{Recipe} Easy Lemon Chicken

When I cook dinner during the week, I go for my quick and easy recipes. I mean really, who wants to be fiddling about with complicated recipes on a school night?!? Once the kids come home from school, we’ve got to keep things moving if we want them down by 8:30. OK, who am I kidding – it’s more like 9:00!!

We eat a lot of chicken breast over here so I’ve got to have a slew of recipes to keep it interesting. This Easy Lemon Chicken recipe was adapted from a similar recipe I tried from Rachel Ray years ago. It kind of reminds me of Lemon Chicken you would get at a Chinese restaurant. My girls really like this one!!

The first thing you need is the lemon part of the lemon chicken – lemon curd!!

What is that?!?

Beats me but it’s usually found in the jam/jelly section of the supermarket so I guess if you’re not using it for this recipe you can use it like you would jelly.

OK, here’s the thing – I’ve tried this recipe with different brands of lemon curd but this one is the best. When I tried it with others because I couldn’t find this particular brand, my girls ALWAYS know!! “Eeeeew Mama!!”. So, do your best to find this one.

Put half the jar in a small pot with about a tablespoon of water.

You want to break it down a bit with a fork so it’s not in one big blob.

Put it on very low heat and what will happen is as it’s heating up, it liquefies a bit. We’ll use this later for the sauce.

Now on to the chicken.

I start off with one package of skinless boneless chicken breast. I usually try and find the Thin Cut kind but anything will do – even chicken tenders if that’s what you already have.

Cut the chicken up into bite sized pieces – about an inch and a half or so. Please don’t go taking out your rulers!! Just eyeball it!

Sprinkle with a little salt & pepper.

Then take a large Ziploc bag and put about 3/4 cup of flour – All Purpose is good.

Now you remember that old Shake & Bake method, right?!? Place the chicken pieces in the bag and get shakin’!!

Put some Canola Oil in a pan and heat it up. Once the oil is pretty hot, start placing the pieces of chicken in the pan. Shake off any excess flour first. You’ll have to do this in batches – don’t overcrowd the pan.

I think I had to do about 3 or 4 batches. Let the chicken cook a few minutes and then turn it to cook on the other side. You want it to get a slightly golden brown color – but not burnt. This chicken with cook quickly because the pieces are small.

Take the cooked chicken out after each batch and put it in a bowl.

Once all of the chicken is cooked, it’s time for the sauce.

First thing we need is some Distilled White Vinegar.

This is the secret ingredient! It just makes it taste extra special. Put about 1 tablespoon in the pan but be careful – don’t get too close!! The pan is hot and when the vinegar hits the hot pan, it bubbles up a bit and you’ll get hit with the fumes from the vinegar – powerful stuff!! Trust me, you DO NOT want a vinegar facial!!

Stir it around to pick up any crispy bits that may end up on the bottom of the pan. The vinegar dissolves pretty quickly so work fast. Lower the heat and stir in 1/2 cup of chicken stock. I ALWAYS use Kitchen Basics!!

Now it’s time for that lemon curd we started with at the beginning – stir that in as well.

At this point if you feel the sauce is too thiick, mix in a little more chicken stock. The sauce will defiinitely thicken up once the chicken goes in. Once that’s all mixed together, put the cooked chicken back in the pan to incorporate with the sauce. Mix it up.

Cut up about 3 scallions.

You can use as much or as little as you like. I find 3 works perfectly. Mix that into the pan and you’re done!

Put the whole thing into a serving bowl and serve with either rice or couscous and of course a veggie!!

What are your favorite easy recipes?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Easy Lemon Chicken Recipe

1/2 jar lemon curd mixed with 1 tablespoon water
1 package boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
salt & pepper to taste
3/4 cup flour in a Ziploc bag
2 tablespoons Canola Oil (more if you need)
1 tablespoon White Distilled Vinegar
1/2 cups chicken stock
3 sliced scallions

• Put the lemon curd and water in a small pot on very low heat
• In a separate pan, heat up the canola oil
• sprinkle chicken with salt & pepper and place in the Ziploc bag with flour
• make sure all the chicken is coated in the flour and shake off any excess.
• Cook chicken in batches and add more oil if necessary
• Place cooked chicken in a bowl between batches
• Once all the chicken is cooked, put the vinegar in the pan to take up any crispy pieces at the bottom of pan
• Stir in the chicken stock and then the lemon curd
• Mix
• Place the chicken back in the pan with the sauce, mix around to make sure all the chicken is coated with the sauce
• At the very end mix in the sliced scallions and transfer to a serving bowl.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>