Chinese Lemon Chicken. Crispy fried chicken coated in a zesty tangy lemon sauce with a hint of garlic. This quick sticky Chinese lemon chicken recipe takes 30 minutes and is simple to make.
What is Chinese Lemon Chicken?
Chinese-style lemon chicken is a popular dish served at many Chinese restaurants and Chinese takeout for good reason! The sweet, savoury, tangy sauce over that crispy chicken is unbeatable. It's one of those delicious recipes made of simple ingredients. Serving best with white rice and your favourite vegetables.
This dish originates from Hong Kong. You may find this crispy Chinese lemon chicken served at Hong Kong-style cafes, also known as cha-cha-teng in Cantonese.
Why You'll Love it
- My delicious recipe is an easy dish and simple to make with accessible ingredients!
- The cooking process only takes 10 minutes or less and the rest goes towards preparation
- This great recipe will save yourself $15-20 in takeout. A better-than-takeout meal!
- No deep frying involved, just a shallow fry
- Great for busy weeknights
- Fantastic for the whole family!
Ingredients
You’ll need the below ingredients for this easy lemon chicken recipe. Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
Note: Most Asian grocers will carry these ingredients. You may find some at your select grocery store or online, like on Amazon.
- Skinless Boneless chicken thighs: or substitute with chicken breast for a leaner alternative
- Corn starch: aka corn flour or substitute with potato starch
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil, coconut oil or any heavy scented oils.
- Salt & Black Pepper
Sticky lemon Sauce:
- Brown sugar: or substitute with white sugar. I recommend brown sugar as it gives the sauce a more molasses taste.
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Lemon Zest: though this requires additional effort, it really adds a nice zesty touch to the sweet lemon sauce
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice: please use freshly squeeze and avoid using the kind sold in those yellow plastic lemons! Fresh is best. The artificial kind just doesn't taste the same.
- Regular soy sauce: aka all-purpose soy sauce. This is different from dark soy sauce as it's not as dark or thick in color. You may also substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.
- Chicken broth or chicken stock: make sure it's low sodium
- Cornstarch
Optional Garnish
- Sesame seeds
- Lemon slices
- Green onions or spring onions
How to make Chinese Lemon Chicken
Below are brief steps with visuals to show you how to make crispy lemon chicken. Please scroll down to the recipe card below to find full instructions and details.
Prepare Chicken Thighs
Dice chicken thighs into bite size pieces, about 1-inch wide. Transfer diced chicken to a large bowl.Â
​Prepare Sauce
In a small bowl, combine your sauce ingredients as listed. Set aside.
Coat Chicken Pieces
Add cornstarch to the bowl of diced chicken and evenly coat each piece in the cornstarch with tongs. If you have extra time, you can place cornstarch on a large shallow bowl and coat individually coat the chicken pieces into the starch until evenly coated for that crispy coating. Alternatively, you could also toss the diced chicken in a Ziplock bag with the cornstarch.
Heat Oil
Heat a large skillet, heavy-bottomed pot or wok over medium-high heat, add vegetable oil. Allow oil to reach a temperature of 350 degrees F with a digital thermometer. To check if oil is hot enough without a digital instant read thermometer, place a wooden chopstick into the oil and look for bubbles to form. Once you see bubbles, your oil is hot enough.
Fry Chicken
Carefully lower coated chicken away from you and spread apart quickly to prevent pieces from sticking to each other. Fry chicken for 6-7 minutes in total until golden brown, flipping over halfway.
Remove Cooked Chicken from Oil
Remove fried chicken pieces from oil and transfer to a wire rack or baking sheet lined with paper towel to soak up excess oil. Discard any excess oil from pan.Â
Cook Sauce
Heat pan on medium heat and pour in sauce. Keep stirring sauce until it bubbles and thickens and you have a sticky sauce.
Toss in Chicken
Toss in fried chicken. Optional, garnish with sesame seeds, lemon slices or green onions. Enjoy!
Storage
​This dish will last up to 4 days in an airtight container stored in the fridge.
Reheating
To reheat, heat a frying pan on medium heat and reheat the chicken. I would add a few tablespoons of water to help loosen the sauce. Alternatively you can microwave the chicken for 2-3 minutes
Expert Tips
Below are tips on making Chinese lemon fried chicken:
Chicken thigh for best taste
Since chicken thigh has more fat content, it’ll taste better than using chicken breast. It’s also more forgiving if you happen to over cook it. However, you may use chicken breast for this recipe.
Don’t skip on Lemon Zest
I know it takes more time to zest a lemon but it’s worth it especially for this recipe! This zest is so aromatic that it will take your lemon chicken from a level 8 to a 10!
Evenly coat chicken to get it crispy
To get crispy chicken without any bald spots requires an even dusting of cornstarch. If you have time, add the cornstarch to a plate and dredge your chicken pieces a bit at a time and set aside. The method shown in the video still results in crispy chicken, but the first listed method results in even crispier chicken!
Do not overcrowd the pan
If you're using a smaller pan, do not overcrowd it. Shallow fry in small batches in a single layer. If you overcrowd the pan, you won't get crispy chicken, especially for the large pieces.
Medium high heat is key!
This is the heat level I use (level 7-8 out of 10) for crispy shallow fried chicken. Medium level could work but it won’t be as crispy in my experience but please adjust accordingly to your stove top as all stoves are different.
Sauce needs to bubble to reduce
If you’re simmering your sauce over medium heat, with time it should reduce with consistent stirring and bubbling. If it doesn’t bubble for whatever reason, increase the heat until it does. The bubbling is a sign of evaporation creating for a thick smooth sauce.
FAQ
Below are frequently asked questions about this dish:
Can I substitute with chicken breast?
Yes! That will work but please reduce the cooking time as needed and only fry the chicken until about an internal temperature of 160 F and then remove from hot oil. Then toss back into sauce to cook until it reaches 165 F and remove from heat immediately. Chicken breast tends to dry out faster than thigh so that’s why it’s important to pay attention to the cooking time.
Can I make this in the air fryer?
Yes! I share instructions on how to achieve this in my recipe card below so please scroll down for that.
​Substitute for cornstarch?
​You can substitute with potato starch.
Can I substitute the cornstarch with flour?
​Yes, but just be warned the chicken won't become as crispy. ​
Brown sugar substitute?
Honey, white sugar or any sweetener of your choice will work.
Other recipes you may like!
If you enjoyed this chicken recipe, you may enjoy these other recipes:
- Mongolian Chicken
- Sweet Spicy Gochujang Chicken
- General Tso Chicken
- Korean Sweet & Sticky Chicken
- Orange Chicken
- Sweet and sour chicken
📖 Recipe
Easy Chinese Lemon Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
- â…“ cup Cornstarch or sub with potato starch
- â…“ cup Vegetable oil or any neutral oil
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
Sauce:
- ¼ cup Brown sugar
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon Ginger grated
- Zest of One Lemon
- 2 tablespoon Freshly squeezed lemon juice about 1 lemon squeezed
- 2 tablespoon Regular soy sauce
- ½ cup Chicken stock low sodium
- ½ tablespoon Cornstarch or sub with potato starch
Optional:
- 1 teaspoon Sesame seeds garnish
- lemon slices
Instructions
- Dice chicken thighs into bite size pieces, about 1-inch wide. Transfer diced chicken to a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, combine your sauce ingredients as listed. Set aside.
- Add cornstarch to the bowl of diced chicken and evenly coat each piece in the cornstarch with tongs. If you have extra time, you can place cornstarch on a large shallow bowl and coat individually coat the chicken pieces into the starch until evenly coated for that crispy coating. Alternatively, you could also toss the diced chicken in a Ziplock bag with the cornstarch.
- Heat a large skillet, heavy-bottomed pot or wok over medium-high heat, add vegetable oil. Allow oil to reach a temperature of 350 degrees F with a digital thermometer. To check if oil is hot enough without a digital instant read thermometer, place a wooden chopstick into the oil and look for bubbles to form. Once you see bubbles, your oil is hot enough.Â
- Carefully lower coated chicken away from you and spread apart quickly to prevent pieces from sticking to each other. Fry chicken for 6-7 minutes in total until golden brown, flipping over halfway.
- Remove fried chicken pieces from oil and transfer to a wire rack or baking sheet lined with paper towel to soak up excess oil. Remove any excess oil from pan.
- Heat pan on medium heat and pour in sauce. Keep stirring sauce until it bubbles and thickens and you have a sticky sauce.
- Toss in fried chicken. Optional, garnish with sesame seeds, lemon slices or green onions. Enjoy!
Notes
How to Air Fry Chicken:
- Place cornstarch on a plate and in small batches, dredge cubed chicken into starch until evenly coated.Â
- Transfer to air fryer basket in a single layer giving each piece some space. Depending on the size of your air fryer you may need to do this in a couple batches.
- Spray oil over the chicken.
- Air fry at 400 F for 12-14 minutes until crispy. No need to flip halfway.Â
Suggested Equipment & Products
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Judy
Can you use chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs?
christieathome
Yes, I would just caution to reduce the cooking time by a minute or so as breast tends to dry out faster than thighs.
Cathy-Ann
Easy and delicious
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my Lemon Chicken, Cathy-Ann! I appreciate your review!
KarenB
Do you also have a recipe for orange chicken and one for honey walnut shrimp? Also looking for a recipe for chicken and vegetables with black bean sauce. And egg rolls or lumpia. Lol. I am enjoying your recipes so much, I want more!
christieathome
Thanks so much for your support Karen! Yes I have a recipe for orange chicken if you click here. Unfortunately I don't have a recipe for honey walnut shrimp but I do have many other shrimp recipes you may enjoy if you click here. I also share a Gogchujang Shrimp recipe and a Ebi Mayo that many of my readers like! I'm still working to perfect my egg roll and lumpias recipe but once I do, they will be shared on the blog.
Garry
This looks amazing and I cant wait to try it.
Thanks Christie
christieathome
Thanks Garry! I hope you enjoy it!
Travis
This is the second dish that's have made from your page and I absolutely love it. It is very delicious. Will be keeping this one in my recipe box!!
christieathome
Hi Travis, thank you so much for your kind words and for making my recipes! I'm so glad you enjoyed my Lemon chicken. Have a wonderful day! - Christie
Kay
It was easy and delicious. We had it with home made fried rice. My food fussy partner wolfed it down. I will be adding this to my rotating dinner menu. Thanks
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my recipe Kay! I'm so happy to hear that both you and your partner enjoyed it and that it will become apart of your dinner rotation!
Jay
Delicious sauce! Used air fryer - did not need salt or pepper with this recipe.
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe Jay! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Dan
Great. So easy
christieathome
Thanks for making my recipe! Glad you enjoyed it!
Hope
So easy and so tasty! Didn't need salt or pepper. Husband started eating this and asked me if there were seconds before he'd finished his first plate haha. Will make this again and again.
christieathome
So happy to read this, Hope! Thank you for making my recipe and glad your husband enjoyed it!
Tierra
Bomb
christieathome
Thank you so much Tierra! So happy you enjoyed it!
Andrew
Absolutely loved it so did my family. Struggled a bit to convert the US cups to to British grams but managed okay great recipe thanks
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe and for the kind review, Andrew! Happy you enjoyed it with your family! 🙂
Jorge
Wow, this was awesome...wouldn't change a thing (except to make more of it next time). Nicely done!
christieathome
So glad you enjoyed it and I appreciate the kind review, Jorge! Thanks for making my recipe!
Lana
I've printed off the lemon chicken recipe and can't wait until the chicken breasts get here on Sunday! What do you pair with this? Rice? Veggies?
Do you have a recipe for breaded almond chicken?
christieathome
I hope you enjoy my recipe! I usually like to pair it with steamed rice and any Asian leafy greens like my Garlic Bok Choy.
Unfortunately, I don't have a recipe for that.
Alyssa Neill
Super good recipe! Thank you!
christieathome
Thanks for making it, Alyssa! Glad you enjoyed it!