Why It Works
- Cooking the lemon halves softens the fruit’s acidic punch and leads to a posh, mellow sauce that’s nonetheless shiny.
- Including the butter to the sauce steadily produces a creamy, emulsified sauce.
It was a chaotic Thursday night time: My 18-month outdated was on all fours making an attempt to drink water out of our cat’s bowl, the cat was yowling in protest, and, having forgotten it was my night time to cook dinner dinner, I used to be shoulders-deep in my fridge in search of a simple dinner resolution. I noticed some hen and a tragic lemon in determined want of utilizing, and selected hen piccata…solely to understand we had no capers or eggs. I used to be about to recommend cereal for dinner earlier than I remembered that my Birmingham, Alabama-based check kitchen colleague Melissa Gray had just lately developed a simple but luxurious lemon-pepper hen recipe for Severe Eats—which I had all of the substances for.
Tender, moist, and filled with a citrusy punch, Grey’s lemon-pepper hen tastes like a cross between roast hen and hen piccata. Not solely is it scrumptious, nevertheless it additionally requires only one pan and comes collectively in underneath an hour, making it a super weeknight dinner. For all the plain causes, it has since turn into certainly one of my household’s favourite weeknight meals. Right here’s the right way to make it.
Tips on how to Make Tender, Moist Lemon-Pepper Rooster
Char your lemons. Whereas many candy and savory recipes incorporate uncooked lemon zest, juice, or slices, Grey takes a simple however intelligent strategy right here: She halves a lemon, then cooks it reduce facet down within the skillet till it’s properly browned, which provides the dish a shiny, caramelized be aware.
Dredge your hen in flour. Coating the hen breasts in a good layer of flour helps take in any extra moisture and offers the poultry a dry exterior that browns evenly, and is a trick our editorial director Daniel makes use of in his fish piccata recipe.
Sear, bake, and relaxation your hen. To maintain the hen good and juicy whereas additionally crisping up the pores and skin, sear it pores and skin side-down in a skillet. Bake it till it simply reaches 160ºF (71ºC) on an instant-read thermometer, then let it relaxation. Because the hen rests, its temperature will proceed to rise to 165ºF. This resting additionally permits the hen’s juices to evenly distribute itself all through the meat, leading to moist, tender hen.
For the creamiest sauce, scale back your wine and add your butter steadily. After you take away the hen, you’ll deglaze the pan with white wine, then scale back it by half. This cooks off the alcohol, stopping the wine from imparting the tough taste of uncooked wine to the sauce, and likewise concentrates the wine’s sugars, which provides the sauce physique. As soon as the wine has decreased, it’s key to include the butter slowly whereas whisking continually to make sure that the sauce emulsifies correctly. As former Severe Eats editor Sohla has written previously, the “mixture of stirring, swirling the pan, and vigorous effervescent will emulsify the butter into the sauce, breaking it up into tiny droplets which are then distributed all through the liquid.”
As fancy as that every one sounds, it is a meal that comes collectively in lower than an hour—however tastes such as you’ve been cooking all day lengthy. Merely add some rice, couscous, or potatoes and a easy vegetable facet like steamed or roasted broccoli and also you’re all set with a chaos-free night—at the least within the dinner division.
This recipe was developed by Melissa Grey; the headnote was written by Genevieve Yam.
This One-Pan Lemon-Pepper Rooster Is a Weeknight Hero
Cook dinner Mode
(Maintain display awake)
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1 medium lemon (5 ounces; 141g)
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1/2 cup all-purpose flour (2 1/4 ounces; 64g)
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4 boneless, skin-on hen breasts (12 ounces; 340g), patted dry
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2 3/4 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt, divided; for desk salt, use half as a lot by quantity
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1 teaspoon freshly floor black pepper, divided, plus extra for garnish
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1/4 cup (60ml) additional virgin olive oil
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1/3 cup (90ml) white wine
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4 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 ounces; 57g), cubed
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1 tablespoon recent thyme leaves, plus extra for garnish
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Regulate oven rack to center place, and preheat to 400°F (205ºC). Utilizing a microplane grater, zest lemon to yield 2 teaspoons zest; put aside. Halve lemon crosswise; put aside individually from zest.
Severe Eats / Fred Hardy
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In a large, shallow bowl, unfold flour in a good layer. Sprinkle hen evenly with 2 1/2 teaspoons salt and three/4 teaspoon black pepper. Working with one hen breast at a time, dredge hen in flour, shaking off extra. Switch to a plate, and repeat with remaining hen breasts; put aside.
Severe Eats / Fred Hardy
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In a 12-inch enameled forged iron or stainless-steel skillet, warmth oil over medium warmth till simply shimmering. Add reserved lemon halves, reduce sides down, and cook dinner, undisturbed, till edges start to brown, about 5 minutes. Take away lemon halves from skillet; put aside. Improve warmth to medium-high; add hen to skillet, pores and skin sides down, and cook dinner, rotating pan as wanted, till pores and skin is golden brown and crisp, 6 to eight minutes. Utilizing tongs, rigorously flip hen breasts, pores and skin sides up, and return lemon halves to skillet, reduce sides down. Take away from warmth.
Severe Eats / Fred Hardy
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Place skillet in oven and bake till a thermometer inserted into thickest a part of hen registers 160°F (71ºC) on an instant-read thermometer, 15 to 18 minutes. Let relaxation 5 minutes; temperature will proceed to rise to 165°F (74ºC). Switch hen breasts to a platter; loosely tent with foil to maintain heat, and let relaxation whereas making sauce. Juice caramelized lemon halves to yield 2 tablespoons juice; set juice apart. Don’t wipe skillet clear.
Severe Eats / Fred Hardy
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For the Sauce: Whereas hen is resting, return skillet to medium-high. Add remaining 1/4 teaspoon every salt and pepper to drippings in skillet; cook dinner, stirring continually, for 1 minute. Add wine and cook dinner, stirring continually, till decreased by half, about 2 minutes.
Severe Eats / Fred Hardy
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Add butter; cook dinner, whisking continually, till butter is melted, about 1 minute. Decrease warmth to medium; cook dinner, whisking continually, till a creamy, emulsified sauce is fashioned, about 1 minute. (When prepared, it ought to coat the again of a spoon and a finger dragged by it ought to depart a path.) Whisk in reserved lemon juice and thyme. Drizzle sauce over hen, and garnish with further freshly floor black pepper, thyme, and reserved lemon zest.
Severe Eats / Fred Hardy
Particular Gear
Microplane grater, 12-inch enameled forged iron or stainless-steel skillet, instant-read thermometer, whisk
Make-Forward and Storage
The hen and sauce is greatest served the day of, however leftovers could be safely saved for as much as 4 days in an hermetic container within the fridge.
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