Foodie Friday Lemon Dill Chicken Cutlets

his recipe for a flavorful chicken dinner can be made with or without dairy if you have someone you are cooking for who has dietary issues.  Many recipes are easy to adjust to eliminate butter as the fat of choice and stock can substitute for dairy or alcohol in creating sauces.

Get our free mobile app

This particular presentation looked to play on the brightness of lemon using fresh (or dried) herbs instead of the more traditional pairing of the bite of cracked black pepper as with lemon-pepper chicken.

As an added bonus, this main dish takes ten minutes or less to put together.

Lemon Dill Chicken Cutlets (individual serving) (Prep, time about 10 minutes)

1-2 skinless, boneless chicken breast per serving, pounded to about 1/4 inch thick

1Tb. vegetable oil

1 Tb. butter (if leaving out dairy, make it 2 Tb. veg. oil)

1/2 C flour for dredging the chicken plus 1 Tb. flour for sauce

1 Tb. minced garlic

1 tsp. minced fresh dill (or dried dill) (reserve a pinch for garnish)

1 tsp, minced fresh oregano (or dried) (reserve a pinch for garnish)

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1 tsp. cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

3 Tb. lemon juice

up to 1/4 C. half & half or chicken stock if leaving out dairy

Have the chicken cutlets at room temperature to make sure you get the meat cooked evenly through.  Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the cutlets.  Mix flour, dill, oregano, salt, pepper and lemon zest on a plate. Coat both sides of chicken with flour mixture.  Heat oil (or oil and butter) in a large saute pan to medium-high heat.  Add garlic.  Shake excess flour from chicken and gently lay in the pan.  Cook for about 2 minutes on one side, turn and spoon oil and garlic over top of the cutlets as the second side cooks.  Saute second side for about 1 minute before squeezing in lemon juice, taking care to keep seeds from falling into the sauce. Spoon lemon oil over the cutlets again. Once second side is browned, remove the chicken to a plate to rest.  Whisk 1 Tb. flour into the oil to thicken and form a roux. Turn heat to low and slowly pour in milk or stock while whisking to make a pan sauce.  You can continue to thin with stock or lemon juice to reach desired thickness for your pan gravy.

Spoon lemon-herb sauce over chicken cutlets and garnish with reserved dill and oregano.  Wild rice or pilaf makes a nice side dish along with a tossed salad.

1 serving for "The Husband" was two cutlets.