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This Lemon Chicken & Broccoli Skillet is a quick and easy meal, that can be prepared all in the same skillet in less than 30 minutes. It’s a healthy and delicious meal on its own or can be served with any of your favorite sides, from baked potato, to garlic bread or rice.
Why We Love This Meal
One of my favorite go-to family dinners is this simple chicken and broccoli skillet. It’s healthy, has a ton of flavor, and it’s prepared fairly quickly.
One of my favorite ways to flavor chicken is with lemon. Chicken and lemon just go so well together. For more of this delicious flavor combo try my Chinese Lemon Chicken, Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta and Baked Lemon Chicken.
How to Make Lemon Chicken and Broccoli Skillet
This Lemon Chicken and Broccoli Skillet starts with seasoned chicken breasts (the boneless, skinless kind) that are pounded out to be uniform in thickness. This helps the chicken to cook more evenly and keeps the ends from drying out.
The chicken is then seared in a little butter on each side for that golden brown color. You could substitute olive oil if butter’s not your thing. But really, how could butter not be your thing?
Once the chicken is browned on both sides, you’ll add a little lemon juice and chicken broth to the skillet, and finally the broccoli. It will all cook together in the oven, and the cooking time will vary depending on how thick your chicken is. But since it’s browned in the skillet, it doesn’t take too long. Mine took about 9 minutes, and on average it will take 8-10.
When serving, spoon of little of the cooking liquid from the skillet over the chicken. If you’re feeling frisky, you can make a creamy sauce with all that browned goodness in the skillet. Just add a little butter and heavy cream and heat through until you’re happy with the consistency and flavor.
More Chicken Recipes
- Roasted Lemon Garlic Chicken
- BBQ Chicken Tacos
- Baked Chicken Breasts
- Cheesy One Pan Chicken and Rice
Baked Chicken and Broccoli Skillet
Ingredients
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- zest of one lemon
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 3-4 cups broccoli roughly chopped (about 2 small heads)
- 2 tablespoons butter divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, combine lemon pepper, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Set aside. In another small bowl or glass measuring cup, combine lemon juice, lemon zest and chicken broth. Set aside
- Cover chicken with plastic wrap or place in a gallon- size sealable bag. Pound chicken with a mallet until it is uniform in thickness (mine was about 3/4″ thick). Sprinkle both sides with the lemon pepper seasoning mixture.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a 12" oven-safe skillet over low heat. Turn heat to medium-high and place chicken in the skillet. Cook for about 4 minutes on one side; until chicken is golden brown. Flip chicken and sear for 2 minutes on the other side.
- Turn off heat and add the other tablespoon of butter to the skillet. Gently pour lemon/chicken broth mixture around the chicken (not over it) and stir a little to melt the butter into the sauce. Arrange broccoli pieces around the chicken in the skillet and set in the oven for 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through (165 degrees F; it will feel firm and the juices will run clear when pierced with a knife).
- Serve hot, spooning the sauce from the skillet over each piece as it’s plated, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of “Yellow Bliss Road” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
I’m in the middle of making this but wondering what to do with the second tablespoon of butter.
Hi Wilma, it’s in step 5. 🙂
I found your answer to Michele after I sent my question. Sorry.
you mentioned 2 tablespoons of butter but only 1 is used in the directions. What do you do with the other tablespoon?
Hi Michele, so sorry it’s missing – I add it when I add the sauce.
WOW !!!!!!
Hi
You mentioned lemon zest in the instructions, but don’t have it listed in the ingredient’s list.