One Pan Lemon Chicken with Green Beans and Potatoes
This one-pan chicken recipe is a complete meal with tender potatoes and fresh green beans cooked together in one pan on the stove. The chicken, green beans, and potatoes are flavored with lemon and garlic — it’s a light and flavorful dinner.
I’m a pasta-lovin’ gal, but even I – your comfort food bestie – like an easy, light, and fresh veggie-packed dinner more often than you might expect. And today, I’ve got a one-pan recipe for you that checks those boxes. It has veggies, lean chicken breasts, and a barely-there lemon-garlic sauce that packs a lot of flavor.
It’s an easy one, too. If you’re quick at prep work, you’ll get this one-pan chicken and potatoes on the table in about 30 minutes. If you like to take your time, 40 minutes tops. And the one-pan situation makes clean-up easy. It’s a winning recipe, friends.
Ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts: I like to use two (approximately) 8-ounce chicken breasts and cut them in half.
- Seasonings: The chicken is seasoned with paprika, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Potatoes: I like Yukon Gold potatoes because they hold their shape well as they cook. Other waxy potatoes will work – like red potatoes or fingerling potatoes.
- Fresh green beans
- Onion: I like to use red onion, but white or yellow onion is good, too.
- Garlic
- Fresh lemon juice and lemon zest
- Chicken stock
- Fresh thyme
- Olive oil
How to Make It
☑️ Brown the Chicken
Coat the chicken in the seasonings. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the seasoned chicken and brown the pieces on each side.
You don’t need the chicken to cook all through at this point – just lightly brown it. It will finish cooking with the veggies and sauce. Take the chicken out of the pan.
☑️ Add the Vegetables
Add the onion, garlic, and the rest of the salt. Add half of the lemon juice and chicken stock and scrape up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
Add the potatoes, the rest of the chicken stock, lemon juice, and the thyme. Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Place the green beans on the potatoes and then put the chicken back in the pan on the green beans.
☑️ Simmer
Cover the pan and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender.
One Pan Lemon Chicken with Green Beans and Potatoes
You only need one large pan for this recipe. Everything cooks together, and when it’s done, you have tender chicken with veggies and a light lemon-garlic sauce.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: One Pot
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 (8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup lemon juice, divided
- 1 teaspoon zest
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 2 Yukon gold potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
- Leaves from 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 8 ounces fresh green beans, ends trimmed
Instructions
- Slice the chicken breasts in half so you have four approximately equal-sized pieces. Mix the 1/2 teaspoon of salt with the rest of the spices in a small bowl. Season the chicken on both sides with the mixture.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and brown it on both sides for a few minutes. You don’t need to cook it all the way – once the pieces are lightly browned, transfer them to a plate.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, onions, and garlic to the pan. Add half of the lemon juice and chicken stock. As the liquid simmers, scrape up the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Add the rest of the lemon juice, all of the zest, the remaining chicken stock and thyme leaves to the pan. Add the potatoes, bring the liquid to a boil, and then adjust the heat to maintain a simmer.
- Place the green beans on the potatoes, then the chicken breasts on the green beans.
- Cover the pan and simmer the chicken and vegetables for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender and the chicken is cooked.
Notes
This recipe makes a light main dish for four people. I like to add some bread and a salad on the side.
When you cut the potatoes into pieces, they should be approximately the same size. Bite-sized or smaller is best – any bigger than that, and they will take longer to cook.
It’s important to layer the ingredients as instructed so everything cooks evenly and is done at the same time. I like to place the green beans on top of the potatoes so they are steamed until crisp-tender. You don’t need to stir them into the liquid with the potatoes.
The same applies to chicken, although depending on how thick your chicken breasts are, they may need more or less time. The chicken is done once it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. If it’s done before the potatoes, remove it from the pan so it doesn’t overcook.
Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for three to four days.
Nutrition
- Calories: 296
- Sugar: 4.3g
- Sodium: 998.7mg
- Fat: 7.3g
- Saturated Fat: 1.3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4.7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 27.8g
- Fiber: 4.7g
- Protein: 30.3g
- Cholesterol: 84.1mg
The nutrition is an estimate only. It was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.
More Recipes with Chicken Breasts
This is a great recipe when you want some light but satisfying. I hope you try it soon!
Happy cooking,
Made for this for friends and it was so easy and flavorful!
That’s so great! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
iRe: Galic lemon chicken. I browned the chicken and part boiled the potatoes and beans then roasted in the oven. turned out great! Thanks for the recipe
So glad you liked it!
Great recipe just added my touch. It was delicious!
So glad you liked it!