Lemon Chicken with Couscous

Chicken is my go to for easy weeknight dinners, and this recipe for Lemon Chicken served over a bed of couscous is so delicious and it comes together fast. No marinating for this recipe, and when the chicken is cut up into bite-sized pieces, browned in a seasoned flour it cooks quickly. The sauce is a savory chicken lemon sauce that thickens as it simmers.

Skillet Lemon Chicken

We love how this chicken comes together so fast in a skillet. I always have uncooked chicken breasts in the freezer. The hardest part is remembering to move them to the fridge to thaw the night before. When the chicken is cut up into chunks, it cooks so fast and the flavor is so good when there is more surface area for the chicken to brown. We love the coating the seasoned flour gives this chicken.

What you need to make Lemon Chicken:

- 3 lbs. chicken breasts cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, plus more if needed
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
- 2 whole lemons
For the Couscous:
1 1/2 cups dry couscous (or one box)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or water, heated to a boil
2 tbsp. fresh parsley chopped *optional garnish

How to make Lemon Chicken:

Cut up the chicken pieces and trim off any excess fat or skin. If you’re using large chicken breasts, cut them up into small pieces. In a glass bowl, combine the flour, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. black pepper. Working with 8-10 pieces of chicken at a time, move them around in the flour mixture inside the bowl making sure they are completely coated with seasoned flour. Set aside on a plate and repeat with all the chicken pieces.
In a very large skillet (with a lid), heat olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken pieces (in batches) and cook, turning once or twice, until they are golden brown on all sides. Remove to a plate as they brown and repeat until all the chicken pieces are cooked. Set aside.
When the chicken is browned, lower the heat to medium low and add the onion to the pan. Cook, stirring for 3 – 4 minutes or until softened. Add in the minced garlic until fragrant. Return the chicken pieces to the pan, sprinkle with ground ginger and remaining salt and pepper. Stir to coat, then add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to low, cover the pan and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, using a lemon zester, shave off some of the lemon peel of one of the lemons for a garnish. Squeeze the juice of one of the lemons, over a strainer to keep the lemon seeds out. You should have about 1/4 cup of lemon juice. If you don’t have this same amount don’t worry, it’s not a big deal. Slice the other lemon for a garnish (seeds removed).
After the chicken has cooked for 15 minutes, add lemon juice and lemon zest, stir and continue cooking. Cover for another 10-15 minutes. The sauce should be thickened and the chicken should be tender. Serve immediately over the hot couscous. Garnish with more lemon zest, chopped parsley and lemon slices.
For the Couscous: In a separate (medium sized) sauce pan bring the chicken broth to a boil. Add the dry couscous. Cook stirring constantly for about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and let the couscous absorb the liquid. Fluff it up with a fork right before serving.

Use Better than Bouillon chicken base for this:

We love to use Better than Bouillon for recipes like this that call for chicken or beef broth. It’s a lot less expensive than using canned chicken stock or broth and you have less to store in your pantry. For this recipe you only need 1 teaspoon of chicken base + 1 cup water for every cup listed in the recipe.

How to zest a lemon:

This recipe for lemon chicken gets it’s fantastic lemon flavor from both lemon juice and lemon zest. The lemon zest adds so much. We love how easy it is the zest a lemon with this microplane zester. To zest a lemon, just rinse the whole lemon under water and dry it with a hand towel. With the lemon in one hand and the zester in the other just rub the lemon onto the zester to finely grate the lemon rind. Rotate the lemon to only zest the yellow outside, not the white layer. When the lemon zest is grated so fine, you only get the flavor and not much texture.

MORE Chicken recipes we LOVE:

–Mushroom Asiago Chicken
–Chicken Broccoli Casserole
–Chicken Fried Rice

Lemon Chicken with Couscous

A delicious lemon sauce served over lemon chicken and couscous.

Author Kami | NoBiggie.net

Ingredients

3 lbs. chicken breasts cut into chunks
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper divided
2 tablespoon olive oil plus more if needed
2 medium onions chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic minced
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh Flat Leaf Parsley chopped
2 whole lemons

For the Couscous:

1 1/2 cups dry couscous (or one box)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or water, heated to a boil
2 tbsp. fresh parsley chopped *optional garnish

Instructions

Cut up the chicken pieces and trim off any excess fat or skin. If you're using large chicken breasts, cut them up into small pieces. In a glass bowl, combine the flour, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. black pepper. Working with 8-10 pieces of chicken at a time, move them around in the flour mixture inside the bowl making sure they are completely coated with seasoned flour. Set aside on a plate and repeat with all the chicken pieces.
In a very large skillet (with a lid), heat olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken pieces (in batches) and cook, turning once or twice, until they are golden brown on all sides. Remove to a plate as they brown and repeat until all the chicken pieces are cooked. Set aside.
When the chicken is browned, lower the heat to medium low and add the onion to the pan. Cook, stirring for 3 - 4 minutes or until softened. Add in the minced garlic until fragrant. Return the chicken pieces to the pan, sprinkle with ground ginger and remaining salt and pepper. Stir to coat, then add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to low, cover the pan and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, using a lemon zester, shave off some of the lemon peel of one of the lemons for a garnish. Squeeze the juice of one of the lemons, over a strainer to keep the lemon seeds out. You should have about 1/4 cup of lemon juice. If you don't have this same amount don't worry, it's not a big deal. Slice the other lemon for a garnish (seeds removed).
After the chicken has cooked for 30 minutes, add lemon juice and lemon zest, stir and continue cooking. Cover for another 15 minutes. The sauce should be thickened and the chicken should be tender. Serve immediately over the hot couscous. Garnish with more lemon zest, chopped parsley and lemon slices.

For the Couscous:

In a separate (medium sized) sauce pan bring the chicken broth to a boil. Add the dry couscous. Cook stirring constantly for about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and let the couscous absorb the liquid. Fluff it up with a fork right before serving.