Best lemon pepper chicken sides

You love chicken, but aren’t so keen on the time it takes to cook, then I have a perfect solution – with flavour! Lemon pepper chicken is a buttery, zesty fairly easy weekend dinner to make, with just 30 minutes of preparation and cooking time, this dish will become your new favourite, I mean a half hour of preparation and cook time is enough for anyone to do a happy dance. Chicken is a common favourite, but when there’s chicken breasts, that’s when the dish becomes healthier. Chicken breasts are sort of like a blank canvas for us to work with because they can be flooded with flavour depending on what you use to prepare them, whilst keeping them fresh and delectable.

Table of Contents

• How To Make Lemon Pepper Chicken?
• What Sides Go With Lemon Pepper Chicken
• What Goes Well With Lemon Pepper Chicken?
• Our Favorite Sides For Lemon Pepper Chicken
• Wrapping up
• FAQs

How To Make Lemon Pepper Chicken?

• Gather boneless chicken breasts and toss in all-purpose flour and seasoning
• Cook until golden brown in a hot pan, then set them aside and start making the sauce.
• For the sauce combine butter, minced garlic, rosemary, heavy cream and parmesan cheese in the same pan. Let it simmer until it is creamy and thick.
• Add the chicken breasts back, top with sliced lemon and broil for the perfect crispy finish.

What Sides Go With Lemon Pepper Chicken

To add some personality to the dish you can sprinkle parmesan cheese for creaminess and delicious flavor, this can also be paired really well with a fresh crunchy cucumber salad. There are also a variety of other tasty options to go with this dish, take notes of these ingredients.

• Roasted Brussels Sprouts

400g Brussels sprouts, cut in half

2 tbsp olive oil

50g butter, at room temperature

3 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with salt

1/2 nutmeg, freshly grated

40g Parmesan, finely grated

10g finely chopped parsley

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Lemon Parsley Pasta

225g thin spaghetti

1 fresh lemon

2 minced cloves of garlic

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp grated Parmesan

1/4 tsp salt

• Roasted Broccoli

900g broccoli

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

• Lemon Garlic Roasted Asparagus

450g asparagus

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

1 fresh lemon

• Creamy Mashed Potatoes

1 1/2kg potatoes, cut into even chunks

125 semi-skimmed milk

1 tbsp butter

4 tbsp cream

What Goes Well With Lemon Pepper Chicken?

As brilliant as lemon pepper chicken is eaten as a lone meal, it is even more amazing when paired with a variety of side dishes. Once you realise how satisfyingly delicious this will turn out to be, you’ll be seeing this particular meal on the table quite often. The presence of lemon in the chicken enhances the flavours of even the most simplest of side dishes such as a bowl of rice.

You can also attempt cheesy noodles to make things more interesting, tomato and cucumber soup, roasted cauliflower and buttered bread.

Our Favorite Sides For Lemon Pepper Chicken

• Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Pairing brussels sprouts with lemon chicken can be great because it enhances the flavors on both sides, by combining an earthy taste from roasted brussels sprouts with the creamy tanginess of the lemon pepper chicken.

Roast the sprouts in a 200-degree Celsius oven for about 15 minutes or until brown, this will make them crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. You can also opt to roast the sprouts in a dish alongside other vegetables like carrots or potatoes to really add diverse deliciousness to your meal.

• Lemon Parsley Pasta

It really takes a few ingredients to turn something so simple into a flavour-filled delectable meal. You can use fine pasta as it has a good surface area for the lemon and Parmesan to spread out perfectly, enough for you to get a flavourful bite.

1. Boil some pasta in a pot for about 8 minutes, whilst the pasta is boiling, zest a lemon (you’ll need about 1 Tbsp).
2. Chop some parsley and combine it with Parmesan, lemon zest, and pepper in a bowl. Set the bowl aside.
3. By now the pasta should be done, drain the pasta, and add olive oil and minced garlic to the same pot that had been used to cook the pasta. Sauté the garlic in the oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or till it becomes fragrant.
4. Remove the pot from cooking and add the drained pasta and butter to the pot with the garlic and toss until the pasta is coated in garlic and oil.
5. Add the parsley Parmesan mixture to the pot and toss again. Squeeze about 1 Tbsp of lemon juice over the pasta and season with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Toss to combine, then taste and adjust the salt, pepper, or parmesan to your preference.

• Roasted Broccoli

If broccoli makes you a little uneasy, it’s most likely because you haven’t tried it roasted yet. Roasted broccoli adds crunchy deliciousness to a main meal. You can use frozen broccoli for this as well.

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Wash and chop the broccoli into bite-sized florets.
2. Spread the florets out over a large baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss the broccoli until it is fully and evenly coated in oil.
3. Roast the broccoli for 20-25 minutes, or until it has achieved your desired level of browning, then serve with your main dish of lemon pepper chicken.

• Lemon Garlic Roasted Asparagus

There are many different ways to cook asparagus, but roasting really brings out the deep savoury flavours as opposed to other cooking methods such as steaming or frying. The edges become a wonderful brown and the added crispiness makes it such a delight to eat.

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius, rinse the asparagus well, then trim off the dry or woody end of the stem. Mince 2 cloves of garlic.
2. Place a baking sheet on a baking try, drizzle olive oil over the top, then add salt and pepper. Toss the asparagus until coated in garlic, oil, salt and pepper.
3. Then place the asparagus to the preheated oven and roast for 20 minutes or until they have browned to your satisfaction, (roasting time may vary depending on the girth of the asparagus). Stir halfway through roasting,
4. While the asparagus are cooking zest a lemon using the find side of a box grater, you’ll need about 1 tsp of zest. After zesting, cut the lemon into wedges.
5. Once the asparagus are roasted, add the lemon zest and a couple squeezes of lemon juice. Have a taste and adjust the salt or lemon as desired. Serve with remaining lemon wedges.

• Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Creamy mashed potatoes are my absolute favourite, not only do they require less preparation time, but the unmissable creamy salty flavours of the mashed potatoes paired with the zest of the lemon pepper chicken are a perfect combination to a meal.

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add potatoes and boil for about 15 minutes or until tender. Transfer to a colander and drain well, then return to the pan and set over a very low heat for 2 minutes to dry completely.
2. Heat milk and butter in a separate pan, then pour over the potatoes. Remove from the heat, then mash potatoes using an electric whisk or a potato masher. Tip in some cream and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Season with pepper and a pinch of salt.

Wrapping up

A variety of choices keeps the stomach happy, limiting yourself to a main meal of lemon pepper chicken can be delicious, but wouldn’t you want to make your stomach dance instead of the odd grumble of satisfaction. These tasty side dishes for lemon pepper chicken are just some examples of recipes you could use, in no way are they the only choices available, cooking is an art it’s all about how much you’re willing to get your hands dirty.

FAQs