Chinese Lemon Chicken Recipe
Why order take out when you can make your own Chinese lemon chicken at home? There are a few different versions of lemon chicken out there, all coming from different countries. Probably the most popular type of lemon chicken would be baked in the oven. We all know baked lemon chicken is great but here is the Chinese version – just like take out or at the buffets. The Chinese version varies greatly from that of other cultures. Like most types of Chinese chicken the chicken is first cut into small chunks, battered, and then deep fried and covered with a sweet-lemon sauce. I do have a confession to make, I used yellow food coloring to get the sauce that amazing bright yellow color. If you have some yellow food coloring on hand, just add a drop or two into the sauce before you heat it. This recipe goes great served with rice and broccoli. Enjoy.
Ingredients:
2 1/2lbs boneless-skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” cubes)
Marinade-
2 tablespoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
Batter-
2 large eggs
¼ cup cornstarch
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch white pepper
oil (for frying)
Sauce-
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup chicken broth
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons lemon juice
¾ teaspoon salt
3 slices of lemon (peeled)
2 tablespoons oil
yellow food coloring (optional)
Cooking Instructions:
Step 1: Place cut chicken breast pieces into a bowl and mix with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and ½ teaspoon of salt. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Step 2: To make the batter – beat 2 large eggs with ¼ cup of cornstarch, a pinch of white pepper and baking powder. Coat the chicken with the batter.
Step 3: Heat deep fryer to 350 degrees and deep-fry in batches until chicken is fully cooked. Drain on paper towels and set aside. You can also cook the chicken using a wok if you don’t have a deep fryer.
Step 4: Now, to make the lemon sauce – combine 1/3 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 cup chicken broth, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and ¾ teaspoon salt (if using food coloring you can add it now). Mix until well combined and add 3 slices of lemon to the sauce mixture.
Step 5: Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in your wok and stir in the lemon sauce mixture and heat until well mixed and sauce becomes clear. Remove lemon slices and pour the sauce over the chicken and mix. Best served with rice and broccoli.
Tags: cooking, recipes, food and drink, recipe
who could go back to takeout after eating something like this? i certainly couldn’t and wouldn’t, because really–who knows what those places are doing to their food…
I would never order out again if I could eat this at home every night!
That lemon chicken looks amazing!
grace - haha, it’s true you never know what they could be doing
My Sweet & Saucy - exactly, who needs take out? You would love it.
Kevin - thanks, it tasted great.
yum, yum yum!
This looks absolutely delicious
tye - the lemon chicken is dominant
Your blog is incredibly inspirational, I adore lemon chicken and will absolutely have a go at making this using your recipe.
Pokerstars - Thanks for the kind comments on my blog. I hope you enjoy the recipe and let me know how it turns out.
I love lemon chicken…I love anything sour…LOL…Sweet and sour is even better! My husband makes a kickin’ General Tso chicken! Thanks for sharing!
Kimberly
CookingWithKimberly.com
Kimberly - I actually have an amazing recipe for sweet and sour chicken on here :). Hmm, General Tso chicken? I will have to put that on here sometime as well.
You are my hero! Lemon chicken is my faaaaaaavorite!
This looks great, and can easily be modified for tofu. I am going to try this substituting the lemon for orange to make an Orange Tofu!
Any ideas on how to do Sesame Chicken? Now that is my weakness.
Kelly - It feels great to be someones hero, thank you
Lemon chicken really is great.
Elizabeth - Orange Tofu sounds amazing, let me know how it turns out. I actually have an amazing recipe for sesame chicken on this blog - http://blogchef.net/sesame-chicken-recipe/
Enjoy!
This looks amazing.
thx for teaching
I just made this and it turned out great. I used potato starch instead of corn starch (much easier to find here in Prague), but they are practically the same thing. I was a bit skeptical about the breading mix, I’m used to using flour or smashed corn flakes with a separate milk batter mix, but this made a very nice light crust and was a lot less trouble.
Indian Food - it tastes amazing as well
parastoo - no problem, always glad to help.
Sean - I’m glad you enjoyed it. I think the breadeding is nearly perfect for this chicken. Many more good recipes to come.
Nice looking pics. It doesn’t seem to difficult. What can be tweaked to make it healthier?
The Grub Hound - Thanks. It isn’t difficult at all. To make it a little healthier I would suggest cutting down a little on the sugar or replacing the sugar with honey. Hope this helps and let me know how it turns out if you try it.
I tried it substituting tofu for chicken and it turned out pretty well!
The sauce tastes good
Mitzie - sounds interesting. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe…and yes the sauce is great
Could you use oranges instead of lemons?
christina - I don’t see why not, it’s going to have a different flavor though. I have a great recipe for Orange Chicken on this blog - http://blogchef.net/orange-chicken-recipe/
That recipe is very similar to this one. If it looks good to you give it a try.
This looks so good, and easier than I thought to make! Thanks for visiting my blog!
HoneyB - Yes, it’s really easy and tastes amazing!
I made this tonight. Aside from being much easier than expected, it was a HUGE hit! My picky eater of a partner asked for the leftovers for lunch. Slightly less lemony than expected (and I added a ton) but still really delicious and not too bad of a clean up. Thanks for posting this!
JMB - I’m glad you enjoyed it. If you want more lemon flavor try adding a little grated lemon zest to the sauce.
thanks for the recipe, this looks delicious!!
I have been looking for ways to cut down on my eating out costs. The cost has been getting out of control. I made this last night and was absolutely amazed with how it came out. I packed the leftover up for lunch at work and ended up eating it as soon as I got to work this morning. Ooops. Anyhow, that just means I have to go home for lunch and eat what I thought was going to be my dinner. It will be okay because now I will have to give your sesame chicken a shot tonight and maybe the sweat and sour chicken tomorrow. Hmmm, I will have to see what else you have here. This is going to be a great dish to serve at my Sushi parties for my non-fish eating friends. Thanks a bunch!
BTW, I tried using the lemon zest for a stronger lemon flavor and it was fantastic. Keep up the great work my new friend.
kbtruong - no problem, I hope you enjoy it.
Brad - Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I hope you enjoy the sesame and sweet and sour chicken as well. I also so have a recipe for orange chicken on here. Many more good ones to come.
I really love your food & photographs - thank you!
yes! i have been hunting for a tried and tested lemon chicken recipe since i found good ones for both sesame, orange, and cashew chicken. with this, i will practically have a chinese-take-out menu in my repertoire.
cindy - great work on the chinese takeout menu. This will be a great edition for sure. Let me know how it turns out!
Congratulations on the excellent site ! It makes mine look a bit lame, you’ve got some great pics to go with the recipes.
Vic - Thanks for the compliments!
This was yummy. I made it tonight. The lemon sauce is to die for. I made a modification though. I used about a Tbsp. or grated lemon peel and skipped the lemon slices. Next time, I will not deep fry the chicken. I will skip the breading process and cook the chicken in a little oil in a pan to lighten it up a little. GREAT recipe. Thanks.
tye - I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Hey, this is a nice recipe. Just tried it. Was waaaay to sweet, so I will have to half the amount of sugar used next time. I might also skip the batter, since it wasn’t crusty after I covered it ith lemon juice - unless I’ve done something wrong.
Adam - Yeah, the breading isnt suppose to be crispy because its a batter. If you want crispy chicken trying dipping the chicken pieces first in egg and then shaking with flour before deep frying. Dusting the chicken bits with corn starch is another option.
Looks pretty good! I’m never satisfied with the lemon chicken at my local Chinese take-out.
Thanks for LC recipe. I prefer dark meat. Could you pls tell me how you would do this with chicken thigh meat like Safeway? They told me it was thigh meat but wouldn ‘t devulge the recipe at all.
Chef Tom - This recipe should do the trick!
Victoria - Sorry, I have no idea what safeway’s lemon chicken tastes like but if you want to use thigh meat just replace the boneless chicken breasts with boneless chicken thighs.
I made this last night, and it was EXCELLENT! I can barely cook at all, but my wife was wowed with this.
On a side note, I poured all of the sauce over the chicken for serving it, and my seven year old said it was too sweet! Next time I’ll use a little less of the sauce, maybe even serve it on the side so everyone can spoon their own.
Thanks for the recipe!
I don’t know how many thank you’s I can write here, but it certainly wouldn’t be enough. I’m from Norway, and I’ve looked for lemon chicken everywhere, but it just doesn’t exist. Everytime I’m in London or some other decent “Chinese-country” I order lemon chicken, and everytime I get home I search the net, but never find a recipe that looks similar and makes me want to try to make it.
However, this has changed. Your recipe just looks amazing, and I can’t wait to try it. I’ll run to buy a lemon first thing tomorrow morning.
Thank you so much, you saved my day! I’ve never visited you before, but I’m sure I’ll continue to look around now…
Ron - I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Mikael - No problem, let me know how it turns out! Many more great recipes to come.
WOW! The chicken looks absolutely perfect & delicious. Definitely better looking than the crappy Chinese delivery we had last night!
Hey, I was really looking forward to making lemon chicken. I was going to summer school the last 4 weeks and discovered a Chinese panda express restaurant that served lemon chicken. I ate it every day and knew i just had to learn.
I got a hold of your recipe and tried cooking it but came short.
I finished making the chicken and placed it on paper towels, at that point i was confident thinking all i had now was to make the lemon sauce and im on my way to a wonderful meal.
But, when i made the lemon chicken, i followed every instruction perfectly but i did not come close to getting that lemon sauce taste that i tasted at the restaurant. I tried a second time but again the taste was just not there, not even close. I wonder what im doing wrong?
If you could, can you give me more specific instructions for the lemon sauce.
Also, does it matter what type of Chicken broth i use? I went to the store and there were different types.
Hi!
I saw your recipe on Tastespotting and knew I had to make it. It wwas dinner tonight and both my husband and myself really enjoyed it.
The only modifications I made were to use 3 tbsp. lemon uice instead of 2, cut the sugar to 1/4 c., and skip the oil in the sauce at the end.
This lemon sauce is genius. Definitely one I am going to file away for future use on veggie strifrys.
I hope you don’t mind, but I had some questions about frying, I’d never done it before, and posted about it on chowhound. I linked to your blog though and gave it a favorable review.
Anyhow, thanks for the great sauce!
Arika
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/543581
Martin - Sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe. I have no idea what the lemon chicken at panda express tastes like so I can’t help you there. I don’t even have a PE close to me but I have been wanting to try their food because everyone talks about it! You shouldn’t have any problem making the sauce it’s very easy. If you are looking for stronger lemon flavor try adding a little grated lemon zest to the sauce. If you think it’s too sweet cut down on the sugar a little bit. I hope this helps, if you have any more questions I will be glad to help you. Thanks.
Arika - I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe! I love the sauce as well, it’s so good. Thanks for the link on chowhound, people seemed like they were really helpful there. I am a guy though, not a girl
If you need any help I will be glad to help you. Thanks.
Holy cow, I’m such an arse! I only ever looked at this recipe, neglecting to read your “About” section. Insert virtual foot in mouth =)
One good thing coming out of this is that after going to your “About” section I checked out your other recipes and bookmarked another.
Great blog, Bobby. And again, SORRY!
Arika
Ooohh, this looks simply scrumptious! I think I am going to try this one out on the weekend. Thanks for sharing! I am Greek and we have our own version of lemon chicken, so I am definitely interested in comparing and contrasting.
This is sooo cool! I love the honey lemon chicken recipe and been craving to have a go. I made your recipe only adding more starch in the batter. I deep fried but didn’t get the crispyness so I deep fried it again… that got to the crispy side.
Do you have any suggestion where the chicken is fully coated with batter but still crispy and will maintain it’s crispyness even when sauce is poured into it or when cooled?
I will separate the sauce to maintain the crispy(will follow the grated zest for the lemony taste an will subsitute honey for sugar). . Love it! thanks for sharing!
Can’t wait to try out your other recipe!
Irvi
Irvi - I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. If you want the chicken to be extra crispy I would recommend rolling the chicken first in flour or corn starch, then dipping in egg and then rolling in flour of cornstarch again. Also like you said, keep the sauce and the chicken seperate. I hope this helped. It’s also best to eat the chicken while it hasnt been sitting out for too long. Thanks.
I tried this tonight, and it came out OK. I think I over-fried the chicken a bit, it was a little chewy and not tender. Lemon sauce delicious though. Nice and thick, just like in a restaurant. Next time I might try a little less sugar and little more lemon.
But definitely fun to try — first time ever deep-frying for me. Just did it in a deep pan, and it was fun, if not entirely successful.
Would love to try orange chicken too.
Thanks!
I LOOOOOOOVE chinese lemon chicken and this recipe looks amazing im gonna try it tonight…
-who doesnt love chinese cuisine????
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Tried this Tonight. This was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. Family enjoyed it tremendously. Would remomend you add more Corn flor to the egg. the batter sticks better and you get a nice golden colour
Tried this twice…first time your recipe. Great! Second time I was in a hurry so I used Tyson’s Crispy Strips with your sauce and it worked for a 15 minute meal for my grandkids. I increased the sauce size because it is a favorite.Many thanks.
Wondering what went wrong. Am I supposed to add water to the batter mix or just constarch and egg yolks? It seemed to be too thick.
Jason - No water should be required, make sure you are using at least large sized eggs though.
I made this tonight.
It was very good. I added a bit of ginger and it turned out good. Also made it with less sugar and more lemony.
One mistake I made was I fried the Chickens first and made the sauce later (about an hour later) - so when I ate that I missed the softness and juiciness of the chickens.
But that was my fault. The recipe is excellent.
Will try your Orange chicken later.
That chicken looks lovely! I have had that in chinese restaurants loads of times but never actually tried to make it myself! It never looks as appetizing as you make it look in the photos here though! I’d add extra lemon to mine as I love it when things like that are super sour.
This is the best lemon chicken ever super easy to make I made it with lime instead of lemon yum yum!!!!! Im off to make your peanut butter fudge!!!
thanks for this recipe!!! it has become a family favorite!
I even linked this recipe to my multiply site! you’re great!
http://coolestfinds.multiply.com/recipes
I’ll be making this sauce sometime very soon! Thanks!
Wow! Wonderful recipe and great pictures… thanks for the step by step.
Love your blogg!
Tried this recipe and it is great!!!! The only thing is, next time, and think I’ll reduce the amount of lemon juice, but other than than it’s fantastic. Now, does anyone have a good recipe for Almond Soo Guy?
tried the recipe and it tasted decent, but the lemon sauce was too thin. I was expecting it to be really thick and to coat the pieces of chicken, but it was too thin to really hold to the chicken.
I made two batches, one with the juice from fresh lemons and one with concentrated lemon juice. I couldn’t taste a difference between either one. I also tried putting more cornstarch in the concentrated lemon juice batch, but it didn’t really thicken any more than the other batch.
Any tips on how to thicken this sauce more? I have another recipe for honey chili chicken which is delicious, and the coating is super thick, but that’s because of the honey.
I tried frying the chicken in a wok with peanut oil, but the batter didn’t adhere to the chicken like in your photos. I might not have had the oil hot enough, not used enough oil, or it was because I didn’t use a deep fryer.
Thanks for the recipe though!
Adam - Sorry to hear you didn’t really enjoy the recipe. Adding more cornstarch should make the sauce thicker. I always feel that using a deep fryer is the best way to fry the chicken. You should have at least 1/2″ of oil in your wok when frying.
this recipe really rocks me out… i keep failing to cook lemon chicken… not until i found this recipe… thanks for sharing…!!!!
To celebrate the Chinese New Year (Year of the Ox) tonight I decided to try this recipe for lemon chicken — my favorite Chinese restaurant dish. I found it super easy to make, and the result was heavenly!!
I used some of the suggestions offered — reduced the sugar, added extra lemon and zest, and removed the oil from the sauce. I also double rolled the chicken (dry, wet, dry) as you suggested to create a crispier batter. I used pre-cooked chicken rather than raw, and the effect was a juicy, delicious chicken in delightfully crunchy batter.
I’ve sent the recipe - with high recommendations - to my son at college for him to make and enjoy as well.
Thanks so much for a super delicious recipe.
Was curious what alternative you might recommend if I don’t have a deep fryer or a wok. Would a skillet work? If so, any thoughts on the method?
Johnny - Yes, a skillet would work fine.
Hi there!
Do you know if this would work without the eggs or with ener-g egg replacer? This sounds perfect but my little boy is allergic to eggs. Thanks so much!
Trisha - Yes, it should work without eggs. Another things you can try, although it will not have the same texture. Is just to bread the chicken in flour of cornstarch. I hope this helps. Thanks.
Fabulous! I “stumbled” into this recipe a couple of days ago and made it tonight. No good Chinese restaurants where we live now. This made up for it!!!
Just one small tweak, I added lemon extract and dried lemon peel, to make up for the missing lemon slices.
Yum!
Hi! Just like Margaret I also stumbled into your blog and when I saw this recipe my mouth watered! I’m usually a disaster in the kitchen but your chinese lemon chicken worked out perfectly! Thank you!
oh my gosh! this is the lemon chicken i have been looking for. my husband even requested i save the leftovers for his lunch (he rarely eats leftovers) i will tell all my friends about this and how easy it is to make. thank you so very much
What a hit! Thanks Bobby. My wife even commented that it ‘might’ be better than a restaurant.
On a side note, I did some with tofu cause my mom is a vegetarian. After a couple trials with it, I found that a quick searing of the tofu -after marinating, but before battering- worked better.
Overall a great hit though, my wife insisted at add this to my menu rotation. Thanks!
I’m so excited to try this recipe on Sunday. I have a feeling I’m going to totally love it. Thank you for posting it!
I am making this AS WE SPEAK! Everything looks amazing so far! I have the oil heating up right now. I def need to invest in a deep fryer though. I am using a wok and I’m only nervous about the oil. I made fried rice to go along with this. Here is a delicious tip to fry fried rice: Fry bacon and fry the rice in the bacon oil. It’s delicious and I learned this from a Japanese guy. I’m Filipina so you know we asians love asian food. I’m sure this Chinese chicken will be d-lish! No more take out! Plus, feeling rest assured that this is actually chicken and NOT rats! LOL…anyway, I will let everyone know how this turns out! The sauce is heating up on the stove as well! Thanks for the recipe! This recipe looked more enticing! I looked all over the web for a recipe and finally settled for this one! Thanks a bunch!
My honey and I made this last night and we were very impressed (as always though) This tastes just like the lemon chicken from the Chinese restaurant I used to work at. Perfect!
I love all your recipes on here and have tried so many. You are my favorite!
Just had some horible LC take-out…Looking forward to making this when the next craving hits!
I did this rec tonight yummmmmmmmmmmy 10 out of 10
heyyyyyyyyyyyy sup yo i luv lemon chicken also!!!!!!:D
Use 1/4 teaspoon tumeric (Haldi) instead of the food colouring — it also has health benefits. I also put it into the water when I boil pasta.
Great recipie… a little cayenne pepper made a wold of difference !
I made this recipe for supper tonight. I enjoyed it but I think next time I’m going to use more lemon and less salt. I found it to be a touch too salty. I also want to make the chicken crispy next time. Thanks for the recipe!
I tried this (with the food coloring) and it was excellent!
5/5
I’d never order Chinese takeout again after this!
I tried this recipe ans was somewhat disapointed… Maybe my expectations were too high… or maybe I misinterpreted the directions, but I will not be trying this again anytime soon…
This is a great recipe! I just finished making it. I added a litte more lemmon and sugar, just because I like a strong flavour. Thanks for the recipe!
I put my own spin on this recipe:
I broiled the chicken until it was sightly crispy and made the sauce per the recipe above, except that I added twice the lemon juice (I didn’t have any actual lemons on-hand), and a tablespoon of honey. I also add a little butter since I wasn’t frying the chicken.
Awesome. I will totally make this again.
it lokes delicious………..yum yum
sorry meant to say how many people does your recipe serve?
GAZ- I would say this serves 4.
This was wonderful. I followed the recipe to the letter and was delighted in the results. My husband who does not usually like this kind of stuff raved at how good it was.
I have been looking for a Lemon Chicken Recipe for a long time and this one is perfect! It is exactly what I was looking for and will definitely make it again and again. Thank you!!!