Sautéed Chicken With Meyer Lemon

By Melissa Clark

Sautéed Chicken With Meyer Lemon
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
About 30 minutes
Rating
5(2,690)
Comments
Read comments

Instead of letting the age-old combination of salt and time tame the bitterness of lemon pith, heat and sugar speed the process along here, pickling the citrus in minutes. Just blanch a thinly sliced lemon to remove some of its bite, then simmer it again in a pot of heavily sugared and salted water. You’ll end up with lemon slivers that are at once salty, sweet, sour and bitter — and far more interesting than they should be given the amount of work that went into them. They get even better when you fry them in oil, letting their flavors caramelize and turn honeyed. This technique works particularly well with Meyer lemons but regular lemons can work, too. If you use this substitution, blanch them in plain water twice before simmering them in the sugar-salt mixture.

Featured in: A Good Appetite: Preserved Lemons Brighten a Stir-Fry

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
    Subscribe

  • Print Options

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 1½pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into ½-inch strips
  • 3tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2teaspoons minced rosemary
  • Kosher salt
  • ½teaspoon black pepper
  • 1½Meyer lemons
  • 2tablespoons sugar
  • 2leeks, thinly sliced
  • 2garlic cloves, finely chopped
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

240 calories; 12 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 23 grams protein; 410 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by
Cooking Newsletter illustration

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Toss the chicken with 1 tablespoon oil, rosemary, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper.

  2. Step 2

    Trim the ends from 1 lemon, quarter lengthwise and remove the seeds. Slice quarters crosswise into ⅛-inch slices.

  3. Step 3

    Bring a small pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the lemon slices, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain under cold running water. Rinse out the pot and refill it with 1 cup water, the sugar and 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil. Drop in the blanched lemon slices and simmer for 3 minutes. Drain under cold running water, pat dry.

  4. Step 4

    Heat a skillet over high heat for 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons oil. It should start to shimmer immediately; add the lemon slices and stir-fry quickly until golden. Stir in the leeks and reduce heat to medium-high. Cook until leeks are soft and golden, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 1 minute. Push the leek mixture to one side of the skillet; stir in the chicken mixture and sear, without moving, about 4 minutes. Mix in the leeks and continue cooking until the chicken is no longer pink, about 3 to 6 minutes more. Drizzle with juice from the remaining lemon half, to taste.

Ratings

5 out of 5
2,690 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Comments

SB of SH in NY

Chose Melissa's recipe as inspiration for what was on hand: jar of Trader Joe's preserved lemons, chicken tenderloins, shallots, garlic, parsley. Patted dry, but didn't rinse, lemons and fried them. LOTS of shallots. Cut tenderloins into bite sized pieces. Lots of parley. TJ jasmine rice cooked in One Pot in FOUR minutes. Squeezed fresh lemon juice to top. Super easy (esp. if like me you never measure or follow times of anything, just enjoy glass of wine.) Will make again.

Lyn

I used a wok and removed the cooked leeks and lemon to a side dish until the chicken was almost cooked and then added the leeks and lemon back to the wok for a fast warm-up.

Deb

I made this dish with oranges, because I didn't have Myer Lemons (which are sweeter than traditional lemons). I eliminated the sugar entirely and cut the salt in half. It was wonderful. :) My family wants it again.

Lori R

I feel like a lone wolf here, but I did not love this. I don't understand the 2x rinsing of the lemon in the "pickling" process, left me with bland lifeless lemons that did little to enhance this dish. Nothing "preserved lemon-y" about this. Very meh. Glad you all enjoyed it, though.

tara s

Wow!!!! This humble dish has HUGE flavor I read comments and followed several recommendations: -allowed chicken to marinate for a few hours -cooked in a cast iron skillet, not allowing pieces to touch one another -added a small pat of butter to the skillet during each batch -I reserved some of the lemon salt water to deglaze the pan, but the finished product was so flavorful that it wasn’t needed (saving and will use later) Family loved it!

LeeAnn

This is delicious with any manner of vegetable -- I used mushroom, zucchini and shallots and served it over polenta.

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.