5 Ingredient Lemon Chicken with Asparagus

Name: 5 Ingredient Lemon Chicken with Asparagus
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Cuisine: American
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)

106 reviews / 4.8 average

Featured comment

We LOVE simple and easy recipes, and this one is certainly that, with amazing flavoring. And the asparagus just tops the entire meal off. Love it!

Matt Robinson

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Jump to Recipe

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.

Lemon chicken with asparagus in a pan with a fork

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

Why do my lemons taste bitter?

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.

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.

Can I make this gluten-free?

Sure can! We’d recommend using a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour.