Italian Chicken with Lemon Butter Sauce
Perfectly roasted chicken, scented with herbs and partnered with sweet bell peppers, red onion, and golden baby potatoes. That would be delicious enough, but when you drizzle over my garlicky lemon butter sauce, your world is forever changed.
This is the ultimate sheet pan meal. You have everything you need on one pan – meat, vegetables, and carbs! And you can switch up the vegetables however you want. For lower carb options, use parsnips or rutabagas instead of potatoes. Instead of bell peppers, swap in carrots, celery, green beans, zucchini, and/or asparagus. And, if you don’t have baby potatoes, cut your favorite potato variety into 2-inch chunks.
This is such an easy way to feed a crowd! Everything cooks together on one pan, leaving little cleanup and a great presentation. And if you have any leftover lemon butter sauce (which cooks quickly on the stovetop while the dinner roasts in the oven), store it in the fridge for up to 5 days – it’s great over vegetables, pasta, rice, and seafood.
Look how perfectly cooked those vegetables are! All you need is a little olive oil, store-bought Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and you can create mouth-watering, oven-roasted vegetables any night of the week. This is one of my favorite dinners, and it’s thanks to the perfectly cooked meat and vegetables!
The lemon butter sauce is truly amazing. And you need just 4 ingredients! Sweet butter is complimented with tangy lemon, and then garlic and crushed red pepper flakes add aroma and a little heat. You can adjust the amount of red pepper flakes you add, so you can make it as fiery as you want.
I used chicken breasts, but thighs work too. I actually used the thin-sliced, boneless skinless chicken breasts and they cooked perfectly in 25 minutes. If you’re using thicker chicken breasts, I suggest you pound them between two pieces of plastic wrap until they’re about 3/4-inch thick.
Italian Chicken with Lemon Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 3/4-inch thickness (or thin-sliced chicken breasts)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, divided
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1 pound small red, gold or white potatoes
- 2 bell peppers, any color, seeded and cut into thin strips
- 1/2 cup sliced red onion
For the Lemon Butter Sauce
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from the halved lemon above
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- In a shallow dish or zip-top bag, combine the chicken, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, 1 teaspoon of the Italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Turn to coat the chicken evenly, massaging the herbs into the meat. Let stand for 15 minutes, or refrigerate for up to 12 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
- Arrange the chicken on the prepared pan. Slice half of the lemon half into thin slices and arrange the slices on the chicken.
- In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, bell peppers, onion, remaining tablespoon of olive oil, remaining teaspoon of Italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Toss to coat. Arrange the vegetables around the chicken on the pan.
- Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are fork-tender.
- Meanwhile, to make the lemon butter sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. When the butter has melted, whisk in the garlic powder. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice and crushed red pepper flakes (if using).
- Top the chicken and vegetables with some of the lemon butter sauce and serve the rest on the side.
It’s clever to note that leftover lemon butter sauce can be stored for days and used on other dishes—I’ve been using mine on steamed broccoli and it’s fantastic. For more such creative cooking ideas, you might explore https://www.freeailist.org.