Chinese Lemon Chicken

For those that order Chinese takeout, if Chinese lemon chicken is one of your go-to items, you simply must try making it at home. This famous takeout dish is glorious, but at restaurants, it tends to be loaded with more sugar and oil than you need.

As a result, it’s often not an especially healthy choice. But when you make it at home, you get crispy chunks of chicken breast without deep frying. Coated in a delightful lemony sauce, it is bursting with fresh flavor that will turn you into a kitchen god(dess).

Ingredients for Chinese lemon chicken

So, what’s the secret to that crispy chicken you’ll be craving in your dreams? It’s cornstarch! Adding it to a beaten egg and then coating the chicken with it is what helps you achieve that restaurant-quality crispiness without the need for deep frying.

Making lemon chicken requires a few ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. To make a fragrant and balanced lemon sauce without getting too tangy, I used a mix of chicken broth, lemon juice, lemon zest and rice vinegar. Compared to using 100% lemon juice, the sauce is more well-rounded this way.

Mise en place

When you’re ready to cook, your table should have:

• Marinated chicken
• Mixed lemon sauce
• Ginger
• Green onion

How to make Chinese lemon chicken

1. Pan fry the chicken
2. Gently cook the aromatics
3. Pour in the sauce and cook until thickened
4. Add back the chicken

Tempting as it may be, you don’t want to move the chicken after you place the pieces in a single layer, preventing them from touching each other. This allows the bottom of each piece to reach a nice golden brown. After you flip, it’s the same story…just let it crisp up.

Also, you want to let the chicken cool off a bit once you take it out of the pan, so the crust crisps up further. So when you add the chicken back, it won’t become soggy immediately after mixing with the sauce.

You’ll see it looks just like your old reliable Chinese lemon chicken takeout order. And the taste is spot on! Try it tonight, perhaps with one of my fried rice recipes to make your meal complete!

How to serve lemon chicken

You can serve lemon chicken by itself as a main dish. I also like to top it on steamed white rice. To complete your meal, serve it with a simple veggie side dish and a soup. For example: Tomato Egg Drop Soup, Air Fryer Garlic Green Beans, Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce, or Bean Sprout Stir Fry.

Other delicious Chinese takeout recipes

• Chinese Orange Chicken (Crispy Chicken without Deep Frying)
• Chicken Lo Mein (Restaurant Style Without A Wok)
• Beef with Snow Peas
• Crispy Peanut Butter Chicken
• Pork Chop Suey
• Mongolian Beef (Without Using a Wok)

Chinese Lemon Chicken

By Maggie Zhu

5 from 8 votes

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

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Chinese lemon chicken features crispy juicy chicken covered in a tangy and sweet lemony sauce that is also gingery. Make this easy dish for dinner to enjoy a treat that tastes just as good as the Chinese restaurant version! {Gluten-Free Adaptable}

To make the dish gluten-free, use dry sherry instead of Shaoxing wine, or skip it.

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

Sauce

• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (juice from 1 big lemon)
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry) (Optional)
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest zest from 1 lemon (*Footnote 1)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Marinade

• 14 oz large boneless skinless chicken breast , cut to 1” (2.5-cm) pieces (or 2 chicken thighs)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup cornstarch

Stir-fry

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 green onions , sliced (white part for cooking and green part for garnishing)
• 2 teaspoons minced ginger

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Instructions

• Combine the sauce ingredients in the bowl and mix well.
• Combine chicken, oil, and salt in a big bowl. Mix well and let marinate for 15 minutes.
• When you’re ready to cook, add the beaten egg to the chicken. Stir to mix well. Add cornstarch. Stir to coat chicken, until it forms an uneven coating with a little dry cornstarch left unattached.
• Heat oil in a large skillet until hot, just starting to smoke. Add chicken all at once and spread into a single layer in the skillet. Separate chicken pieces with a pair of tongs or chopsticks.
• Cook without touching the chicken for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the bottom turns golden. Flip to brown the other side, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to a big plate and remove the pan from the stove. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes (very important, so the chicken crisps up further).
• Place the pan back on the stove and turn to medium heat. You should still have 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan. If there’s too much oil, pour out or use paper towels to remove the excess oil. Add green onion and ginger. Cook and stir a few times until it releases fragrance.
• Stir the sauce again to dissolve the cornstarch completely. Pour into the pan. Stir and cook until it thickens.
• Add back the chicken. Stir to coat chicken with sauce. Transfer to a plate and serve hot as a main dish.

Video

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Notes

1. For garnish, you can use a peeler to peel a small part of the lemon rind, then thinly slice it.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 312kcal, Carbohydrates: 28.4g, Protein: 23.1g, Fat: 10.7g, Saturated Fat: 1.8g, Cholesterol: 104mg, Sodium: 701mg, Potassium: 449mg, Fiber: 0.5g, Sugar: 12.7g, Calcium: 20mg, Iron: 1mg

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