Baked Lemon Pepper Chicken with garlic is a super easy chicken recipe you are going to love. Quick and easy preparation, and in no time dinner is done!
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Lemon Garlic Chicken Recipe
Looking for a new way to prepare chicken breasts? This lemon garlic chicken is scrumptious. While baking your kitchen is going to smell amazing.
Did I mention this recipe is super easy to prepare? All of the ingredients are easy to find, and it will take you only a few minutes to make this delicious chicken recipe. The hardest part is waiting for the chicken to bake.
Baked lemon pepper chicken is the perfect recipe to make on a busy weeknight. You can make it in no time, and still enjoy all the delicious lemony, garlic, and pepper flavors.
What Makes This Lemon Pepper Chicken Recipe Stand Out
There are a few reasons why you need to make this recipe. First, the flavors alone, produce an absolutely delicious piece of lemon pepper chicken breast.
Also, unlike a lot of baked chicken, this one is topped off with a delicious breaded crust to give it that extra little crunch.
Once the chicken is in the pan, dinner can be done in about 30 minutes, and the oven does the rest of the work.
Garlic Lemon Pepper Baked Chicken Ingredients
The other amazing thing about this recipe is that most of it can be made with everything you already have in your pantry! Here’s a list of what you need:
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Butter
- Garlic
- Lemon juice
- Italian breadcrumbs
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Thyme
- Lemon pepper seasoning
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Want to make gluten-free lemon pepper chicken?
To make it gluten-free you will want to substitute the Italian bread crumbs for Panko evenly and then add 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning and mix it all together.
Don’t have Italian bread crumbs on hand?
No problem! Just crush up some of the crackers that you have on hand. Some of my favorites to use are Ritz crackers or even Cheese Its! Then, add 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning with the cracker crumbs.
Don’t have lemon pepper seasoning?
While the lemon pepper seasoning is pretty key to this recipe there are some substitutes you can try. Mishry has some ideas for lemon pepper substitutes.
However, if you have the ability to get to the store to grab some, that might be easiest.
How to Make Lemon Pepper Chicken with Garlic
- Begin by preheating the oven to 400 degrees.
- While the oven is heating, cut up the butter and place it in a baking dish that is oven safe. Then place it in the oven to melt the butter.
- When the butter is melted, remove the baking dish from the oven.
- Add in the garlic, thyme, and lemon juice to the baking dish and mix it all together with a spatula.
- Grab a large zip-top bag and add the breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.
- Add the chicken to the bag and shake it to coat the chicken with the breadcrumb mixture.
- Once the chicken is coated, place each breast in the baking dish.
- Flip the breasts over allowing each side to get covered with lemon sauce.
- Then sprinkle the remaining breadcrumbs from the bag on top of the chicken breasts.
- Sprinkle lemon pepper over the chicken.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until done (165 degrees internal temperature).
- Transfer the baked chicken to a serving platter or individual plates.
- Spoon some of the liquid over the cooked chicken and accompanying side dish if desired.
What does baked lemon garlic chicken taste like?
It tastes exactly how it sounds. It has the wonderful citrus flavor of the lemon, mixed with the spicy pepper and garlic.
And then it has the wonderful added crunch from the bread crumb and Parmesan cheese mixture.
Is lemon pepper salty?
While it will have a little bit of a salty taste, it does not have a powerful salty overpowering flavor.
What is the best way to cook this lemon garlic chicken recipe?
The best way to cook this chicken recipe is in the oven! It allows the chicken to bake in the lemon and butter juice and produces a very tender and flavorful chicken.
Serving Suggestions for Lemon Pepper Chicken Breast with Garlic
Finish off this recipe with some of these amazing sides:
How do you store and reheat baked lemon pepper chicken?
You can either store the chicken breast in the baking dish with foil placed on top, or you can transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
When you want to reheat it, you can always use the microwave. You can also preheat the oven to 350 degrees and reheat the chicken for 20-30 minutes or until heated through.
But, if you’d like to use the oven, make sure to put a little water or chicken broth in the pan with the chicken to avoid the chicken from drying out while it reheats.
How long with lemon pepper chicken last?
Baked lemon pepper chicken will keep refrigerated for up to 5 days and frozen for up to 3 months.
Can you freeze Garlic Lemon Chicken?
You can freeze the chicken, but I would suggest doing it with just the breaded chicken.
You can freeze the raw breaded chicken or fully cook the chicken and then transfer the chicken to a freezer-safe container.
Wait to make the butter and lemon sauce when you are ready to bake it.
More Chicken Recipes
- Chicken Francese
- Chicken Maderia
- Chicken Parmigiana Olive Garden
- Chicken Romano
- Grilled Chicken Alfredo
- Japanese Chicken
- Rosemary Chicken
Popular Main Dish Recipes
Check out more of my easy chicken recipes and the best recipes for dinner here on CopyKat!
Lemon Pepper Chicken with Garlic
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup butter (one stick)
- 2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic
- 3/4 teaspoon thyme (important for flavor)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut the butter into slices and place the butter slices in a baking dish. Place the baking dish in the oven to melt the butter.
- When the butter has melted, remove the dish from the oven.
- Add the garlic, thyme, and lemon juice to the dish and mix it well.
- Mix the bread crumbs and Parmesan in a large plastic zip-top bag.
- Add the chicken to the bag and shake to coat the chicken.
- Remove the chicken from the bag and lay each breast on its front to get moist then flip them over in the pan.
- Sprinkle the remaining breadcrumb mixture on top.
- Sprinkle lemon pepper on top.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until done (internal temperature is 165 degrees).
- Transfer the baked chicken to a serving platter or plates.
- Spoon some of the liquid in the baking dish over the cooked chicken and accompanying side dish if desired.
Carrie
I accidentally put way too much lemon pepper on top. It’s baking now, wish me luck!
Mark Bujno
Easy and tasty. Stayed very moist. Added mozzarella on top at end for a twist.
Erin
So very delicious. I started making this, POSITIVE that I had all of the ingredients, only to find out that we threw away the lemmon pepper seasoning because it was expired. I added an extra tablespoon of lemon juice and some fresh ground peper and it was amazing. My bf made a bunch of comments about my ‘gourmet cooking.’ I highly recommend this and will definitely make it again!
Rick
So easy using items you have already. Made me look like I knew what I was doing. Reheats the next day for lunch. Thank You Stephanie!
Stephanie
I am glad you liked it!
Rebecca RenkÂ
This is looking delicious. I would love to bake this for the coming occasion Thanks for sharing the recipe
Cynthia
If I replace the bread crumbs with pork rinds, what would be the carb difference?
Stephanie
I definitely think the carb count would drop. It’s the breadcrumbs that are adding the carbs in this recipe.