Chicken is both affordable and versatile, making it a firm favourite in weekly shopping baskets across the UK. Culinary experts often tout chicken thighs as the superior choice for flavour-packed dishes like curries or stews; however, when it comes to grilling or pan-frying, the breast takes centre stage.
Nonetheless, infusing flavour into slices of chicken can be a bit challenging, according to the gurus at Food52. Presenting their guide to a “simple but satisfying” pan-fried lemon chicken dish, they emphasised: “When it comes to simplicity, the details matter. You want some colour on the cutlets, but too much cooking will dry them out, so the thickness of the pieces is important.”
Luckily, this culinary conundrum has a straightforward fix: just a brief moment of prep.
The approach involves dusting chicken cutlets with a dry mix before lightly frying them in a pan. For an extra burst of taste, they’re then lavished with a zesty lemon butter sauce.
If you opt for chicken breasts, simply halve them horizontally and flatten them to ensure uniform thickness for faster cooking.
The food commentators at Food52 highlight that getting the thickness right is crucial. They recommend aiming for the “sweet spot” that’s about three to four inches thick for perfectly succulent chicken.
They cautioned home cooks: “Too thin and they’ll cook too fast. Too thick and they won’t cook evenly.”
Ingredients
- One large boneless, skinless chicken breast
- Three tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- One cup of flour
- Sea salt
- Olive oil
- Juice of half a lemon
- Half a cup of low-salt chicken broth
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- One tablespoon flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- Lemon slices to garnish
Method
Get started by melting two tablespoons of butter in a sizeable non-stick skillet over moderate heat – take care not to let it singe.
Pour the flour into a broad, shallow bowl. Season the flour with salt and then coat the chicken cutlets in it.
Following this, introduce a few splashes of olive oil to the melted butter.
Place the chicken cutlets in the pan and fry them for two minutes on each side until they are lightly browned and nearly cooked through.
Transfer the chicken to a warm serving dish until you’re ready to serve.
Add lemon juice to the pan and cook until it takes on a gravy-like consistency. Pour in the chicken broth and stir until it thickens slightly.
Switch off the heat and mix in the remaining tablespoon of butter.
Dip the chicken pieces into the pan sauce, then return them to the warm serving dish. Drizzle the remaining sauce over the chicken.
Season with freshly ground black pepper and aromatic fresh parsley, chopped. If desired, garnish with some sliced lemon when serving.