Crispy fried chicken coated in a sweet and savory lemon sauce. This quick and easy Chinese lemon chicken is made with simple ingredients. Saving you money and beating takeout! Great as a main dish for the family on busy weeknights!
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Chinese Lemon Chicken features crispy fried chicken tossed in a sweet, savoury, tangy sauce made of lemon juice, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and soy sauce.
It's a popular dish served at many Chinese restaurants and best served with white rice and vegetables. Originating from Hong Kong becoming very popular in North America, like it's sister recipe Orange Chicken.
The best part about this chicken recipe is it's shallow fried so no wasting tons of oil. There's also no wet batter, just cornstarch, and it's all made in one pan!
I also share how to air fry the chicken in the FAQ section or Notes sections of the recipe card.
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Skinless Boneless chicken thighs: or substitute with chicken breast for a leaner alternative but please reduce the cook time by a 1-2 minutes or it'll be dry.
- Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil or heavy scented oils.
- Salt & Black Pepper
- Sesame seeds: optional garnish
- Lemon slices: optional garnish
- Green onions: optional garnish
Lemon Sauce
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice: avoid using the kind sold in those yellow plastic lemons! The artificial kind just doesn't taste the same.
- Brown sugar: or substitute with white sugar or coconut sugar. I recommend brown sugar as it gives the sauce a more molasses taste.
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Lemon Zest: do not skip this as it offers great flavor to the sauce.
- Regular soy sauce: or 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.
- Chicken broth: ideally low sodium kind
- Cornstarch
Note: The Asian grocery store will carry the Asian-specific ingredients.
Expert Tips
- Don’t skip on the lemon zest. This zest is so aromatic that it will take your lemon chicken from a level 8 to a 10!
- Use chicken thigh for best taste as it has a higher fat content and it won't dry out in the frying process.
- Prepare ingredients ahead of time as the cooking process is fast.
- Do not pat dry the chicken! You need some moisture on the chicken so the starch can adhere to it.
- Evenly dice the chicken so they evenly fry.
- Use a heavy bottomed pan if possible as this maintains the oil temperature.
- Make sure oil is hot enough before frying, around 325-350 degrees F. To check if oil is hot, use a digital instant read thermometer or insert a wooden chopstick into the oil and look for bubbles. If you see bubbles, the oil is hot.
- Fry in small batches and do not overcrowd the pan because this reduces the oil temperature leading to less crispy chicken or possibly undercooked chicken.
- Spread chicken apart after tossing into pan. This allows for each piece to develop a crust.
- Avoid stir frying the chicken. This prevents it from getting crispy.
- Drain the fried chicken on a wire rack or paper-towel lined plate to remove excess oil which leads to soggy chicken.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make Chinese lemon chicken:
In a small bowl, combine your sauce ingredients as listed. Set aside.
Dice chicken thighs into bite size pieces, about 1.5-inch pieces. Transfer diced chicken to a large bowl. Do not pat the chicken thighs dry as moisture is needed for the next step.
Add cornstarch to the bowl of diced chicken and evenly coat each piece in the cornstarch with tongs. Or toss the diced chicken in a Ziplock bag with the cornstarch.
Heat vegetable oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Carefully lower coated chicken and spread apart quickly. Fry chicken for 5-6 minutes on each side until golden and crispy. Remove fried chicken from oil and transfer to a wire rack or paper towel-lined plate to soak up excess oil.
Discard any excess oil from pan. Heat pan on medium heat and pour in sauce. Keep stirring sauce until it bubbles and thickens.
Toss in chicken. Optional, garnish with sesame seeds, lemon slices or green onions. Enjoy!
Storage
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat: microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat.
- Freezer friendly? Yes, store the sauce and fried chicken in separate freezer friendly bags and it can be frozen for up to 3 months. I recommend laying a Ziplock bag on a baking sheet to freeze chicken pieces in a single layer so they don't stick. To reheat, defrost both sauce and chicken and reheat the sauce in a pan and toss in the chicken.
Pairing Suggestions
Chinese lemon chicken serves well with:
- starters like egg rolls, crab rangoons, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup
- white or brown rice, cauliflower rice, fried rice, chow mein, lo mein, or plain noodles
- cooked vegetables like bok choy, spicy garlic bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, garlic green beans or stir fried snow pea leaves.
- protein dishes like Mongolian Beef, Bang Bang Shrimp, Gochujang Chicken, Soy Garlic Tofu, Chinese Braised Tofu and more!
FAQ
Yes, you can air fry the chicken by following these instructions:
Lightly spray air fryer basket with vegetable oil or any neutral oil. Lay coated chicken into air fryer basket in a single layer giving each piece enough space. Lightly spray oil over coated chicken.
You may need to air fry in small batches if needed depending on the size of your air fryer.
Air fry at 400 F for 12-14 minutes until golden crispy brown. The amount of time depends on your air fryer.
This can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. To enjoy, reheat it in the microwave or in a pan on the stovetop on medium heat.
Yes, substitute the chicken with extra-firm tofu for a vegetarian version or diced pork loin, jumbo shrimp or even a sturdy white fish like cod, halibut or haddock.
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📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Chinese Lemon Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lbs skinless boneless chicken thighs
- ⅓ cup cornstarch or potato starch
- ⅓ 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
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice freshly 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
- In a small bowl, combine your sauce ingredients as listed. Set aside.
- Dice chicken thighs into bite size pieces, about 1.5-inch pieces. Transfer diced chicken to a large bowl. Do not pat the chicken thighs dry as moisture is needed for the next step. Season diced chicken with salt and black pepper.
- Add cornstarch to the bowl of diced chicken and evenly coat each piece in the cornstarch with tongs. Or toss the diced chicken in a Ziplock bag with the cornstarch.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Carefully lower coated chicken and spread apart quickly. Fry chicken for 5-6 minutes on each side until golden and crispy. Remove fried chicken from oil and transfer to a wire rack or paper towel-lined plate to soak up excess oil. (To air fry the chicken, see the notes section below).
- Discard any excess oil from pan. Heat pan on medium heat and pour in sauce. Keep stirring sauce until it bubbles and thickens.
- Toss in chicken. Optional, garnish with sesame seeds, lemon slices or green onions. Enjoy!
Linda
I love this recipe, I make it all the time
Christie Lai
Thanks so much for making my recipe, Linda! I'm so happy that you make it all the time. I appreciate your kind support 🙂
vickie knutson
Just finished eating this delicious recipe with broccoli and carrots.Yum! I did forget to add green onions,which I think would've added a bit
flavor and color.Thank you for a tasty and easy recipe for one of our favorites.
Christie Lai
Thanks so much for making my recipe, Vickie! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Dan
Probably the 4th time I’ve made this. One of our favorites. Just need to find a faster way to zest a lemon. Other than that the recipe is a breeze. And well worth it!!
Alyssa Neill
Super good recipe! Thank you!
christieathome
Thanks for making it, Alyssa! Glad you enjoyed it!
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.
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!
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! 🙂
Tierra
Bomb
christieathome
Thank you so much Tierra! So happy 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!
Dan
Great. So easy
christieathome
Thanks for making my recipe! Glad you enjoyed it!
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 🙂
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!
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
Garry
This looks amazing and I cant wait to try it.
Thanks Christie
christieathome
Thanks Garry! I hope you enjoy it!
Angela Werner
Insanely delicious! Who knew restaurant quality lemon chicken could be made at home so easily and with just a few simple ingredients? Will be going back to this recipe again, and again!
Christie Lai
I am so thrilled to read this comment, Angela! Thank you so much for leaving such a raving review and I am so glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Happy New Year!
Sharon
Came out perfect!
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making it and for leaving this kind review, Sharon! Have a wonderful day!
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.
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.