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Home / Recipes

Chinese Lemon Chicken

30 minutes
4.65 from 77 votes
32 Comments
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  • 1834
by: Joanna Cismaru
04.06.22

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pin for chinese lemon chicken.

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 on a serving platter garnished with green onions.
Table of Contents Open
  • 1 Chinese Lemon Chicken Recipe
  • 2 Why You Should Make This Lemon Chicken
  • 3 Ingredients You’ll Need
  • 4 How To Make Chinese Lemon Chicken
  • 5 Do I Have To Use Only Chicken Breasts?
  • 6 Can I Add Some Veggies To This Lemon Chicken?
  • 7 Serve This Lemon Chicken With
    • 7.1 The Ultimate Parmesan Roasted Broccoli
    • 7.2 Cilantro Lime Rice
    • 7.3 Skillet Green Beans
    • 7.4 Roasted Potatoes With Garlic Sauce
  • 8 Expert Tips
  • 9 Storing Leftover Lemon Chicken
    • 9.1 Fridge
    • 9.2 Freezer
  • 10 More Great Chinese Recipes To Try
  • 11 Chinese Lemon Chicken
    • 11.1 Ingredients
    • 11.2 Instructions
    • 11.3 Video
    • 11.4 Recipe Notes
    • 11.5 Nutrition Information:

Chinese Lemon Chicken Recipe

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!

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.

Why You Should Make This Lemon Chicken

  • Easy Fast Steps
  • Super Crispy Chicken
  • Ready in just 30 Minutes
  • Crowd Favorite
  • Perfect for Busy Weeknights

Ingredients You’ll Need

overhead shot of ingredients needed to make chinese lemon chicken.
  • 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

process shots showing how to bread chicken and fry it.
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Ready to Serve. Slice the chicken into thin strips and pour lemon sauce over. Serve with rice.
process shots showing how to make lemon sauce for chinese lemon chicken.

Do I Have To Use Only Chicken Breasts?

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.

Can I Add Some Veggies To This Lemon Chicken?

For sure! Try adding some asparagus, green beans or even zucchini! They will complement the chicken nicely.

Serve This Lemon Chicken With

The Ultimate Parmesan Roasted Broccoli

Cilantro Lime Rice

Skillet Green Beans

Roasted Potatoes With Garlic Sauce

sliced up fried chicken on a cutting board.

Expert Tips

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. If you’d like your sauce thicker, add a bit more cornstarch to it, until desired consistency.
sliced up chinese lemon chicken with a side of rice and garnished with lemon slices.

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.

pouring lemon sauce over fried chicken.

More Great Chinese Recipes To Try

  • Chinese Honey Chicken
  • Chinese Chicken Skewers
  • Sticky Chinese Chicken Wings
  • Homemade Egg Rolls
  • Crockpot Chinese Pork with Noodles
  • Orange Chicken

Looking for more recipes? Follow on… My Newsletter Pinterest Facebook Instagram

pouring lemon sauce over fried chicken.

Chinese Lemon Chicken

4.65 from 77 votes
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total: 30 mins
Author: Joanna Cismaru
Serves: 6
Print Pin Rate
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!

Ingredients

Chicken

  • 3 large chicken breasts boneless, skinless
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ cup cornstarch
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour

Lemon Sauce

  • 2 tablespoon butter unsalted
  • ½ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
  • ¼ cup sugar granulated
  • â…” cup chicken broth low sodium
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Garnish

  • 2 green onions chopped
  • 1 lemon cut in wedges
US Customary – Metric

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.

Video

Recipe Notes

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. If you’d like your sauce thicker, add a bit more cornstarch to it, until desired consistency.
  4. Store leftover lemon chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
  5. 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.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1chicken pieceCalories: 255kcal (13%)Carbohydrates: 27g (9%)Protein: 16g (32%)Fat: 9g (14%)Saturated Fat: 4g (25%)Trans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 108mg (36%)Sodium: 391mg (17%)Potassium: 321mg (9%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 9g (10%)Vitamin A: 270IU (5%)Vitamin C: 19mg (23%)Calcium: 25mg (3%)Iron: 1mg (6%)
Course:Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine:Chinese
Keyword:chinese lemon chicken, lemon chicken
Tried this recipe? Rate it belowtag @jocooks on instagram and hashtag it #jocooks!
  • 1834

Meet Joanna Cismaru

I’m Joanna (Jo for short) and this is my blog where I share with you my culinary adventures. Here you will find a variety of recipes using simple everyday ingredients and creating wonderful, delicious and comforting meals, including some decadent desserts.

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Comments

  1. Missy says

    June 14, 2022 at 6:10 pm

    This was so delicious! I love how you made it low sodium! I had all but given up looking for that and just usually modified existing recipes. So good!!!

    Reply
  2. Terry A says

    May 9, 2022 at 1:16 pm

    5 stars
    Really worked well for me. I altered it slightly slicing the breasts into fingers before dredging them in the flour mixture. this serves to give the chicken all over crispy coating. I thought the recipe to be outstanding and served it with rice.

    Reply
    • Joanna Cismaru says

      May 9, 2022 at 1:40 pm

      So glad you liked it, Terry!

      Reply
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I'm Joanna (Jo for short) and this is my blog where I share with you my culinary adventures. Here you will find a variety of recipes using simple everyday ingredients and creating wonderful, delicious and comforting meals, including some decadent desserts.

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