Creamy Lemon-Pepper Chicken
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Creamy Lemon-Pepper Chicken
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Lemon Pepper
Cuisine
Italian, Mediterranean
Author:
Chef Punita
Servings
4-6
Lemon Pepper is one of my favorite spice blends. Between the zest from a lemon, the zing from black pepper, and the classic combo of onion and garlic, you’ve got all the core flavors you need to transform plain chicken, fish, or beef into a delicious meal.
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs, skin-on, bone-in
- 4 teaspoons Modern Masala’s Lemon Pepper seasoning, divided
- 1/4 cup flour (use gluten free flour for gluten free version)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
-
Minced Garlic
-
Shredded Cheese
-
Butter
-
Chicken Stock
-
Heavy Cream
- Garnish:
- freshly parsley chopped
- lemon slices
-
Rice, Pasta, Noodles to serve with
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Mix 3 teaspoons of Modern Masala’s Lemon Pepper seasoning with flour. Pat the tops (skin side) of chicken thighs with this seasoning mixture.
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil on high-medium heat in a large skillet.
- Add chicken thighs skin side down and cook for about 4 minutes on high-medium heat until browned, uncovered. Sprinkle the other side of chicken with 1 teaspoon more of Modern Masala’s Lemon Pepper seasoning.
- Flip the chicken thighs over and cook for 2 minutes on the other side. Remove from heat.
- Line baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place chicken thighs skin side up (crispy side up) on the baking sheet and bake at 375 F for about 15-20 minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked, the juices run clear and the chicken is no longer pink in the center.
- Creamy Sauce:
- In the mean time, while the chicken is baking, make the sauce. Clean and dry the skillet you used for cooking chicken thighs.
- Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil and 1/2 tablespoon butter on medium heat in this cleaned skillet.
- Add minced garlic and cook, constantly stirring, for about 30 seconds.
- Add chicken stock and 1 teaspoon Modern Masala’s Lemon Pepper seasoning to the skillet and bring to boil.
- Add heavy cream and bring to boil.
- Add shredded cheese and stir until melted. Reduce heat to simmer and keep stirring until the sauce is smooth. Remove from heat.
- Add 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice and stir in. Top with chopped green onions. Keep the sauce covered.
- The lemon pepper chicken should be cooked by now. Check it for doneness and if chicken is completely cooked through, add it to the skillet on top of the sauce and on top of green onions.
- Garnish with chopped parsley and decorate with a few slices of lemon. Serve the chicken with the lemon sauce over rice, pasta or noodles.
Recipe Note
Cook’s tips
While the chicken bakes, make the cream sauce. This will save you time, and the whole recipe will take 40 minutes to make from start to finish, including the baking time of 20 minutes.
To make the cream sauce, bring all the liquids (chicken broth and heavy cream) to boil, add shredded Parmesan cheese and keep stirring at all times as the cheese starts to melt. Reduce the heat pretty much immediately and continue stirring the sauce on low simmer heat until all the cheese is completely melted, and the creamy sauce forms.
Substitutions
You can use shredded Mozzarella cheese in place of shredded Parmesan cheese.
To make this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free flour to coat the chicken with.
You can use chicken breasts or boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of chicken thighs. Just be sure to watch the baking times – depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts or boneless skinless chicken thighs, the baking time might have to be reduced.
Enjoy...Chef Punita