Creamy Lemon Tarragon Chicken features pan-seared chicken breasts, topped w/ a buttery lemon cream sauce with tarragon & green onions, served on rice.
Looking for an easy to prepare, super yummy chicken recipe? Well then, you should give this recipe for creamy lemon tarragon chicken a try. It’s delicious, and is super simple to make, without a ton of ingredients! The sauce has lots of flavor, thanks to fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, dried tarragon, cream, butter, and sliced green onions. It is soooo good.
When I took the photos for this blog post, I had my husband do the cooking. We changed it up a bit so we could BOTH be in the kitchen cooking together (I did some of the prep work and plated it). He did a fabulous job cooking the creamy lemon tarragon chicken, and we both LOVED this dish. Here’s how to make it:
Scroll Down For a Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page
Prepare The Chicken Breasts
The recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You will need to “pound them” with a meat mallet (or heavy skillet like cast iron) until they are about 1/4″ thick. To do this, place plastic wrap on a surface. Lay one chicken breast on the plastic, then cover with another sheet of plastic wrap, and seal edges.
Use the flat side of a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy skillet to pound the chicken out. Once the chicken is flattened out to 1/4″ thickness, set it aside. Repeat with the other chicken breasts. Once all have been flattened, slice each piece of chicken in half, length-wise, then cut each half into 3 pieces.
Cook The Chicken
Sprinkle the chicken pieces lightly with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a large skillet, and then add the chicken pieces in a single layer. Cook for 2-3 minutes on medium-high heat. When the bottom of the chicken is golden brown, turn chicken to the other side, and cook 2-3 more minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked through.
The photo below is the only picture I got of this step, but you can see my hubby busy cooking the chicken. Once the chicken is done, remove the chicken pieces from the skillet to an oven-proof dish, cover with foil, and keep the pieces warm.
TIP: We put the covered, cooked chicken in a 200 degree oven to keep warm. The chicken needs to stay warm while you make the sauce. **DO NOT CLEAN OUT THE SKILLET (you will use the leftover butter and little browned bits in it to make the sauce!).
Make The Creamy Lemon Tarragon Sauce
Now it’s time to make the creamy sauce that will cover the chicken. Sauté the green onions on medium-low heat in the leftover butter in the skillet until they become tender (a couple minutes). Add freshly squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest, and dried tarragon to the skillet and stir, to combine. Measure and pour the whipping cream into the skillet.
Whisk or stir the sauce well, while continuing to cook on medium-low heat. Cook the sauce until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook sauce 4-5 more minutes, or until sauce has thickened slightly, and is fully heated through. Remove the sauce from the heat.
Serve The Creamy Lemon Tarragon Chicken
Once the sauce if fully heated through, your creamy lemon tarragon chicken dinner is ready to be plated for serving! Place a portion of cooked white or brown rice onto each dinner plate. Spread the rice out so it becomes the base for the chicken and sauce.
Place 3-4 pieces of warm chicken on top of the rice, and then spoon the hot creamy sauce over each piece to cover. You should have enough yummy sauce to cover all the chicken pieces, so be generous with the sauce. And that’s it… see how simple it was to make this creamy lemon tarragon chicken dish? Hope you enjoy it! It really is quite delicious.
Thanks for visiting. I hope you will come back again soon, and trust you will have consider making this creamy lemon tarragon chicken recipe for yourself and those you love. Take care, and have a great day.
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Original recipe source: unknown (found written on 3×5 card in one of my really old recipe boxes)
Creamy Lemon Tarragon Chicken features pan-seared chicken breasts, topped w/ a buttery lemon cream sauce with tarragon & green onions, served on rice.
- 1½ pounds chicken breasts (boneless, skinless) , about 3 large
- Salt & black pepper , to lightly season chicken
- ¼ cup butter (= 4 Tablespoons)
- 2 Tablespoons green onions (scallions) , thinly sliced
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice (fresh)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest , finely grated
- 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- white or brown rice , pre-cooked, hot
Prepare Chicken: Flatten chicken breasts by placing one chicken breast at a time between sheets of plastic wrap. Use the flat side of a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy skillet to pound the chicken out. Once the chicken is flattened to about 1/4"thickness, set it aside; Slice each flattened piece of chicken in half length-wise, then cut each half into 3 pieces. Season chicken with salt/pepper.
Cook Chicken: Melt butter in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces in single layer. Cook for 2-3 minutes until bottom side is golden brown; turn chicken over; cook for 2-3 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove chicken to oven-proof plate, cover, keep pieces warm (we used 200°F. oven). **DO NOT CLEAN THE SKILLET OUT (will use it to make sauce)
Make Sauce: Sauté sliced green onions in leftover butter in skillet on medium-low heat until they become tender (about 2 minutes). Add lemon juice, lemon zest, and dried tarragon to skillet and stir, to combine. Pour whipping cream into skillet. Whisk or stir the sauce well, while continuing to cook on medium-low heat. Cook the sauce until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook sauce 4-5 more minutes, or until sauce has thickened slightly, and is fully heated through. Remove the sauce from the heat.
To Serve: Place prepared rice onto each dinner plate. Spread the rice out, so it becomes the base for the chicken and sauce. Place 3-4 pieces of warm chicken on top of rice, and spoon hot creamy sauce over each piece to cover. Enjoy!
NOTE: The caloric calculation does NOT include the rice, as different types or portion sizes might be used.
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!
Hello there,
Happy New Year
Please could you tell me if this can be frozen? I am looking for recipes for dishes that can be cooked in advance & then frozen for guests at our self-catering lodge. They just need to defrost it and heat it up instead of having to cook after a long journey
Thanks so much. Going to try it ourselves this week!
Bye for now,
Tracey