Chicken with Lemon, Green Olives, and Capers

Chicken with Lemon, Green Olives, and Capers is such a delicious and impressive dish for a special dinner! Serving the chicken with roasted lemons gives it amazing flavor, and this will especially be a hit with people who also like green olives and capers.

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Chicken with Lemon, Green Olives, and Capers is adapted from a recipe I first saw in The Bon Appetit Cookbook (affiliate link). And this interesting chicken recipe with roasted lemons was a winner from the first time we tried it.

The original recipe had flour, but when we gave this recipe a much-needed a photo update, we skipped the flour to make it a low-carb dinner. And when I tested the no-flour version with Jake and Kara, we all loved this recipe!

What intrigued me most about this lemon chicken recipe was the process of roasting the thinly-sliced lemons. Those tasty lemon are eaten skin and all, possibly inspired by Moroccan preserved lemons. I think everyone who likes chicken with lemon and enjoys green olives and capers will absolutely love this recipe; hope you try it!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• lemons
• boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Poultry Seasoning (affiliate link)
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• pitted green olives
• Capers (affiliate link)
• low sodium chicken broth (affiliate link)
• butter
• chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Don’t want to bother with roasted lemons?

I loved the combination of chicken with roasted lemons and green olives here, with a few capers added into the mix. And anyone who enjoys those Mediterranean ingredients will probably like this tasty chicken dish. And the roasted lemons were a wow for us! But if you don’t want to take time to roast the lemons, I think this chicken would still be good with just capers and green olives, with some sliced lemon to squeeze on at the table.

Why do I recommend low-sodium chicken broth for this recipe?

I always try to use my homemade chicken stock in recipes when I have some in the freezer. But if you’re buying chicken broth for this recipe I’d choose low sodium chicken broth (affiliate link) because both capers and green olives are high in sodium.

How low in carbs is this lemon chicken recipe?

This tasty recipe with chicken, roasted lemons, green olives, and capers has only 4.7 net carbs per serving with 40 grams of protein!

How to make Chicken with Lemon, Green Olives, and Capers:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Preheat oven to 325F/170C.
2. Cut lemons into 12 thin slices; we used a Mandoline Slicer.
3. Spread out parchment paper on baking sheet, brush lemons with olive oil and roast about 25 minutes.
4. While the lemons roast, trim boneless chicken breasts and rub with Poultry Seasoning (affiliate link) and freshly ground black pepper.
5. Heat olive oil in a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat, then cook chicken pieces until they’re nicely browned on both sides.
6. While chicken cooks, slice green olives, measure capers (and rinse if desired), and chop parsley.
7. Slice off 4 tablespoons of butter from a stick of butter to make individual pats of butter.
8. Remove lemons from the oven when slightly dry and barely starting to brown, about 25 minutes.
9. Sprinkle olives and capers over the chicken and add the low-sodium chicken stock or canned chicken broth. (Using low-sodium chicken stock is important because olives and capers are both salty.)
10. Reduce heat to medium-low and let the chicken breasts simmer until the stock is reduced, about 10-15 minutes.
11. When there is just a little stock left in the pan, add a pat of butter on top of each piece of chicken and let it start to melt.
12. Arrange the roasted lemon slices on the chicken pieces and cook just a few minutes more.
13. Serve the chicken hot, sprinkled with chopped parsley if desired.

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

This tasty recipe for chicken with lemon would be delicious with any of these low-carb side dishes:

• Pureed Cauliflower with Garlic, Parmesan, and Goat Cheese
• Roasted Cabbage with Lemon
• Broccoli Gratin
• Twice-Baked Cauliflower
• Cauliflower Roasted with Parmesan

More Chicken Dinners to make on the Stove:

• Chicken Cutlets with Mustard Sauce
• Ginger Chicken Stir Fry
• Chicken with Peanut Sauce

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4.9 Stars (8 Reviews)

Yield: 4 servings

Chicken with Lemon, Green Olives, and Capers

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Chicken with Lemon, Green Olives, and Capers is a dinner that looks fancy, but really this is easy to make!

Ingredients

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• 12 thin lemon slices, cut from 2 lemons
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tsp. poultry seasoning
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 3 T olive oil
• 1/2 cup sliced pitted green olives (see notes)
• 2 T drained capers, rinsed if desired
• 1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth (see notes)
• 4 T butter (see notes)
• chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325F/170C.
2. Wash the outside of the lemons, dry, and cut 2 lemons into 12 thin slices; we used a Mandoline Slicer (affiliate link) with the 3mm blade to get the lemon slices really thin.
3. Spread out parchment paper (affiliate link) on a baking sheet, brush lemon slices lightly with olive oil and roast about 25 minutes.
4. While the lemons roast, trim the boneless chicken breasts to remove fat and any undesirable parts and rub the chicken with poultry seasoning (affiliate link) and a little freshly ground black pepper.
5. Use a cast iron skillet (affiliate link) that's just big enough to hold the chicken in for best results. Heat the olive oil in the skillet over medium-high heat, then add chicken top side down and cook until chicken is nicely browned, about 3-5 minutes.
6. Turn chicken pieces and brown the other side.
7. While the chicken cooks, slice green olives, measure capers (and rinse if desired), and chop the parsley. Slice off 4 tablespoons of butter from a stick of butter.
8. Remove lemons from the oven when they are slightly dry and barely starting to brown, about 25 minutes.
9. Sprinkle olives and capers over the chicken and add the low-sodium chicken stock or canned chicken broth. (Using low-sodium chicken stock is important because olives and capers are both salty.)
10. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the chicken breasts simmer until the stock is reduced to a small amount in the bottom of the skillet, about 10-15 minutes.
11. When there is just a little stock left in the pan, add a pat of butter on top of each piece of chicken and let it start to melt.
12. Arrange the roasted lemon slices on the chicken pieces and cook just few minutes more.
13. Serve the Chicken with Lemon hot, and enjoy!

Notes

The original recipe called for Sicilian olives, but any green olives you like the flavor of will be fine. Use chicken stock or chicken broth, but be sure it's low sodium or the finished dish will be too salty from the olives and capers.

Cut four one-tablespoon slices from a stick of butter.

This recipe was originally from The Bon Appetit Cookbook and it was adapted to be a low-carb recipe by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 462Total Fat 32gSaturated Fat 11gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 19gCholesterol 133mgSodium 751mgCarbohydrates 7.2gFiber 2.5gSugar 1.4gProtein 40g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This stovetop chicken dinner with lemon is a good dish for any low-carb diet, including Keto. Personally I’d eat this for any phase of the original South Beach Diet, although butter isn’t really recommended for South Beach if you’re following the letter of the law.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Chicken Recipes or Skillet Meals to find more dinners like this one! Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for Chicken with Lemons, Green Olives, and Capers was first posted in 2006! I’ve made it many times since then, and the recipe was updated with better photos in 2020. It was last updated with more information in 2026.