Breaded Garlic Chicken in Lemon Butter Sauce

Score another for Mel at Mel's Kitchen Cafe! This chicken was really yummy! Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. I'm finding that using a meat thermometer to check and see if my meat is done is a way better way to check "doneness" than baking it until it's dry! I did double the sauce for this recipe. I have noted that in the ingredients below. If you don't like a lot of sauce, then you can scale all the sauce ingredients down by half. I wanted to serve this over pasta, which I did, so that's why I definitely wanted to double the sauce. Here's another recipe for baked chicken to put in your arsenal, it was a winner here!

Breaded Garlic Chicken in Lemon Butter Sauce
slightly adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup seasoned flour (1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper)
10 cloves of garlic, finely minced (I may have used a little less, I'm not sure.)
3 eggs
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
9 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoon parsley flakes or 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
4 tablespoons lemon juice, about the juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Place the seasoned flour in a shallow dish or a large gallon-size Ziploc bag. Set aside. In a bowl, beat the eggs until mixed and add the Parmesan cheese. Whisk to combine. Set aside.

In a large skillet (I used my cast iron skillet.), melt one tablespoon butter and one tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Let it begin to heat and sizzle while you prepare the chicken but be careful not to let the butter burn and turn brown.

Dredge the four chicken breasts in the seasoned flour or place all 4 chicken breasts in the Ziploc bag, close the bag, and shake to coat the chicken in the flour. One by one, take the chicken out of the bag or dish and dip into the egg/Parmesan mixture. Place the chicken carefully in the skillet with the hot oil/butter. Repeat with the other chicken breasts. Let the chicken cook on the first side, without moving or flipping the chicken, for 1-2 minutes until a nice, golden crust has formed. Carefully, using a wide spatula, flip the chicken and let it continue to cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side until it is golden brown.

Place browned chicken in a 9x13-inch baking dish or pan. I sprayed my pan with nonstick spray. Set aside and make the sauce.

In the same skillet that you browned the chicken, melt the remaining four tablespoons butter. Add the minced garlic, lemon juice, and parsley. Simmer the sauce for 1-2 minutes, stirring and scraping up any browned bits that were on the bottom of the skillet.

Pour the sauce evenly over the chicken breasts and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. I served this over pasta and poured the sauce on the pasta too, delicious!

This recipe is linked to It's a Keeper Thursday, Tidy Mom
Fat Camp Friday