Lemon Chilli Chicken - One of my all-time favourite recipes, super simple to make with a delicious citrusy spicy sauce.
My go-to Quick and Easy Chicken Recipe
If you love curries you will love this Lemon Chilli Chicken. It is citrusy but has the lovely flavour of spices like you'd expect in a curry. Once you make this, it is a recipe you will go back to again and again.
If I needed to list my top 5 favourite chicken recipes, this would be on the list. If I have some chicken to use and need a meal on the table in less than 30 minutes, then this Lemon Chilli Chicken is a definite choice for any busy weekday meal.
Cook the sides while this simmers away on the stove and you can really save even more time.
Most of the spices are store cupboard ingredients apart from of course the chicken and some fresh lemons, so no hard to buy ingredients either - bonus!!
Chicken Breast of Chicken Thighs - which is best?
That's a great question. Any time I am cooking a recipe that requires the meat to cook in the sauce and take on lots of flavours. Chicken thighs are the top of my list.
While chicken breast will work, they won't stay as tender.
When it comes to chicken thighs, you can either use boneless skinless or go for bone-in skinless chicken thighs (my favourite in this recipe). Just because they tend to release more juices which in turn flavours the dish.
How to make Lemon Chilli Chicken?
Rub the chicken with all the spices
Fry in a pan with the onion, ginger, garlic and some spray oil
Add in the stock and lemon zest and viola after simmering for a while it turns into a delicious coated lemon chilli chicken in a citrusy spicy sauce. THAT IS IT!!
How to serve Lemon Chilli Chicken
Well, that is entirely up to you, as you can see I went for some simple steamed white rice, a little fresh cilantro and some batoned carrots.
Wondering how I cook the carrots? Once you have sliced into batons with a sharp knife (I love my Santoku knife), I place in a bowl, cover with some water, place a lid over the top and microwave for 1 min 30 seconds. Then drain, add to a pan with a little spray oil and season with salt and black pepper, fry for a minute or so and they are done. Nice and simple.
Trying to watch your portions? Why not try this over some Roasted Cauliflower Rice.
Need some more Chicken Thigh recipes?
then why not check out some of the following:
- PEACH BARBECUE CHICKEN TRAY BAKE
- SPICY GINGER CHICKEN
- BLACK PEPPER CHICKEN TRAYBAKE
- NANDO'S PERI PERI CHICKEN FAKEAWAY
- CHICKEN, FETA AND ROASTED BEETROOT BAKE
- STOVETOP BBQ CHICKEN
- CHICKEN, SWEET POTATO AND LENTIL CURRY (STOVE TOP AND INSTANT POT)
- COCONUT CHICKEN CURRY RICE
- CHICKEN AND CAULIFLOWER CURRY
or if you would like more recipe ideas - head on over to the FULL RECIPE INDEX where you will find over 900 delicious recipes all with estimated calories and you can search by ingredients, course, diet and more..
All with estimated calories and Slimming friendly
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Recipe Card
Lemon Chilli Chicken
Lemon Chilli Chicken - super simple to make with a delicious citrusy spicy sauce.
Ingredients
- 6 Chicken Thighs - any visible fat/skin removed (can use bone-in or boneless)
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
- 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger
- 1 onion, finely sliced
- 1.5 cups (360 ml) of chicken stock
- 1.5 teaspoons of cumin
- 1 teaspoon mild chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon of ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon of turmeric
- zest and juice of ½ a lemon
- cooking oil spray (I used avocado)
- Some freshly chopped coriander
- additional lemon slices and fresh coriander to garnish
Instructions
- Add the chicken thighs, garlic, ginger, onion and spices to a large dish and mix well to evenly coat.
- Spray a frying pan over a medium high heat with cooking oil spray.
- Add the chicken mixture and fry until lightly golden.
- Add the chicken stock, lemon juice and zest to the pan. Bring up heat till it starts bubbling and then reduce to medium so it gently bubbles until sauce reduces down and thickens (don't add a lid - approx 20 mins), add a little water if needed to loosen sauce if it becomes too dry.
- Top with fresh lemon slices and chopped coriander.
- Season as needed with salt and black pepper
- Serve with your choice of sides
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 3 Serving Size 1 SERVINGAmount Per Serving Calories 231Total Fat 10.3gSaturated Fat 2.9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 31gCholesterol 336mgSodium 709mgCarbohydrates 5.3gFiber 2.9gSugar 3.6gProtein 28g
Nutritional information is an estimate and is to be used for informational purposes only. Ingredients can vary greatly from brand to brand and therefore it would be impossible to give accurate information.
Emma says
Just a quick note to say this was fabulous! Made it yesterday and had the first batch hot and then myself and hubby had some cold today. Really lovely tastes!! Great site!!
admin says
thanks for stopping by to comment. I am glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Amy Boulton says
how many syns on ee?free isnt it?
Anonymous says
yes, it is completely free on EE. I add the syn values to my recipes when there is a syn value 🙂
Amy Boulton says
fantastic thank you this website is fantastic
Anonymous says
I am so glad that a fellow Slimming World buddy gave me this site. As a perpetual slimmer I have found that I must be doing something wrong on SW as I keep yoyoing with my weight and usually the most I lose at any one time is a 1lb to a 1.5lb when others lose alot more. I will definately give this site a try and follow the weekly diet sheet. Watch this space. Thanks to everyone who helps to keep this site up and running.
Tony Bradbury says
Most Excellent Recipe, Just finished it and it was Brill.
Anne-Marie Beach says
Had this tonite, was beautiful, shall definately do it again 🙂
leonard says
i like the idea of combining the lemon and the chicken...so nice..
Anonymous says
Awesome ...... yet again you have given something that works, tastes great and looks beautiful.
Just had a week away at Whitby in UK (famous for its fish and chips) but because of all the wonderful recipes on this site I managed to go the whole week and NOT have any fish and chips. Some sort of record there I think . Once again, thankyou. from am former fat bloke. xx
Amanda Schafer Roach says
This is my new favorite recipe, it's so delicious!
Tracy says
Made this a few weeks ago. Bursting with flavour. Super easy dish to recreate. Definitely one to try.
Katie says
Really tasty and easy to make. Will definitely be one of my go to recipes. Thank you
Rachel says
Absolutely love this recipe, we eat it regularly. Really good with the addition of mushrooms!
Kathryn Davies says
Absolutely delicious! Forgot we have extra hot chilli powder in the cupboard which I used by mistake so it was super hot!! But a lovely flavour. Served it with basmati rice and the slimming eats syn free onion bahjis and mint yoghurt! Yum yum yum!!
Emma says
Absolutely delicious! Made this tonight and it is now one of my favourite recipes. So easy to prepare and so tasty
Vivienne Pennington says
Do you leave the bone in the chicken?
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Vivienne, these were boneless chicken thighs 🙂
Adan says
When cooking in slow cooker do you still brown everything off or put it all in and cook just in slow cooker?
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
It depends on your preference, you can brown first or just add everything to the slow cooker.
Shelley says
Just made this - absolutely delicious & really easy too. Think this will be one a regular in our house from now on. Thank you so much! X.
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
So glad you enjoyed this Shelley. It is a regular here, we love the freshness of the lemon.
Caz says
Thankyou so much for this recipe,it tastes amazing. I’ve made it so many times now,even my teen daughter loves it.
Hannah says
Had family round tonight and this recipe is the perfect one if you have unexpected guests. So tasty and quick and easy to make. . Thanks x
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
You are welcome Hannah. So glad it was a hit with your guests. Thank you for commenting.
Pauline M says
Made this for dinner, hubby loved it, just a bit hot for me so added some plain yoghurt. End result - delicious
April Baynham says
Sounds wonderful but wondering could I use chicken breast . Xxx
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
You can, just thigh meat is better in dishes like this as they take on more flavour
Nicola says
If I'm making this in the slow cooker do I just put everything in at once? Thank you for all your help xx
emma says
Thanks so much for creating this! It has quickly become one of my family favourites! x
Gail says
Absolutely delicious. I add loads of mushrooms and sometimes spinach. I don’t like garlic so jus5 leave it out. I do find tha5 I only need about half the quantity of liquid and sometimes I thicken it with cornflour in lemon juice only 1.5 syns per tbs.
Maureena says
Just made this for my dinner & I can confirm it is delicious! I made it with chicken breast chopped into bite size pieces & halved all the ingredients as it was just for me. I served it with a pack of frozen & microwave wild rice & veg, the ideal accompaniment. Thank you for another great recipe.
PS my husband had a try & said how tasty it was, so next time I will be making it for 2!
Elaine says
Really lovely, went down well with the family. Will make be making again. However, did use cornflour to thicken sauce.
Liz says
Absolutely delicious.
My hubby who is not on a diet loved it too.
Thank you Siobhan.
Jo says
Family favourite in my house been cooking this about 2 year now always a winner
Sarah says
Omg! I've tried many of your recipes and always try think about leaving a review. Unfortunately I always forget but on this occasion, I'm in heaven. This is absolutely amazingly tasty. If I ever need to an idea or a recipe to follow, you are the first I come to and can always guarantee yours will be better than others, and yes I've tried others to compare. This is by far one of my favourites but I have many more to try
Samantha says
This meal has just rocketed straight into my top 3 favourites. Was perfect in my slow cooker
Kathryn Shackleton says
OMG. Game changer. Did this meal last night, its blooming delicious.
Definitely in my top 5. Thank you Shevy 🙂
Lorraine Collins says
Made this tonight and it was a hit!!
Marie says
Hi, just wondered if this would work with lime instead of lemon or absolutely not??? Thanks!
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
yes lime would work, it will just give a slightly different flavour.
Laura Rutter says
I have to say I've made loads of your recipes Siobhan and they are all fabulous. I esp love this one, so easy and sooooo very tasty!
Outstanding!
Alison Muirhead says
another fabulous recipe, lovely tangy spicy chicken! thank you