Skillet Chicken Breasts with Lemon-Garlic Butter Sauce
Seared chicken breasts bathed in a quick pan sauce, built to fix the dry, sad version everyone already knows how to make wrong.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Written
Method
-
Pat the chicken dry and season both sides generously with salt and pepper. If the breasts are noticeably thicker on one end, pound them to an even ¾ inch so they cook evenly.
-
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high until it shimmers. Lay in the chicken and sear undisturbed until deeply golden, 5 to 6 minutes.
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Flip and cook the second side until browned and the thickest part reads 165°F, another 5 to 6 minutes. Move the chicken to a plate and tent with foil.
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Lower the heat to medium, melt 2 tbsp of the butter in the same skillet, and add the garlic. Stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
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Pour in the broth and lemon juice, add the thyme, and simmer until reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes.
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Off the heat, swirl in the remaining butter and the lemon zest until the sauce turns glossy and coats a spoon.
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Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet, spoon the sauce over the top, and scatter with parsley.
Notes
The pound-to-even-thickness step is the one people skip and the one that actually matters — a breast that’s twice as thick on one end finishes cooking on the thin side while the thick side is still raw in the middle, so you either undercook it or dry it out compensating. Even thickness means the whole piece hits 165°F at the same moment.
Swap the chicken broth for dry white wine if you’re already using it for something else, and serve over rice or egg noodles — the sauce is the whole reason to make this, and it’s a shame to leave any of it in the pan.