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Home » Main Dish

The Best Lemon Pepper Chicken

August 27, 2020 By Lorena Grater

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Chicken with creamy peppercorn sauce with roasted sweet potato and asparagus on a plate and text overlay for Pinterest.

This is the best Lemon Pepper Chicken you will ever try. It’s lemony, creamy, super flavorful, and a family favorite! Forget about the boring chicken breasts with lemon and pepper. This is a whole different recipe with a crazy good sauce.

Chicken Thighs in a pan with creamy sauce and green pepper corns on top.

If you’ve been around for a while you know me well. I’m all about the sauces. Sauces make everything delicious! And after the huge success of my Slow-Cooker Lemon Chicken, Easy Lemon Garlic Chicken, and Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup I got it, you guys love lemons! So why not mix that delicious ingredient with another favorite ingredient: green pepper!

The Ingredients & Replacement Suggestions

Photo collage of a can of green pepper held in hand on the left and open can on a kitchen counter on the right.

Make sure you get the black pepper that comes canned or jarred and in brine. For whatever reason, grocery stores don’t always have it next to the other spices but rather in other places so ask around or get it online. (This is an affiliate link). I do not recommend using any other peppercorns as they will be pretty hard and strong and spicy.

Other than this all ingredients are super simple:

Chicken thighs in a bowl, creme fraiche in a bowl, parsley in a bowl, chicken broth in a bowl, green peppercorns in a can, and a lemon on a kitchen counter.

  • Chicken Thighs: you can replace them by chicken breasts but I recommend thighs because they are juicier.
  • Crème Fraîche: you can easily replace with sour cream or cashew cream to make it dairy-free.
  • Lemon: I’ve tried this recipe with lime and it works fine and tastes good. It does taste better with lemon though.
  • Parsley: This is optional to begin with, so you can omit if you don’t have any or you can use any other soft fresh herb (cilantro, basil, dill).
  • Chicken Broth: any other broth or stock will work but obviously chicken broth is the one that makes the most sense.

Chicken thigh with creamy peppercorn sauce on a plate served with roasted sweet potato slices and roasted asparagus.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I serve this dish with?

Since the chicken covers the protein in your meal and the lemon and pepper are pretty flavorful I suggest you serve it with a carb and a vegetable or with a salad that contains some carbs. You can keep it simple with roasted sweet potatoes and roasted asparagus. Or you can make rice or farro and serve a salad with it.

Can I freeze the chicken with the sauce?

Yes, this recipe freezes well. To defrost place it in the fridge overnight and after reheating make sure to whisk the sauce back together.

Chicken Thighs in a pan with creamy sauce and green pepper corns on top.

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4 people
This is the best Lemon Pepper Chicken you will ever try. It's lemony, creamy, super flavorful, and a recipe with a crazy good sauce.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp butter
  • 1 tsp olive oil - optional
  • 1 lbs skinless boneless chicken thighs
  • sea salt
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 2 Tbsp crème fraîche
  • 1 Tbsp FRESH green peppercorns - see notes
  • lemon
  • parsley - optional
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Instructions

  • Preheat a large pan over medium-low heat and once hot add butter and olive oil and pan-fry chicken thighs for 3-5 minutes on one side and then 3-5 minutes on the other. Season with sea salt on both sides in the pan.
  • Remove the chicken from the pan and keep warm. Add chicken broth to the pan juices and scrape off any burnt bits and pieces. Add crème fraîche and stir until well combined. Once bubbling, reduce heat to a simmer and stir occasionally. Let simmer and reduce until creamy. Add lemon zest, 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice, green peppercorns and try for salt and then add chicken thighs back into the sauce.
  • Add to a plate and pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with roasted sweet potato and asparagus or a salad.

Notes

You HAVE to use fresh peppercorns! You cannot use dried!

Nutrition

Calories: 176kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 114mg | Sodium: 209mg | Potassium: 329mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 96IU | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg
Course Main Course
Cuisine International
Keyword lemon pepper chicken
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Filed Under: Main Dish, Meat and Chicken

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kathryn says

    February 7, 2022 at 4:24 pm

    5 stars
    I’m making this for dinner AGAIN tonight! So delicious and easy for a weeknight meal (that I’d be happy to serve to company). I never have creme fraiche so I sub heavy cream and reduce it in the pan to thicken the sauce.

    Reply
  2. Kornelia Rothhaupt-Messing says

    July 23, 2021 at 8:43 am

    5 stars
    Hello, I made it yesterday, today we had the left-overs! It was delicious, simple to make and the taste was extremely good!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe!! Best wishes from Germany!!!

    Reply
  3. Pilar says

    October 26, 2020 at 11:43 pm

    5 stars
    I wonder if I could substitute crème fraîche with greek yogurt?

    Reply
    • Lorena Grater says

      October 27, 2020 at 2:33 pm

      You can but it won’t be as creamy and rather more liquid.

      Reply
  4. Kat says

    August 30, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    5 stars
    It was so easy and quick to make. It was so delicious. I didn’t have fresh cream or green peppercorn so I used sour cream and capers. I normally don’t like butter and lemon combo (remind me of scampi grease) but this one wasn’t greasy or heavy at all. Thanks for the recipe. xoxo

    Reply

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