This scrumptious Chinese Lemon Chicken has an incredibly tasty and crispy coating, served with a delicious lemon sauce and is ready in just 30 minutes! This is a classic Chinese takeout recipe, but can be easily made at home!
Chinese Lemon Chicken is such a classic takeout dish, almost as popular as the Orange Chicken. But if I had to pick a favorite, I’d probably go with this lemon chicken. I’m talking about a super crispy coating and a totally addicting lemon sauce. When paired together, it’s a match made in heaven!
Chinese Lemon Chicken
- Easy Fast Steps
- Super Crispy Chicken
- Ready in just 30 Minutes
- Crowd Favorite
- Perfect for Busy Weeknights
This lemon chicken comes with plenty of sauce, and it’s such a delicious lemon sauce with a bit of sweetness added to it. But the best part of this chicken dish is the super crispy coating, so go ahead and keep on reading to see how it’s done.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken: I am using chicken breast for this recipe, sliced in half to get a thinner form. Boneless chicken thighs work as well.
- Eggs: Two large eggs will be used to help the flour and cornstarch mix to stick to the chicken pieces.
- Seasoning: Salt and pepper to taste.
- Olive Oil: Regular or extra virgin works well.
- Cornstarch and Flour: Besides using it to thicken our lemon sauce, this is my secret ingredient that I use to dredge the chicken through. Combine this cornstarch with some flour and we got ourselves super crispy coating on our breast fillets.
- Butter: I usually use unsalted butter so I can control the intake of sodium in this recipe.
- Lemon: One lemon will be cut into wedges and the other will be juiced.
- Sugar: Regular granulated sugar works well.
- Broth: I like to use chicken broth for this recipe with low sodium.
- Green Onions: roughly chop them to garnish the final dish.
How to Make Chinese Lemon Chicken
- Prepare the Chicken. Slice the chicken breasts in half lengthwise (butterflied) to get two thinner pieces from each breast. Combine the eggs with salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. In another bowl combine the ½ cup cornstarch with the flour and mix well. Dredge the chicken through the egg first, then through the flour mixture.
- Cooking your Chicken. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken to the skillet, as many as you can fit, and fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until golden and crispy. Transfer the chicken to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with remaining chicken.
- Make the Sauce. Drain any leftover oil from the skillet. Add the butter to the skillet and melt. Add the lemon juice, sugar, chicken broth, ¼ tsp salt and 1 tbsp of cornstarch. Whisk everything well together and cook until the sauce has thickened and is smooth.
- Ready to Serve. Slice the chicken into thin strips and pour lemon sauce over. Serve with rice.
FAQ’s and Expert Tips
FAQ’s
Absolutely not. You can work with boneless chicken thighs as well. Just make the chicken gets fully cooked. Chicken is fully cooked when the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
For sure! Try adding some asparagus, green beans or even zucchini! They will complement the chicken nicely.
You can serve this chicken with egg noodles, roasted veggies, oven baked potatoes, veggie salad or any greens you want to mix in.
Tips
- Usually, the lemon sauce that is served with lemon chicken in restaurants, usually is more yellow in color. If you’d like to achieve that neon yellow color, add 2 or 3 drops of yellow food coloring.
- After you fry the chicken, make sure you place a paper towel on the plate to soak up any extra oil and to leave the chicken nice and crispy.
- If you’d like your sauce thicker, add a bit more cornstarch to it, until desired consistency.
Storing Leftover Lemon Chicken
Fridge
Store leftover lemon chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
Freezer
Freeze this in an airtight containers for up to 3 months! Allow to thaw overnight in the fridge before heating back up in the oven, on the stove, or on the microwave.
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Chinese Lemon Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken
- 3 large chicken breasts boneless, skinless
- 2 large eggs
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
Lemon Sauce
- 2 tbsp butter unsalted
- ½ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ cup sugar granulated
- ⅔ cup chicken broth low sodium
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Garnish
- 2 green onions chopped
- 1 lemon cut in wedges
Instructions
- Butterfly the chicken breasts: Slice the chicken breasts in half lengthwise (butterflied) to get two thinner pieces from each breast.
- Prepare the dredge: Combine the eggs with salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. In another bowl combine the ½ cup cornstarch with the flour and mix well.
- Dredge the chicken: Dredge the chicken through the egg first, then through the flour mixture.
- Fry chicken in batches: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken to the skillet, as many as you can fit, and fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until golden and crispy. Transfer the chicken to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with remaining chicken.
- Make the lemon sauce: Drain any leftover oil from the skillet. Add the butter to the skillet and melt. Add the lemon juice, sugar, chicken broth, ¼ tsp salt and 1 tbsp of cornstarch. Whisk everything well together and cook until the sauce has thickened and is smooth.
- Finish the dish and serve: Slice the chicken into thin strips and pour lemon sauce over. Serve with rice.
Recipe Notes
- The lemon sauce that is served with lemon chicken in restaurants, usually is more yellow in color. If you’d like to achieve that neon yellow color, add 2 or 3 drops of yellow food coloring.
- After you fry the chicken, make sure you place a paper towel on the plate to soak up any extra oil and to leave the chicken nice and crispy.
- If you’d like your sauce thicker, add a bit more cornstarch to it, until desired consistency.
- Store leftover lemon chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
- Freeze this in an airtight containers for up to 3 months! Allow to thaw overnight in the fridge before heating back up in the oven, on the stove, or on the microwave.
This recipe was absolutely perfect! The whole family loved it. It was easy to make with ingredients I usually have in stock. Delicious. My husband said he would add it to his top 10.
Wow, that’s so great to hear! 🙂
I love it so much
Thank you Jo for the Chinese Lemon Chicken – I want to order it all the time and now I can make it. Just love this and your talent.
Thank you, Marlene! 🙂
What a great recipe. My husband (who doesn’t usually like lemony recipes), devoured it and went back for seconds. Delicious!
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it!
I made it!!! It was fantastic. Will try that sauce with Salmon and double the recipe. We made chicken sandwiches out of the leftover chicken breasts with a side of rice and lemon sauce.
Thank you for a great recipe!!!!
That’s so lovely! Glad you enjoyed it!
My family just loved this recipe….there were no leftovers!
We love reading this! So glad you enjoyed it!!!
Wow, Jo! Is there anything you don’t know how to cook? I look forward to your delicious recipes in anticipation of something tasty to surprise my family’s tastebuds and you never fail to please! Love lemon chicken, love this EASY recipe. Only thing I’ll change is next time double that lemon sauce! Thank ya!
We are so happy you enjoy the recipes so much!
Do you think I could air fry the chicken?
Yes, you can definitely give it a go in the air fryer. Or for a slightly different edge to this, you can try the Air Fryer Chicken Tenders recipe that is quite similar: https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/air-fryer-chicken-tenders/
Let us know how your recipe turns out!