Chicken Limone (Italian Pollo Al Limone Recipe)

Beautifully zingy chicken dish to awaken your tastebuds! This Italian classic, known as Pollo Al Limone, is an easy and affordable one-pan recipe that comes together within 30 minutes! Perfect dish for dinner any day of the week but elegant enough for entertaining, this Chicken Limone is a wonderful way to bring some excitement into a simple chicken dish!

Jump to:

• Italian Cuisine Beyond Pizza and Pasta
• Why You Will Love This Italian Pollo Al Limone Recipe
• Ingredients and Substitutes
• Tips For Best Results
• Method
• Recipe FAQs
• Reader Review
• Storing And Reheating Leftovers
• What To Serve With Chicken Al Limone?
• Other Easy Chicken Breast Recipes
• Chicken Limone (Pollo Al Limone)

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost for you! Thank you!

Italian Cuisine Beyond Pizza and Pasta

We love Italian! And most frequently, when we eat Italian food it's either pasta or pizza! But, then other times it is a beautiful risotto... And then the wonderful stews, like Caponata! And fish... Not to mention all the world-renowned Italian desserts, like Panna Cotta, Cannolis and Panettone. 

Ok, let's just say Italian food is awesome and stretches way beyond pasta and pizza! And some of my favourites are actually Italian chicken dishes, including Chicken Picatta, Chicken Cacciatore, Chicken Pizzaiola and this absolutely amazing Pollo Al Limone!

Why You Will Love This Italian Pollo Al Limone Recipe

• Delicious dinner in 30 minutes? Yeah, alright! Just like our Cream of Mushroom Chicken and Diet Coke Chicken recipe, this Italian classic comes together in no time!
• You will only need chicken and a handful of pantry staples, that you are likely to have at home already! 
• If you like our Classic Chicken Picatta or Chinese-style crispy Lemon Chicken, you are going to love Chicken Limone too!
• One-pan easy recipe only means one thing - minimal washing up!

Ingredients and Substitutes

Can you make a ridiculously flavoursome chicken dinner with just 6 simple ingredients? Absolutely! Our Chicken Limone recipe is just that! You will need: 

• chicken breasts: use boneless skinless chicken breasts. You will ideally use chicken breasts that aren't overly thick (that way you can cook them a lot quicker). If your chicken breasts have mini fillets attached, we recommend removing them and cooking them separately. 
• plain flour: also known as all-purpose flour. 
• butter: we used unsalted butter, or you can substitute it with ghee. 
• lemon: because we will use both zest and fresh lemon juice in this pollo al limone recipe, choose fresh and juicy unwaxed lemons. 
• sugar: optional, but recommended for people who don't like overly sour sauce.
• garlic cloves: or garlic powder.
• chicken stock: or chicken broth. You may substitute it with vegetable stock. Make sure it's hot when you add it to the pan. 

Find the quantities, detailed instructions and nutritional values for this delicious recipe in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. 

Tips For Best Results

This Italian Lemon Chicken Recipe is extremely easy to make, so even beginners can make it. But for best results, here are a few tips and tricks. 

• Try to use thinner smaller chicken breasts, so that they cook quicker. You can always make them thin cutlets by cutting off the mini fillets (a.k.a. chicken tenders) and even flattening or butterflying larger breasts. 
• Don't skip the flour coating in this recipe. Whilst it may seem counterintuitive to coat chicken in a flour mixture and then cook it in sauce, the flour on the chicken pieces acts as a sauce thickening agent. 
• Use unwaxed lemons, as you will be adding lots of zest to the sauce. 
• Make sure the lemon butter chicken breasts are fully cooked through but don't overcook them. The easiest way to check is to use a kitchen thermometer. The internal temperature in the centre of the thickest part of the chicken breast should read 74°C (165F). 
• Take the cooked chicken out of the pan onto the cutting board and let it rest for 2 minutes. It will make it easier to slice. 

Method

1. Place the flour with a pinch of salt and black pepper in a large shallow bowl.

2. Roll the chicken breasts in flour to ensure they are fully covered.

3. Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Shake off excess flour and place the chicken breasts into the pan. Pan-fry chicken breasts on medium heat for 3-5 minutes on each side, until golden brown on all sides.

4. Transfer the chicken breasts onto a plate.

5. To the same large skillet, add the lemon zest, minced garlic, sugar (optional) and butter. Stir on medium heat for about a minute, scraping the bottom of the pan to get all the brown bits into the sauce.

6. Squeeze in the lemon juice and pour in the hot stock. Stir and bring to a gentle boil.

7. Add the chicken breasts and cover them with a lid. Let the chicken breasts finish cooking in the sauce (it will take 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts).

If your chicken breasts are very thin or you've flattened them, you may not need to cover the pan with a lid, as they will cook relatively quickly and the sauce will need less time to thicken without the pan covered with a lid. The sauce should reduce by about half and thicken.

8. Serve the chicken breasts with a drizzle of lemon butter sauce on top! Garnish with fresh parsley or chives and lemon slices.

Recipe FAQs

Storing And Reheating Leftovers

If you have any leftovers, cool them down to room temperature, then add the Chicken Limone to an airtight container and pour the sauce over it. Store the cooked lemon chicken in the fridge for up to two days. 

The best way to reheat it is in a microwave. However, you can slice the chicken and heat it with the sauce and a splash of water in a small frying pan too. 

What To Serve With Chicken Al Limone?

Chicken Limone works equally well with fluffy white rice (or try it with Greek Spinach Rice), cauliflower rice, a bowlful of spaghetti and creamy mashed potatoes. 

But here, at Somebody Feed Seb, the meal is never complete without a lovely vegetable side dish. We always serve this Italian Lemony Chicken with Lemon & Garlic Tenderstem Broccoli. But it is also good with: 

• Courgette Ribbon Salad
• Spring Greens With Thyme
• Green Beans and Cherry Tomatoes With Balsamic

For more ideas, visit our article on What To Serve With Chicken Piccata. The side dishes there will go very well with Chicken Limone too. 

And if you are looking for a delicious dessert to follow this Chicken dish, look no further than Strawberry Panna Cotta!

Other Easy Chicken Breast Recipes

Hope you liked this easy lemon chicken recipe! We love cooking chicken breasts - they are so versatile and loved by everyone (Baked Coconut Crusted Chicken Breast is our new obsession)! Here are some of our other easy chicken recipes to try: 

• Crispy Almond Chicken Breast with Cherry Tomato Basil Sauce
• Chicken Pizzaiola (Easy One Pan Recipe)
• Chinese Salt and Pepper Chicken (Takeaway Recipe)
• Chicken Schnitzel Holstein (Chicken With Fried Egg & Capers)
• Lazy Chicken Karahi | Pakistani Chicken Curry
• Chicken Minestrone Soup (Easy Italian Recipe)
• Quick & Easy Honey Chicken
• Chicken with Grapes in Cream & White Wine Sauce