Lemon Chicken

This easy Lemon Chicken is packed with gourmet flavors. It’s deeply savory, a little spicy and perfectly umami that anyone will love. It is easy to customize to your palate and goes well with rice, fried rice or with noodles. This Lemon Chicken is made in Indo-Chinese style but made healthier by stir frying instead of deep frying.

Chicken is seasoned with spices, salt, lemon zest and lemon juice, later stir fried with aromatics like onions, garlic, ginger and chilies until tender. It is finished off with your favorite spice blend like garam masala or Cajun or steak seasoning.

While we love Indo-Chinese dishes like this Chilli Chicken, Chicken Manchurian, Chicken Lollipop and Schezwan Chicken, all these require deep frying or at least air frying and baking. In these, chicken is coated with flour & fried before tossing in sauce but this Lemon chicken is an exception.

Firstly there are no 2 parts in this recipe like frying and then adding to sauce. Instead everything gets done in the same one-pan, making it so much simpler for a week night meal. If you want to make a one-pan Lemon Chicken noodles or rice, simply double the sauce and spices to add some precooked rice or noodles.

To keep the recipe simple, I have not used veggies. But you may use carrots, bell peppers and French beans for a complete nutritious meal. A lot of times I also add beaten eggs to scramble them in the pan. Here is what you need for the recipe.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Chicken: I use boneless chicken breasts but you can also use skinless boneless chicken thighs cut up to bite sized pieces. If you are using breasts, avoid overcooking as they can easily get rubbery and chewy.
• Lemon: I use large lemons for this and avoid lime because I feel the flavors are slightly different. You will use ¼ teaspoon of fresh lemon zest but dried also works in a pinch.
• Sauce: This recipe uses only soya sauce for umami flavor and more flavor comes from the garam masala or other spice blends you use. But feel free to use Worchester sauce, fish sauce or barbeque sauce as per your choice.
• Seasoning – Spice blends: This recipe has been tested with garam masala, all-spice, Cajun seasoning and steak seasoning. We prefer using garam masala for the Indo-Chinese flavors. Feel free to experiment with your favorite seasoning. Spices like red chili powder and turmeric are used for Indian vibes but you may sub the red chili with chili flakes and omit turmeric.
• Aromatics like onions, ginger, garlic and green chili are used for flavor and I wouldn’t suggest using dried ginger for fresh. If you want you may use green onions and omit green chilies.

Photo Guide

Step by Step Photo Instructions

1. Add diced chicken, ginger paste, red chili powder, salt, turmeric, lemon juice, lemon zest and oil. Do not omit oil, it is the key to tenderize chicken along with lemon juice. I used half of a large lemon. I suggest using fresh lemon and freshly ground ginger or grated ginger.

2. Marinate the chicken and set aside for at least an hour up to overnight in the refrigerator.

3. Heat oil in a pan and saute ginger and garlic for 1 minute.

4. Add onions, slit green chili, sugar and salt.

5. Saute until the onions turn transparent.

6. Add marinated chicken along with the lemon juice. Turn down the flame to low, Stir and saute till the chicken is half cooked, for 2 mins.

7. Sprinkle garam masala or cajun spice mix or all spice. Stir Fry for another 2 to 3 mins.

8. Pour soya sauce and cook on a slightly high heat till the chicken is cooked through for another 1 to 2 mins. Evaporate the soya completely. Taste test and adjust salt, sauce or spices to your taste.

9. Add finely chopped mint leaves or cilantro/coriander leaves.

10. Stir through and saute until the herbs wilt, for another 1 minute. 

Garnish lemon chicken with mint or cilantro/coriander leaves. Serve with onion wedges.

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