The lemon pepper chicken is a zesty, tangy, and refreshing chicken gravy marinated with lemon juice, yogurt, and black pepper. It’s not just delicious; it’s incredibly easy to prepare, requires minimal ingredients, and never fails to impress your guests!

My blog has a huge list of chicken recipes, but the one I’m sharing with you today is the epitome of chicken curries. The lemon pepper chicken– is one of the quintessential dishes that boasts the most refreshing flavor, making it perfect for summertime.

I’ve made many chicken curries, including most delicious Butter chicken, Black pepper Chicken, Chicken Korma and so on, but this Lemon pepper chicken is unique because of its tart and tangy flavor. Plus, this recipe is really easy to make.

Why You Will Love This Lemon Pepper Chicken

Refreshing Flavor: Lemons are the secret ingredient in this recipe, making it tart and refreshing. Whenever summer comes, I often make this lemon pepper chicken to savor its citrusy zest and cool tang, perfectly complementing the warm weather vibes.

Succulent Chicken: The yogurt and lemon-based marinade make the chicken juicy, succulent, and tender. Every bite is a sensory delight, soothing your taste buds and leaving your guests in awe.

Easy To Make: Thankfully, all the ingredients used in the lemon pepper chicken recipe are availed in every pantry. You don’t need any fancy ingredients or high-level culinary skills to craft this dish.

Perfect For Gatherings: If you’re looking for a budget-friendly, delicious, and easy-to-make recipe for summertime gatherings and parties, look no further than this lemon pepper chicken, and you will earn a lot of complaints from your guests.

Ingredients

For Marination: You can use boneless or bone-in chicken for this recipe. Plus, you need a few staple ingredients like yogurt, cumin seeds, black pepper, salt, and lemons.

For Gravy: There is no huge list of ingredients for making the curry. You just need cooking oil, cumin seeds, Garam masala, garlic paste, black pepper, corn flour, ginger, and green chillies.

Do I Need Lemon Pepper Sauce?

I’ve seen that most of the recipes on the internet use lemon pepper sauce, which is okay. But my recipe is a bit unique and different.

Instead of using lemon pepper sauce or any fancy ingredient, I’m adding lemon juice to the marination process to infuse the tart nodes in the chicken.

You might find dozens of other recipes for making Lemon pepper chicken, but the majority of them involve intricate steps. So if you want to save time and effort, this lemon pepper recipe is your thing.

How To Make Lemon Pepper Chicken

The first thing is marination! Combine the chicken, yogurt, cumin seeds, black pepper, salt and lemon juice in a large mixing bowl. Mix it well, and set it aside for 1 hour.

Tip:

Make deep cuts in the chicken pieces to infuse flavor throughout. This will make the chicken more flavorful and savory.

Heat the oil in a pan; add the cumin seeds and garam masala. You can use store-bought ground garam masala, but here, I’m using cinnamon, black pepper, cloves, bay leaves, and star anise as a garam masala. Sauté these ingredients for 1 minute.

Add the marinated chicken to that oil and toss garlic paste. Stir it thoroughly to infuse the overpowering flavor of garlic in the chicken. Turn the flame to medium at this stage and fry the chicken for 3 minutes.

Add the remaining marinade and half a cup of water. Close the lid for 10 minutes. During this process, the chicken will become more juicy and succulent. There is no need to add extra water because yogurt in the marination itself acts as a moisturizer.

After 10 minutes of steaming, add black pepper and corn flour mixture. For corn flour mixture, I’d combine one tablespoon of corn flour with 1/3 cup of water. This corn flour will thicken the gravy and make it more flavorful. Stir and cover the lid for 3 minutes.

Add garnish with green chillies and ginger slices to make it more appealing. You can also add a few lemon slices for a refreshing texture. Now, your lemon pepper chicken is ready to serve.

Pro Tips

You can add a small cube of butter with oil to bring a creamy and butter flavor. Butter with our lemon marinades an ultimate pleasant flavor.

Go easy on the lemon juice, which can make the dish sour and ruin the overall taste. I’ve squeezed only three lemons in the marinate.

Yogurt is the secret ingredient that makes chicken succulent, juicy, and tender. So, never skip this ingredient.

Don’t add red chili flakes, red chili powder, or any overpowering spices, as these spices might kill lemon’s refreshing and citrus notes in chicken bites.

Garlic paste is a game-changer ingredient that makes the dish more aromatic and gives it a real savory taste.

How To Serve The Lemon Pepper Chicken

This cherished chicken curry is often served with hot naans, chapati, or rice. Lemon pepper chicken is a main course, so you can make some refreshing salads with it, like this Asian cucumber salad. Here is the list of the 15 refreshing salads you can serve with this lemon pepper chicken.