Jennifer Garner’s “New Favorite” Chicken Is the Easiest Weeknight Dinner

I’ve long been a fan of Jennifer Garner’s “Pretend Cooking Show,” social media videos, and her Grandma’s epic creamed corn recipe. She’s charming, down-to-earth, relatable, and refreshingly real. She feels like a friend who’s trying to feed her family, which is what most of us are doing every night. So when she called Jeremy Scheck’s Honey Lemon Chicken her “new favorite” and “so flipping good,” I thought I should give it a try.

After making it myself, I now understand why. This dish has everything you want in a weeknight dinner—bright, balanced flavors, made with simple pantry ingredients and refrigerator staples, and a relatively easy cooking method.

How To Make Jennifer Garner’s Favorite Honey Lemon Chicken

I start by preheating my oven to 375°F and getting my mise en place ready. Then I cut the chicken breasts into cutlets or tenderloin-sized pieces. I season both the flour and the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and a pinch of oregano. I’m a proponent of the “season as you go” approach to cooking, and the layered seasoning in this dish helps to build a savory base that better balances the sweet-tart sauce later.

Lightly dredge each piece of chicken in the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess, then pan-fry it on both sides until golden brown. I typically reserve any recipes that involve coating or breading for weekend dishes. But because this is just one step (seasoned flour), it’s fast and easy. And to make the cleanup even easier, it could also be done in a zip-top bag.

Since I’m trying to build color and flavor in this step, I don’t cook the chicken all the way through. To build on that flavor, I add a tablespoon of butter to the pan as the chicken browns. Then I transfer the chicken to an oven-safe dish. (Next time I make this, I’ll use an oven-safe skillet to save on dishes.)

Back in the pan, I add a final tablespoon of butter, half a cup of chicken broth, and a bit of honey, then let everything simmer for a few minutes. To finish the sauce, I stir in some fresh lemon juice and pour it all over the chicken. I like to arrange a few slices of lemon on top (without the seeds—they can make the sauce bitter) and, if I’m in the mood for a bit of heat, I add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes too.

I transfer the chicken to the oven to finish cooking and let the sauce thicken slightly. The original recipe calls for 25 to 30 minutes in the oven, but 10 to 15 minutes is plenty for the smaller pieces. If it needs more time, the lemon slices soften and caramelize a bit, which I don’t mind at all.

Lastly, I finish the dish with a handful of freshly chopped parsley and serve it right away. I only had cilantro, but it also went well with the jasmine rice and roasted snap peas I served it with.  

What I Learned Making Jennifer Garner’s Go-To Honey Lemon Chicken

• Browning the chicken first, then finishing it in the oven so it can soak up the honey-lemon sauce, helps lock in moisture and makes the meat juicy and tender—even if I slightly overcook it (which I did with those smaller pieces).
• Caramelized lemon slices can be so good. I left some leftovers on the “keep warm” setting in my oven until my husband got home, and they softened even more and picked up a lovely sweetness.
• Though I’ve only made it once so far, it would be great made with chicken thighs, pork, or even tofu. I can also see myself doing it entirely on the stovetop, as a sweet-tart chicken picatta-esque recipe.  
• The recipe uses ingredients I almost always have on hand—like flour, butter, stock, honey, lemons, and basic spices—so I can almost always make it without a special grocery run. And because it’s largely a one-skillet dish with a quick transfer to the oven, the cleanup is minimal. 

Thanks to Jennifer Garner’s recommendation, I’ll also be adding it to my rotation.