This one-pot lemon chicken meal with vegetables is a weekday lifesaver! Healthy chicken, potatoes, and green beans cooked in a delicious pan sauce.
After a long day on the grind, you probably crave a wholesome homemade meal, but you don’t want to slave away in the kitchen all night. I’m obsessed with cooking, but I too just want to unwind after work. This one-pot lemon chicken meal has saved me so much time, yet satisfies our starving appetites in 30 minutes or less.
Once you make this dish a few times, you’ll have dinner down like a boss. Grab the biggest skillet you have and let’s get going! This meal is A+ because it’s got lean protein from the chicken breast, hearty red potatoes, fresh mushrooms, and crispy green beans. I always like to serve a balance of protein, carbohydrates, and vegetables to make sure we are getting all of the nutrients we need.
Okay, so I fibbed a teeny tiny bit. You actually need another pot to cook the potatoes while you saute the chicken. The potatoes don’t need a lot of attention, so we’ll just still count it as one pot, agreed?
Sizzling hot olive oil in a saute pan creates that lovely golden brown color and texture. Just fight the urge to move the chicken during the first sear. Simply let it cook and work it’s magic in the pan. The chicken should easily release from the pan after about 6 to 7 minutes. Don’t touch!
Three things elevate the flavor level and happy belly rating on this dish. Fresh thyme adds beautiful aromas and infuses flavor into the chicken and vegetables. Sliced lemon simmers in the sauce, and the tartness mellows out. I like to serve this dish with the cooked lemon slices and squeeze it on top of the chicken.
Lastly but most importantly, the milk, flour, and broth mixture create a creamy sauce right in the pan. Combine that with all of the yummy juices from the chicken, herbs, and lemon together. Boom! Flavor paradise.
The sauce gets poured over everything, licking the plate clean may happen so watch out. I can’t wait to hear what you think of this easy one-pot lemon chicken recipe. Leave a comment so we can chat and send virtual high fives to each other!
How do you create a pan sauce?
By mixing flour, milk, broth, and the olive oil in a pan, you have the makings of a roux-based sauce. A basic roux is equal parts flour and fat and then dispersed in the liquid ingredients. As the flour absorbs the liquid and heats up, it swells and thickens within minutes, creating a rich pan sauce. Just make sure to whisk the sauce to remove any clumps as it’s simmering. Add more liquid if the sauce becomes too thick. Always taste the sauce before you serve and season as needed!
One-Pot Lemon Chicken with Vegetables
Ingredients
- 1 pound baby red potatoes, halved
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 24 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast, four 6-ounce pieces
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper, plus more for seasoning
- paprika, ground, for seasoning
- 3 sprigs thyme, plus 1 tablespoon chopped
- 4 ounces brown mushrooms, quartered
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 5 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ¾ cups unsalted chicken stock
- zest of 1 lemon, then cut into 8 very thin lemon slices
- 8 ounces green beans, trimmed, (1 package)
- 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped fresh
Instructions
- Place cut potatoes in a saucepan. Add water 1-inch above potatoes, and add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, and simmer 12 minutes or until tender. Drain.
- Heat a large skillet or pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil.
- Cut chicken breasts in half, about ¾-inch thick then season both sides with salt, pepper, and paprika.
- Add chicken and thyme sprigs to the pan and cook for 6 minutes until browned. Flip the pieces over and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 7 minutes or until no longer pink and the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
- Remove chicken from the pan and transfer to a plate to rest. Discard thyme sprigs.
- Using the same pan, set over medium-high heat. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil.
- Add potatoes cut-sides down, mushrooms, and 1 tablespoon chopped thyme. Cook 3 minutes or until browned, and then stir.
- Combine milk and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.
- Add flour mixture, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and stock to the pan. Simmer over medium-high heat for about 1 minute, whisking sauce to thicken and remove any lumps that form.
- Add lemon zest, lemon slices, and beans to the pan then let it simmer for 1 minute. Add chicken, cover and reduce heat to medium. Simmer 3 minutes or until beans are crisp-tender. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Recipe Video
Notes
- You can substitute cashew, almond, soy or coconut milk for the dairy if you are avoiding cow's milk. Using all chicken broth also works, it will just be less creamy.
- Use gluten-free flour if you are avoiding wheat flour.
- Sweet potatoes are a great substitute for red potatoes.
- You can steam instead of boil the potatoes until form tender.
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
Don Stayner says
Definitely delicious! And it does prepare fast. Which taught me a valuable lesson: have everything chopped up, prepared, etc BEFORE you start following the recipe! There just isn’t any spare time during the cooking process to get some of the prep work done. But the dish was still delicious even though it got a little overcooked.
Jessica Gavin says
Thanks for the feedback, Don! I’m so glad you enjoyed the one-pot lemon chicken recipe. 😊 You’re absolutely right, having everything prepped before starting is key since it cooks quickly. I appreciate you sharing that tip for other readers!