Easy Panko Chicken with Lemon Cream Sauce
This panko crusted chicken with lemon cream sauce is one of our favorite recipes to make for when guests come to dinner. It’s super easy to make the panko breaded chicken and the lemon sauce for the chicken is only a couple of ingredients.
The creamy lemon sauce tastes amazing over the panko chicken and it’s even better if you add some mashed potatoes to your plate as well. Trust me. It’s incredibly delicious and tastes very similar to the Chicken Costoletto served at The Cheesecake Factory.
I love that golden brown breaded chicken with hints of parmesan cheese and lemon zest. The outside of the panko chicken is perfectly crunchy (the kids think it’s chicken nuggets!), while the inside is juicy, moist chicken.
The sauce is to die for, with its hint of butter and garlic, and that final note of lemon at the very end is what really makes it special.
Panko Chicken Ingredients
This easy breaded chicken recipe comes together quickly and doesn’t use any special ingredients. Here’s what we used to make the panko chicken and the lemon cream sauce:
- Chicken breasts
- Panko breadcrumbs
- Shredded Parmesan
- Lemons
- All-purpose flour
- Egg
- Unsalted butter
- Olive oil
- Better Than Bouillon
- White wine
- Heavy cream
What is Panko?
Panko is a special type of Japanese breadcrumb that’s made from loaves of crustless white bread. Panko is typically much lighter and flakier than regular breadcrumbs, which results in homemade breaded chicken that doesn’t taste as heavy.
How to Make Breaded Chicken and Lemon Cream Sauce
First thing’s first, you want to get your chicken breaded. It’s really quite simple, but it makes the perfectly crunchy chicken. Flour, egg and panko bread crumbs mixed with lemon zest and parmesan cheese are all you need.
First dredge your chicken in the flour. We add salt and pepper to this step so that the chicken is well seasoned. Cover each side and lightly shake off the excess.
Next up is the egg. You need to create a “glue” in order to keep the bread crumbs stuck on the chicken. Since you already dipped in the flour you just need something to moisten and create the glue. Egg is perfect.
Last is the panko. Gosh, I love panko. It’s seriously the best bread crumb around. For real. Plus this one has all of the cheese and lemon zest in it to add a burst of flavor.
Now just fry up the chicken in a skillet. This post on how to perfectly cook a chicken is all you need. It’s an awesome and easy method that will have your chicken perfectly white through the whole middle without ever cutting into the chicken.
How to Make Lemon Cream Sauce
The lemon sauce is actually quite easy as well. All you have to do is cook the butter and garlic, add the flour, which will act as a thickener.
The most important step at this point is to now cook that flour flavor out for about 30 seconds by continuing to whisk it in the pan. Flour is the best thickener for a cream sauce as it will blend will and works the best.
Quickly add the white wine, we use cooking white wine since we don’t drink alcohol, and although a white grape juice is a normal substitute for white wine, in this cream sauce it ends up a little too sweet and flowery for my taste.
Next, add the cream and cook until thick. Bringing the sauce back to a boil and then allowing it to stay at a gentle boil, around medium, maybe medium high heat for a few minutes will thicken it. Now just season to taste and don’t be afraid to add a little more salt as a flavorless sauce is merely under-seasoned. Lastly, add the zest, juice and seasoning.
Can I Prep Panko Chicken with Lemon Cream Sauce in Advance?
I don’t recommend prepping the panko chicken ahead of time since it’s best fresh from the skillet. However, you technically can make the lemon cream sauce in advance but you may want to consider a couple of things.
A cream sauce thickens as it cools, so you can add a couple extra tablespoons of liquid to reduce how much thickening occurs. You should always cool your sauce, which can be done by placing it in a clean, cool bowl or also putting that bowl over an ice bath as you don’t want a cream sauce to sit out for very long.
Finally, press plastic wrap directly onto the cream sauce in the bowl and use a sharp knife to puncture a hole or two. Refrigerate until you’re ready to use it. We also like to just use a ziploc bag and press the air out.
Note that the lemon cream sauce sadly doesn’t keep very well, so by the third day it’s time to let it go. We like to use it in a new way for leftovers like a casserole the next night.
Can You Freeze Lemon Cream Sauce?
Cream sauce can be frozen though it tends to curdle a bit upon reheating. That’s why we are obsessed with our Food Saver as it allows the air to be sucked out and we can usually get a few weeks out of a cream sauce in the freezer.
How to Reheat Lemon Cream Sauce
To reheat the lemon sauce for the chicken, heat water in the base of a double boiler, then place the sauce in the top of the double boiler in a glass bowl. It’s very important to heat slowly, stirring occasionally to help counteract the tendency to curdle. If your lemon cream sauce is a little too thick, merely add a little milk or cream back in.
What to Serve with Panko Chicken
Panko chicken pairs well with any number of sides! The panko crusted chicken and lemon cream sauce are both nice and bright in flavor, which is why we enjoy pairing it with a heavier tasting side like creamy mashed potatoes.
Here are a few other easy side dishes we serve with this easy breaded chicken:
- The Best Mashed Potatoes
- Grilled Lemon Pepper Asparagus
- Lemon Roasted Broccoli
- Dill Pea and Cucumber Salad
- Broccoli Salad
- Simple Garlic Roasted Veggies
Tips for Making Panko Chicken with Lemon Cream Sauce
You technically don’t have to pound the chicken flat before cooking it, but it actually makes the cooking process easier in the long-run. Pounding the chicken breasts to an even thickness ensures that they cook at the same rate throughout.
A lemon cream sauce is different than just making a regular cream sauce. Have you ever noticed that your sauce can separate or clump up? Acid will break up your sauce so it’s absolutely essential that you add that the very last (white wine does actually count, but it’s not as bad as lemon juice).
Also note that there are really no substitutions that can be made when prepping the cream sauce. Heavy cream is essential, as is real butter. Without them, your cream sauce may not thicken up properly.
Panko Crusted Chicken With Lemon Cream Sauce
Panko Crusted Chicken with Lemon Cream Sauce
Description
Ingredients
Panko Chicken
- 2 Large Chicken Breasts
- 1 1/2 Cups Panko Breadcrumbs
- 1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese, , shredded
- Zest of 1/2 Lemon
- 1/3 Cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Fresh Black Pepper
- 1 Egg, , slightly beaten
- Olive Oil
- Unsalted Butter
Lemon Cream Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 1 Tablespoon Better than Bouillion
- 1 Garlic Clove, minced
- 1 Tablespoon All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Tablespoon White Wine
- 1 1/2 Cups Heavy Cream
- 1 Lemon, , zested and juiced
- 1 Pinch Kosher Salt
- 1 Pinch Fresh Black Pepper
Instructions
Make the Panko Chicken:
- Place the egg in a dish.
- In another dish place the flour, salt and pepper.
- In one last dish place the panko, lemon zest and parmesan cheese.
- Place the chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap or a ziploc bag and pound to 1/4 inch thick.
- Remove the breasts and slice them diagonally creating 4 chicken breasts instead of 2.
- Heat a skillet over medium-low heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter.
- Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, then egg and lastly the panko.
- Add two breasts at a time to the skillet and cook 3-4 minutes per side or until golden and cooked through, adding more oil and butter to the pan as needed.
Make the Lemon Cream Sauce:
- Meanwhile, heat a saucepan over medium heat and add the butter, and concentrated stock.
- As the two begin to melt add the garlic and cook until everything is melted together and the garlic is fragrant, about 1 min.
- Add the flour and whisk vigorously. Everything will come together in a clump. Continue to whisk for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute to cook out the flour-y taste.
- Quickly add the white wine and then the heavy cream.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Whisk for a minute and reduce to a simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened.
- Add the lemon zest, and lemon juice. Continue to whisk until everything is well incorporated.
- Remove from heat and serve over the chicken alongside sides such as asparagus, roasted mashed potatoes, fingerlings etc.
Katie
Absolutely fantastic recipe! My husband and I loved it. Will definitely cook again.
Sweet Basil
Yay!! Love to hear this Katie!
Kelly
Have you tried white wine vinegar instead of cooking wine, since cooking wine still has a lot of alcohol?
Sweet Basil
Hi Kelly! Yes! It is a great substitute.
Julie
That was good!
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much Julie!
Marc
What kind of white wine? I don’t drink so I don’t know what to use.
Sweet Basil
We don’t drink alcohol either, so we just use white cooking wine. You could also substitute chicken broth if you want.
Kristie
This is the best recipe on your website. No, I haven’t tried all of the others, but why mess with anything else when this one exists?
Sweet Basil
Hahaha…you’re the best Kristie! Thank you!
MittenMommy
I really didn’t want a crunchy chicken, so I just sautéed skin on boneless thighs, used the rendered fat and the same skillet to make my sauce, so omitted the Better Than Bullion, but thank you for info on how to get the chicken flavor in the flour!
This was delicious and even my picky teen loved it.
Your sauce has now usurped Chicken Vesuvius as our favorite chicken/ lemon/garlic dish. And we love Chicken V.
Thank you!
Sweet Basil
Now that is saying a lot!! Made my day! Thank you so much for the support and for taking time to leave us a comment!
Sarah
This is my absolute favorite recipe ever! Delicious.
Sweet Basil
You’re the best Sarah! Thank you!!
Lisa
Can you use chicken cutlets to eliminate the pounding and cutting? Also I currently have some in the freezer 😬 Thanks!
Sweet Basil
Sure! Enjoy!
Lisa S.
So delicious! A restaurant quality meal. I didn’t have the better than bouillon so I just added a little chicken stock, and it was perfect.
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much Lisa! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Morgan
We just made this for the second time and it’s SO GOOD. Thank you for sharing!
Sweet Basil
I’m pretty much obsessed with this recipe! It is a regular in our house! Thank you so much for taking time to leave a comment!
Deborah Furby
What kind of “Better than Bullion?”
Sweet Basil
We like the roasted chicken flavor for this! I bet the vegetarian, garlic, or mushroom would all be good too!
Tracy
This was sooo delicious!!
Sweet Basil
Yay!! I’m glad you liked it!!
Shana
Everytime I bread my chicken, with breadcrumbs or pankos, the breading falls off the chicken when I cut in to it. I follow the same procedure as you suggested…flour, egg, then pankos. Do you have a tip for this, or is the common? Thank you!
Sweet Basil
Hi Shana! This can happen for various reason. When the chicken is too wet when you bread it, if the oil you use to fry it is not hot enough or too hot, if you do not shake off the excess flour or you are not patting bread crumbs onto the chicken. Give some of those a try and see if you have better luck! Great question!
Meredith Bleak
Delicious! Made this and served asparagus as well as a potato/sweet potato hash. I’m not typically a sauce person. But the lemon cream sauce was so good on EVERYthing.
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much Meredith! So glad you enjoyed it!
Claribel
What flavor Better than Bouillion do you use?
Sweet Basil
We use the organic roasted chicken flavor, but whatever your favorite is would work great!
Kathy Robinson
This was an absolutely delicious recipe. It’s somewhat time consuming but it is well worth it.
Sweet Basil
Thank you for the feedback Kathy!
Becki
Ooooohmyyyyygooooodnesssssss. This is SO good!!! Thank you so much for the recipe! It’s a new family fave.
Sweet Basil
Yay!! Thank you Becki!! Thank you for taking time to give us feedback!
Anna
That lemon cream sauce is amazing!!!! I can eat it with a spoon! I’m doing keto and wanting to put it on broccoli and some asparagus. Do you have nutrition info for just the cream sauce? How many carbs??
Sweet Basil
Hi Anna! thank you! I don’t have nutrition info for just the sauce. I’m so sorry! You could plug the ingredient into an app like My Fitness Pal and it will calculate the carbs for you.
Jordan
This looks DELICIOUS and I can’t wait to try it! Where do you find the white wine that you use for this recipe? We don’t drink alcohol either! Thanks!
Sweet Basil
Most grocery stores sell cooking wine with the vinegars
Erin
Made this gluten free with a side or gluten free orzo. I also put the sauce on top of the orzo. Best meal ever. I baked the chicken as well.
Sweet Basil
Sounds wonderful!
Meagan
So I learned today that they are discontinuing the knorr condensed chicken stock. I make this recipe at least once a week. What can I add to replace it?
Sweet Basil
Oh no!! That is so lame. I would just use a tablespoon of better than bouillon. I’ll correct the recipe. Thanks for the heads up!
clara
thanks for the recipe! i made this once for both me and my boyfriend, and it’s been a repeat recipe every other week, and sometimes every week! it’s THAT delicious. everything from the chicken, the seasonings to cream sauce is so yummy 😊
Kyra
Best chicken dish I’ve ever made. So yummy!
Sweet Basil
Oh we are so thrilled!! We just love this recipe too!
Tiffany
Made this tonight. The hubster grumbled when I told him dinner would be a new recipe. Then, I showed him the picture and he became hopeful. Then he tasted it and went through the roof. So yummy!! I did substitute the heavy cream for coconut milk to lessen the dairy for my lactose intolerance. Excellent. Thanks for sharing your recipe!!
Sweet Basil
Yay!! So thrilled it went well and now I can’t wait to make it again! It’s been forever!
Lauren
I made this the other night with cauliflower rice and it was AMAZING!!!!
Sweet Basil
Lauren, I’m so glad to hear you liked it! Thank you so, so much!
Anonymous
I am making this today for Easter. Thanks for the recipe!!!
BurntApple
this recipe looks delicious and I can't wait to try it. Thanks for posting!
Barbara Bakes
Looks like a prize winning recipe! Congrats!
Catherine M.
I enjoyed meeting you last Saturday at the contest. Thanks for sharing this recipe, where do you find this Knorr condensed chicken broth?
Erin
Hey Carrian,
I know this defeats the purpose for Knorr anyway, but I make my own chicken stock and freeze it. What do you think the conversion would be? I would love to try it but don't see any reason to go buy chicken stock.
Charlene Austin
I just bought some of the knorr chicken concentrate so I'm glad to hear it's a good product. I will certainly try your recipe. Its my fav of the finalists. Good luck.
Si
Sounds delicious! Just read that you are a finalist- congratulations!
Made in Sonoma
Love panko and lemon. I bet I would love this. 🙂
Gourmified
That looks Delish, C! I am nervous to do any cooking all of a sudden…weird!? Yes. I'm going into the Dr. for further testing this week because my glucose levels were too high. 🙁 So, until I know what I'm allowed to eat or not, I'll have to put this one on my bookmarks list. Pray for me!
BTW, you looked super duper cute as always at the TRAX event on Friday! LOVE your face!
Lisa
Madhura Manoj
Interesting!! picture makes me hungry.
https://www.easycookingforamateurs.com/
Jennifer
Looks yummy & a very creative way to use chicken stock! I hope you win!
Deborah
This sounds so delicious! I love the lemon sauce.
mike churchill
Sounds grrreat! Good luck, hope you win.