Healthy Lemon Artichoke Chicken
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This Lemon Artichoke Chicken Recipe is an easy, healthy one pan dinner the whole family will love! Serve it over pasta or rice! This healthy chicken recipe is paleo, and gluten free. Made with simple ingredients like chicken, artichoke hearts, and lemon juice, it’s quick to make and tastes amazing!
This post was originally shared in 2018 but has since been updated.
When you’re looking for a weeknight dinner that feels fancy but is secretly simple and quick to make… this lemon artichoke chicken is for you!
Zesty lemon, artichoke hearts, and juicy chicken come together in a flavorful, dreamy sauce that tastes amazing served over pasta, cauliflower rice, or lemon basil risotto.
I first made this recipe about 8 years ago, after buying *WAY* too many lemons (which also led to Lemon Blueberry Bread, Healthy Honey Mint Lemonade, and Healthy Lemon Basil Vinaigrette… all SO good!) and even though this recipe was a total ‘clean out the fridge’ meal, it has become one of our favorite one pan dinners.
It’s light, fresh, and surprisingly simple to make—done in about 30 minutes from start to finish. It might not be the prettiest dish, but it tastes amazing.
Despite how impressive it tastes (almost restaurant quality), it’s made with just a handful of wholesome ingredients, showing that healthy, home cooked meals don’t have to be complicated.
Liz’s tips for lemon artichoke chicken
- Use Fresh Lemon Juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice provides a brighter flavor compared to the store bought kind, which can be overly acidic.
- Use one pan for easy cleanup: This meal is simple and fuss-free, coming together in just one pan!
- Customize with Add-Ins: Feel free to add ingredients like kalamata olives, capers, or sautéed cherry tomatoes to give the dish a Mediterranean twist (similar to this Mediterranean Chicken Orzo or Lemon Chicken Piccata).
Ingredients
A citrus juicer and citrus zester will also be helpful!
Substitutions for Lemon Chicken with Artichokes
To make paleo/ whole30: If you’re doing a Whole 30 or are strict paleo you could omit the wine from this sauce and it will still taste amazing!
Artichoke Chicken Thighs: You can use chicken tenders or boneless/bone in chicken thighs in this recipe.
Oil: You can use avocado oil, vegetable oil, or even melted butter in place of olive oil
Thyme: You can substitute thyme with oregano or dried basil. Thyme is measured the same if it is fresh or dried.
Lemon Juice: We do not recommend using bottled lemon juice. It can be overly acidic. Instead, opt for fresh! If you want to omit the lemons, we would recommend our Spinach Artichoke Chicken instead.
Wine: If you don’t want to use the wine, skip it. You can also use red wine. Pinot grigio or chardonnay works best.
Artichokes: This recipe does not work with raw, whole artichokes. Only canned artichoke hearts. If you’d like to learn how to cook artichokes – check out this post for Healthy Crockpot Artichokes.
Creamy: I have not tried making a creamy artichoke chicken but I would think you could add some half and half or heavy cream to the sauce and it would be tasty!
Artichoke chicken pasta: I love serving this dish over fettuccine or with rigatoni – it’s delicious as a Lemon Chicken Pasta! This Creamy Lemon Sauce pairs perfectly with it!
How to Make Lemon Artichoke Chicken
Making this Healthy Chicken Artichoke dinner is simple.
- Sear your chicken breasts until they’re browned on each side. While the chicken is cooking, mix together your sauce.
- Add the sauce and let it simmer. Add your artichoke hearts, simmer for a few more minutes, and you’ll be ready to eat!
We love this instant-read thermometer for checking the internal temperature to make sure your meat is cooked thoroughly!
Storage
Storing: This chicken will last in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
Freezing: We don’t recommend freezing this recipe.
Reheating: You can reheat this recipe in the microwave, toaster oven or on the stove.
Chicken and Artichoke FAQ
Yes! Artichokes in a can are already cooked. They’re ready to eat as is and don’t need to be cooked!
No, artichoke hearts are not the same as artichokes. Whole artichokes have leaves, and the artichoke hearts are in the center and are very soft.
How to serve:
This Lemon Chicken With Artichokes goes great with pretty much anything. Here are some of our favorite sides to serve with it!
- Healthy Lemon Risotto
- Orzo Salad with Feta
- Green Beans Almondine
- Garlic Brussels Sprouts
- Spiralized Rosemary Potatoes
- Kale Quinoa Salad
Lemon Chicken with Artichokes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded extremely thin
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cup artichoke heart halves canned or jarred – drained
For the sauce:
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- ¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- ½ tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1/4 cup wine (optional but recommended)
Instructions
- Clean chicken and pound until thin. In a large pan – heat olive oil. Once olive oil is hot- add in chicken. Sprinkle chicken with salt + pepper. Sear chicken on both sides until brown, approximately 5- 6 minutes on each side.
- While the chicken is cooking mix together lemon zest, juice, stock, wine & thyme leaves
- When chicken is cooked Pour the sauce mixture into the pan and allow it to come to a boil. Be sure to scrape the pan to get all the brown bits off.
- After it has cooked for 5 minutes, add artichoke hearts into the pan and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes.
- Serve over caulifloewr rice, or with roasted vegetables
A very fresh, light and delicious recipe. My husband likes artichokes so I made this for him for Valentine’s Day. He loved it!
Do you drain the liquid from the canned/jarred artichokes?
yes, drained.
Counting macros and want to try this recipe. Can you just clarify the serving size? Your nutrition info is with or without the wine?
If you’re strictly counting macros, I’d log this in my fitness pal. Nutrition facts are just an estimate! The serving size is estimated at 10 oz total of chicken & artichoke hearts. It includes all the ingredients listed in the recipe. Hope this helps!
This recipe is delicious and helps use some pantry items😋
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Served this with rice and roasted zucchini. Will definitely be making again!!
Thanks, Lana! Glad you liked it!
This was AMAZING. Thanks for including WW points!
So glad you liked it, Maggie! Thank you!
This was delicious! I added some zucchini, but next time I think I’ll add grape tomatoes too. Definitely adding to the rotation! 🙂
Love those ideas! Thanks, Cara!
tip…add green olives to the the mix, Yum
I also combine lemon juice and broth together, add 2 tsp ornstarh to the sauce, heat then add chicken, and other ingreds. YOU GOT it RIGHT. Thanks. I made this yrs ago and remembered the olives and onion strips while making, it all came back.
That sounds delicious!! Yum!!
One of my favorites. Very easy to make.
Hey Liz this is one of my favorite go to dinners. It’s so easy and tastes delicious. Lemon and artichoke hearts are some of my favorite things to pair with chicken. I make it all the time.
So glad you like it, Auntie!!
The sauce for this recipe is so good I make sure there is extra to put on the veggies and/or rice. Another one the whole family likes. Even my picky eater just takes a piece of chicken out to dip in his ketsup (ew to you maybe) but I love that it’s a recipe everyone enjoys however they eat it.
Thanks so much, Carey! Makes me so happy to hear that your whole family loves it, even if your kiddo is dipping it in ketchup, LOL! As long as they eat it, thats what counts right?!
Is the chicken to be removed before pouring in the sauce to cook in the pan?
Hi Anna – No, I leave the chicken in the pan while it cooks. It helps it to absorb the flavor and keep it moist.
What kind of white wine do you recommend to use?
Any white wine works… I use something cheap or whatever I have that is on it’s way out. Usually pinot grigio!
Love this too! I think I might cut the lemon juice and zest a nibble next time to let the artichokes come through but delish!
So glad you liked it, Lauren!!
This dish was amazing! I made mine with the white wine and I also added in capers! I paired this dish with the Lemon Roasted Broccoli & Sweet potato recipe but eliminated these potatoes and made the crispy rosemary smashed potatoes instead! I have to say the flavors paired so well together! Thank you for another amazing dinner !!
I’m so glad you liked the recipe Missy!! I love the addition of capers – I’m definitely going to try that! 🙂
Absolutely loved this dish! It has amazing flavors and it’s easy to make in a short amount of time. This will be in my future meal plans!
Thank you so much, Casey!! It’s one of my favorites too + I’m so glad you liked it!
Always been a huge fan of artichokes– this was just the recipe I needed! Love!!
I love them too, Vanessa!! They’re great with the lemon + chicken 🙂
This looks so good!! I’ve been trying to incorporate more veggies from my garden… what do you think would work well along with the artichokes?
I would make this Zucchini Tomato Bake to go with it on the side: https://bit.ly/ZucchiniTomato It honestly goes well with any veggies 🙂