Chinese lemon chicken is battered crispy chicken breast smothered in delicious sweet and tangy lemon sauce. Move over take-out, we got a better version made at home with crunchy chicken and amazing fresh lemony sauce!
Need more quick and easy dinner ideas for busy weeknights? Try lemon pepper chicken, honey garlic chicken, lemon garlic shrimp, and baked tilapia.
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Why this recipe works
1. If you are obsessed with Chinese food, this recipe is for you!
2. Forget the take-outs, make it better and healthier at home!
3. It’s really easy to remake your favorite Chinese take-out at home. Crunchy chicken smothered in fresh sweet lemony sauce.
4. It’s lip-smacking delicious!
5. Can be made in 30 minutes.
6. You’ll need basic pantry ingredients to make Chinese lemon chicken. You most probably have everything in your kitchen!
7. Guaranteed to be a huge HIT with everyone in the family.
Ingredients
How to make Chinese lemon chicken
- The recipe starts with marinating chicken. Clean chicken breast, pat dry completely in kitchen towel. Cut into small bite sized pieces. To chicken add light soy sauce, Chinese Shaoxing (I used vinegar), salt to taste and fine ground pepper to taste and 1 whole egg.
- Break egg slightly and start mixing all the marinade into chicken.
- Cover it and marinade it for 20 to 30 minutes refrigerated or at room temperature.
- While chicken marinates, prep the sauces. Mix chicken stock, light soy sauce, sugar. Mix well to dissolve the sugar. Leave it aside until use.
- Zest a lemon.
- Add it to a bowl Squeeze out 3 tablespoon of lemon juice. Discard any seeds. Mix and keep aside.
- Spread plain flour on to a wide plate. Add all marinated chicken into the flour(with the liquids).
- Use glove if you prefer. Rub chicken into the flour to ensure it coats evenly. NOTE: I found 1.5 cups of flour just enough for coating all the chicken. If you end with very liquid mix, add extra flour to coat evenly.
- Alternatively remove just the chicken pieces from the marinade and add it to flour. This way you won’t need much flour.
- Shake off excess flour and leaves coated chicken pieces on a baking tray.
- In a deep bottom pan heat vegetable or canola oil for deep frying. When oil is hot, add few pieces of chicken. Fry until golden brown.
- Pro-Tip: do not crowd the pan. To achieve crunchy chicken with golden brown crust, fry in small batches.
- Remove golden brown chicken from oil on to a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb excess oil.
- Repeat this for rest of the chicken.
- Heat cooking oil in a wok. When wok turns very hot add minced ginger and garlic to the oil. Give it a quick stir.
- Pour prepared sauce. Stir and let it cook for 2 minutes. Keep stirring.
- Then add lemon juice-zest to the wok. Simmer cook for 30 seconds.
- Meanwhile mix corn-starch with 1 tablespoon water. Pour it into the wok.
- Cook for another 30 seconds or until the sauce thickens.
- Add fried chicken pieces and toss to coat evenly.
- Transfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, green onions and few lemon slices.
- Serve hot with rice. NOTE: if serving it with rice you may want to make extra sauce so it soaks up in rice. Double the sauce than mentioned.
FAQS
A simple delicious sauce prepared with fresh ginger, garlic, light soy sauce, sugar, chicken stock, lemon zest and fresh lemon juice. Lemon sauce has wonderful balance of sweet and tang.
NO, don’t! Fresh squeezed lemon juice is absolute must!
It may be tempting to use store bought lemon juice, but don’t use it. Bottled lemon juice is much tangier and will alter the taste of lemon chicken completely.
Yes, absolutely! If you have air fryer by all means use it to get fry chicken.
No. This recipe for Chinese lemon chicken calls for very little sugar. It has right balance of sweet and tang in it.
If you like it spicy, consider adding red chili flakes to the recipe. You can choose to add it in the sauce or just sprinkle on top served with rice or add both to sauce and sprinkled on top. Depending on how much kick you want to add choose.
My favorite way to serve lemon chicken in with rice.
NOTE: if serving it with rice you may want to make extra sauce so it soaks up in rice. Double the sauce than mentioned.
MORE ASIAN RECIPE TO TRY:
Instant pot General Tso chicken
Cantonese chicken with mushrooms
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📋Chinese Lemon Chicken (Better-Than-Takeout)
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast cut into bite sized cubes
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 1 ½ cup plain flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon vegetable or canola oil
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoon light soy sauce
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger minced fine
- 1 whole egg
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
For Marinade:
- 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese Shaoxing I used vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
For Garnish:
- White sesame seeds
- Green onions
- Lemon slices
Instructions
- To chicken add light soy sauce, Chinese Shaoxing (I used vinegar), salt to taste and fine ground pepper to taste and 1 whole egg.
- Break egg slightly and start mixing all the marinade into chicken.
- Cover it and marinade it for 20 to 30 minutes refrigerated or at room temperature.
- While chicken marinates, prep the sauces.
- Mix chicken stock, light soy sauce, sugar. Mix well to dissolve the sugar. Leave it aside until use.
- Zest a lemon. Add it to a bowl Squeeze out 3 tablespoon of lemon juice. Discard any seeds. Mix and keep aside.
- Spread plain flour on to a wide plate. Add all marinated chicken into the flour(with the liquids).
- Use glove if you prefer. Rub chicken into the flour to ensure it coats evenly.NOTE: I found 1.5 cups of flour just enough for coating all the chicken. If you end with very liquid mix, add extra flour to coat evenly.
- Alternatively remove just the chicken pieces from the marinade and add it to flour. This way you won’t need much flour.
- Shake off excess flour and leaves coated chicken pieces on a baking tray.
- In a deep bottom pan heat vegetable or canola oil for deep frying. When oil is hot, add few pieces of chicken. Fry until golden brown.Pro-Tip: do not crowd the pan. To achieve crunchy chicken with golden brown crust, fry in small batches.
- Remove golden brown chicken from oil on to a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb excess oil.
- Repeat this for rest of the chicken.
- Arrange golden fried chicken, prepared sauce, lemon juice-zest mix and corn starch and rest of the ingredients near the stove.
- Heat cooking oil in a wok. When wok turns very hot add minced ginger and garlic to the oil. Give it a quick stir.
- Pour prepared sauce. Stir and let it cook for 2 minutes. Keep stirring.
- Then add lemon juice-zest to the wok. Simmer cook for 30 seconds.
- Meanwhile mix corn-starch with 1 tablespoon water. Pour it into the wok.
- Cook for another 30 seconds or until the sauce thickens.
- Add fried chicken pieces and toss to coat evenly.
- Transfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, green onions and few lemon slices.
- Serve hot with rice.NOTE: if serving it with rice you may want to make extra sauce so it soaks up in rice. Double the sauce than mentioned.
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