awesome!
YUM! Sounds delicious, Shannon!
I loved this dish! I couldn’t decide if it was a bit too lemony for me, but the rest of my family loved it. I did add some more seasoning to the chickens but otherwise, this is quick and easy and has great flavor!
So happy to hear you enjoyed this, Juliana!
Great recipe! Added spaghetti squash and was great! Will be making this again!
YUM! Spaghetti squash sounds perfect with this, Christina. 🙂