30 minute lemon brown sugar chicken

Lately, I’ve been really into caramelizing meats. Brown sugar and I are tight like that.

Seriously though…I think baking so many cupcakes has forever affected my taste buds, making it pretty much impossible for me cook anything without sugar…and I’m fine with that.

My teeth have sealants, anyway.

I actually think chicken is pretty boring.

I don’t cook a lot of it and rarely ever order it out at a restaurant. I like exciting things on my dinner plate….pasta with tomato cream sauce! beef with apricot and olives! channa masala!

If I do make chicken, it’s usually involves extremely plump buttery biscuits, gravy and canola oil. It’s just who I am.

However, this chicken is different!

This chicken has a sweet citrus glaze that’s spiked with a little paprika and lemon zest. I remember requesting that my mom make this chicken for my eighteenth birthday party. Well, that and red velvet cake. It’s always been a winner.

So, the first thing you’re going to want to do here is wash your birdie. Don’t skip this step or you’ll be sorry.

Then (this is the fun part), cover those breasts with wax paper and whack the heck out of them with a meat mallet or….ice cream scoop. See? I told you I have a problem.

This not only tenderizes the meat, it also reduces the cooking time! Plus, it’s a great stress reliever. Who doesn’t love to come home from work and let out all their aggression on a chicken breast?

The final product should look something like this:

Next, mix together flour, paprika and sea salt in a cake pan and dip chicken breasts in, one by one.

Drop zee chicken breasts in a cast iron skillet with some canola oil and brown on both sides. This should only take about four minutes…you’re not trying to cook the breasts, just brown ‘em!

Remove chicken breasts from the pan and place on a plate.

Then pour in the juice of two lemons to de-glaze the pan. You’ll also need a tablespoon of zest, so do that before you juice or else you’ll have a mess!

Place the chicken breasts in a casserole dish, pour the hot lemon juice (+ pan drippings) over, and sprinkle on the zest and secret ingredient:

awwwwwww yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Bake at 350 for half an hour! Then, stuff your face. Try it with these beans!

30 Minute Lemon Brown Sugar Chicken

serves 4

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

juice of two large lemons

1 T lemon zest

1 cup flour

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp sea salt

1.5 T canola oil

2 T brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Using a meat mallet (or ice cream scoop), pound the chicken breasts thin. Set aside.

Combine the flour, paprika and sea salt in a cake or pie pan. Drop each chicken breast in the mixture and toss to coat completely.

Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Drop each chicken breast in the oil and brown on both sides (should take only about four minutes). Remove chicken breasts and keep warm on a plate.

Pour the lemon juice in the pan and stir to deglaze. Put chicken breasts in a casserole dish and pour juice on top. Sprinkle with brown sugar and lemon zest.

Bake for thirty minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 165.

This ain’t no boring chicken breast. If I were you, I’d have a brownie for dessert.

Tagged as: chicken, Dinner, healthy