This post may contain affiliate links.

This delicious Creamy Skillet Lemon Chicken recipe is a simple recipe perfect for a quick weeknight dinner. Creamy lemon sauce with a tang from cream cheese makes this dish unlike any other chicken dinner. The refreshing lemon flavor will win the whole family over for sure!

Skillet with creamy lemon chicken topped with chopped parsley.

Why You Will Love This Creamy Skillet Lemon Chicken Recipe:
Recipe Ingredients:
Step-By-Step Instructions:
Recipe Tips
Storage:
Other Simple Chicken REcipes:
Creamy Skillet Lemon Chicken Recipe
Shop This Post:

Lemon and chicken were made to be together. This creamy lemon skillet chicken recipe has been on repeat in our house for a while now, and you can enjoy it too now!

Chicken cooks up to perfection stove top and has a nice golden brown outside with ajuicy tender center. Adding cream cheese for the creaminess in the buttery lemon sauce adds a tang that heavy cream cannot compare to.

Make this chicken dinner tonight and enjoy it with a Pesto Orzo Salad, Parmesan Crusted Potatoes, Roasted Parmesan Green Beans or some cozy Cheddar Gruyère Mac and Cheese and you have got yourself a meal!

For a full chicken meal in one skillet, check out this Creamy Orzo With Chicken recipe!

Why You Will Love This Creamy Skillet Lemon Chicken Recipe:

Quick and simple to prep. Simple ingredients and very minimal prep makes this simple dinner that much better! It’s certainly a dish you can pull together in a short amount of time for a perfect weeknight meal.
Cozy and comforting. The lemon flavor gives this dish a nice pop, but the creamy lemon sauce just warms the soul. We love the cream sauce in this recipe for much more than just the chicken!
Pairs so well with many side dishes. Can’t beat a classic chicken recipe that complements a full array of sides. A simple side salad, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, a crusty loaf of bread and much more.

Recipe Ingredients:

chicken: very thin boneless skinless chicken breast is what you want to use when making this skillet lemon chicken. I am typically able to find thin breasts a the grocery but you can cut a thicker chicken breast lengthwise in half to make two thin pieces out of one. You want them 1/2 inch thickness at the most.
seasoning: season chicken with the classics–salt, black pepper and garlic powder. You don’t need to go beyond that unless you want to add some paprika or a touch of Italian seasoning, which can also be added to the sauce.
olive oil: extra virgin olive oil is our preferred cooking oil in this recipe.
chicken broth: this helps thin the sauce out a touch when combined with the cream cheese, adjust to your thickness preference. We use low sodium chicken broth. You can use chicken stock if that is what you have on hand. You can also use part broth and part white wine for a richer flavor.
garlic: freshly minced garlic in the lemon cream sauce is preferred. Sauté it in the butter for amazing flavor.
butter: unsalted butter for the sauce. Salted is ok as well.
cream cheese: for best results use full fat cream cheese. It will provide the richest flavor and you will have the most success melting it into the sauce.
lemon juice: freshly squeezed is best. Add lemon. zest as well to garnish or add more citrus flavor to the sauce. Fresh lemon slices and lemon zest over top when serving is also great!
parsley: optional, but always makes this look beautiful. You can top it with other fresh herbs–chopped basil is great!

Step-By-Step Instructions:

Seasoned thin chicken breasts on white plate before cooking.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and season well on both sides with salt, pepper and garlic.
Heat up a large skillet to medium-high heat–I use a 12 inch skillet in this recipe to make sure there is room for all of the chicken. Make sure the skillet is HOT to get that perfect brown sear. Add in the olive oil and allow to heat up.
Add the seasoned chicken to the hot skillet and allow to cook uninterrupted for about 4-5 minutes. The chicken will easily pull away from the pan when it’s ready to be turned.
Flip and cook another 4-5 minutes on the other side and then continue to cook until the chicken comes to an internal temperature of 165°F. Use an instant read meat thermometer for best results. Remove from the pan and gently cover in foil to keep the chicken warm.

Butter, garlic and broth melted in skillet.

Shift the stove to medium heat. Add 2/3 cup of the chicken broth and deglaze the bottom of the pan scraping any browned bits stuck to the pan.
Add the butter and allow to melt and when just lightly bubbling, add the minced garlic and heat for about 1 minute.
Add the cream cheese and allow to melt, whisking well as you heat it to help it smoothly incorporate into the sauce. If it looks like it’s curdling, it is not, it sometimes breaks down a bit slower and in little pieces before becoming smooth. I worried about this the first couple of times I made this!
Add some extra chicken broth to thin it out a bit. Once the cream cheese is melted, remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice.
Add the chicken back to the pan and cover it with the sauce. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Pan with chicken topped with cream sauce with lemon slices and fresh parsley.

Recipe Tips

Allow your pan to get really hot. For that nice brown sear, make sure you allow enough time for your pan to get really hot. Allow the oil in the pan to heat up as well.
Use full fat cream cheese for best results. Lower fat dairy products can curdle in heat so sticking to the full fat cream cheese is ideal to add to the lemon butter sauce. Whisk it really well until smooth.
Make sure your chicken breasts are very thin. The cook time in this recipe is based off of chicken breast that is sliced very thin, no thicker than 1/2 inch. If you use larger pieces of chicken, it will certainly take much longer to cook.

Sliced chicken breast on plate with lemon slices and parsley beside it.

Storage:

Store any leftovers in a shallow airtight container for about 3-4 days. The shallow dish will allow for more chicken to sit in the sauce for extra moisture. Reheat in the microwave or bake in the oven at 350°F for about 10 minutes.