Lemon Butter Chicken Thigh Recipe
This Lemon Butter Chicken Thigh Recipe is quick, easy and bursting with flavor! Juicy chicken thighs cooked with butter, lemon, thyme and garlic. The perfect one pan weeknight dinner! This 30-minute dinner recipe is gluten free, grain free, low carb and Keto friendly.
This post was originally published October 7, 2015.
Table of Contents
How do I make chicken thighs?
I typically eat chicken breast and every once in awhile I will change things up and have drumsticks. But the chicken thighs . . . they are just so darn juicy and flavorful. And this Lemon Butter Chicken Thigh Recipe with Thyme and Garlic will blow your mind! Pan frying chicken thighs is the best method, in my opinion. It gets a nice brown crust and you can finish the thighs in a great sauce.
This recipe starts with Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs. I use the boneless skinless variety because I just do not like to bother with bones or skin. Plus they cook up a bit faster.
How do you make chicken thighs crispy?
Get that pan hot, hot, Hot! Make sure the pan and oil are nice and hot before adding the chicken. This tip goes for anything you are wanting to brown on the stovetop.
In the mood for another great chicken dinner?
Spinach Artichoke Smothered Chicken
Easy Roast Chicken
Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
Lemon Garlic Chicken Drumsticks
Easy Honey Garlic Chicken
Easy Baked Chicken Breast Recipe
What ingredients do you need for this Lemon Butter Chicken Thigh Recipe?
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
- Olive Oil
- Salt/Pepper
- Chicken Broth
- Butter
- Garlic
- Lemon Juice
- Thyme
This truly is my new favorite chicken recipe. It is not really surprising because lemon, garlic and thyme are a few of my favorite things. Not to mention BUTTER! Now if I could only find a way to add cheese to this dish it would be perfection.
What tools do you need for this recipe?
You will need a Sharp Knife, Good Cutting Board and Frying Pan.
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Lemon Butter Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Boneless Skinless Foster Farms Simply Raised Chicken Thigh Fillets
- 2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- Salt/Pepper
- 1 Cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth - divided
- 1/4 Cup butter
- 10-12 Garlic Cloves - halved
- 1/4 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice
- 3-4 Fresh Thyme Sprigs
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in large fry pan over medium/high.
- Generously coat chicken with salt and pepper.
- Fry chicken in oil until brown. (5-6 minutes each side)
- Remove chicken from pan and reduce heat to medium/low.
- Quickly add 1/2 cup chicken broth and scrape bottom of pan to deglaze.
- Add butter and garlic. Simmer uncovered 5 minutes.
- Return chicken to pan and add the remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth.
- Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Baste chicken with liquid twice during this time.
- Remove lid. Add lemon juice and thyme.
- Continue cooking until chicken until fully cooked and no pink remains. (about 10 minutes)
Notes
Nutrition
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This post is sponsored by Foster Farms®, the opinions expressed are my own.
Welcome!
Nicole Harris is the recipe creator behind WonkyWonderful, sharing fast, budget-friendly meals for busy families. Since 2012 she’s been developing 30-minute dinners, kid-approved favorites, and holiday dishes with flair - all with real ingredients and no fuss. She grew up stretching simple pantry staples into something delicious, and that shows up in every recipe: easy, affordable, and full of flavor. Read more...
delicious recipe with a perfect blend of flavours xoxo
Thanks!!!
This looks amazing!
Thanks John!
I want to make this tonight! Looks so delish! What would you recommend as a side for this?
I recommend rice, quinoa or pasta. You can put the rice or pasta on the plate, top with chicken then spoon over that lemony, buttery juice. Enjoy!
How many people can this recipe feed?
This can easily feed 4 people. Enjoy!
This was such a delicious meal. Thanks so much for posting it. This will be a staple dinner in our home since my 3 and 4 year old boys couldn’t get enough, as well as myself.
I love hearing that. Thanks Cheri!
can i make it a day ahead, put in fridge, and then warm up in microwave
Hi Cecilia. Yes, I think that would work fine. Just make sure not to microwave too long. You wouldn’t want to dry out the chicken. Enjoy!
I’m trying this recipe tonight. I absolutely love how easy it is and that I usually have all of these ingredients on hand. I have a 2 year old, a 7 month old, no time, and a very hungry man. Wasn’t sure what I was going to do with these chicken thighs until I stumbled across this post. Thankfully I had all ingredients minus the FRESH thyme sprigs. I do have thyme so hopefully it is still flavorful. Thanks!
Awesome! Sheesh, I bet you are crazy busy with a 2 year old and 7 month old! I hope you all enjoyed 🙂
My family absolutely LOVED this!!! I’m making it again tonight. I will need to double the recipe this time so I can have it for lunch tomorrow. Thanks for an AMAZING DISH
Awesome! I’m so happy that you enjoyed this recipe 🙂
This looks so good! Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks and Enjoy 🙂
Excellent. I did use 1/2 cup of Sauvignon Blanc to deglaze the pan, otherwise followed it to a T. Delicious.
Oooooh, that sounds amazing! I’ll have to try that next time I make it.
I made this and it was pretty good but it didn’t look anything like your photo. I think because i used boneless, skinless chicken thighs like the recipe calls for and the photo is of a nice bone-in, skin-on thigh. The finished product that I made looked a little pale. I reduced the chicken stock by half because it would have been swimming in it. Like I said, it was tasty, but not as pretty as your photo.
Most importantly they tasted good 😀 I did use boneless and skinless. Perhaps brown them in the pan a tad longer next time to get that nice golden brown color.
That picture you’re using is with the skin on. Skinless chicken is not going to look like that!
Nope. Usually I may second guess myself but there is a picture of the package of chicken thighs with the label. The pan does have to be quite hot to get the skinless thighs to brown. And if you’re into skin on your chicken (I’m not) you can definitely get a much deeper brown color.
Okay. I have never gotten it to look like that without skin. Thanks you!
I just made this and my kids (2 and 4) literally inhaled it! My husband and I loved it, as well. Thanks for sharing – going to add this to chicken rotation for sure!
Oh, I’m so happy to hear that. Anytime a 2 and 4 year old eat dinner without negotiations is a success!
These are soooo good!!!
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed!
I loved the recipe, however I always find that my finished products are never fully cooked. For example my chicken will have to sit for another 5-10 minutes to ensure that it is fully finished. I was always convinced it was my oven, but this was made on the stove top so it must be me! Other than that, amazing recipe!
I always find that my cook time for chicken is a few minutes off from recipes. There are just so many variables that can affect the timing. But, as long as you are not eating raw chicken you are good to go 😀
DELICIOUS!!! I had a taste for lemon chicken and came across your recipe. I didn’t want to add cream and this was PERFECT!!! Thank you
Awesome! I’m glad you enjoyed 🙂
Do you have the calorie and nutrient contents? This recipe came up on a Keto recipe website and it’s kinda critical to keto diet types.
I do not have nutrition info on my site and I’m not very familiar with the keto diet so I cannot say if this recipe applies. I know a lot of people use MyFitnessPal.com for nutrition info.
we love this recipe… all of us: me, hubby, kids ages 5, 3 and 1 1/2 so that is saying something! love that it is flavorful and easy to pair with so many healthy sides. the kids don’t fuss while it cooks as they can smell it and are just excited to eat. recently added in to our standards and eating every 1-2 weeks. well done and thanks 🙂
Awesome! I’m glad to hear it 🙂
Can we substitute veggie oil for olive oil cause I’m out and can’t run to the store and can we use lime instead of lemon cause I’m out lol
Sorry, I missed your comment. I hope you were able to sub out the oil, that should be fine. As far as lime instead of lemon . . . I’m not sure. I guess if you really enjoy lime flavor it would work 🙂
This was Fantastic!
Awesome!
My husband loved this so much that he drank the sauce right out of the pan! Lovely recipe, like chicken piccata using thighs! Thanks!
Haha! That is a good review 😀