Chicken with Lemon, Green Olives, and Capers

Chicken with Lemon, Green Olives, and Capers is a fancy low-carb dish for a special dinner but easy enough for a week-night meal! And this dish of chicken with lemon and olives is great any time of year!

PIN Chicken with Lemon, Green Olives, and Capers to try it later!

This recipe for Chicken with Lemon, Green Olives, and Capers is one that I discovered in The Bon Appetit Cookbook and shared my version of it on my nearly-new food blog way back in 2006!

The original recipe had flour, but when we realized this recipe was overdue for a photo update, we also decided to try it without the flour to make it into a low-carb dinner. And when I tested the no-flour version with Jake and Kara, we all loved this dish! What intrigued me most about this recipe was the process of roasting the thinly-sliced lemons, which are eaten skin and all, probably a standby for Moroccan preserved lemons.

I think everyone who likes chicken with lemon and enjoys green olives and capers will love this recipe; hope you will 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.)

• 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 (see notes)
• butter (see notes)
• chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Want an easier version this tasty chicken dish?

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. But if you didn’t want to take time to roast the lemons, I think this chicken dish would also very good good with just the capers and green olives.

How low in carbs is the chicken with lemon and olives?

This tasty chicken dinner with chicken, roasted lemons, green olives, and capers has less than 5 net carbs per serving!

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 (affiliate link) (and rinse if desired), and chop parsley.
7. Slice off 4 tablespoons of butter from a stick 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 hot, sprinkled with chopped parsley if desired.

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

This tasty chicken with lemon would be delicious with Pureed Cauliflower with Garlic, Parmesan, and Goat Cheese, Stir-Fried Radish Greens and Swiss Chard, or Twice-Baked Cauliflower for a low-carb meal!

More Low-Carb Chicken Dinners:

• Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake
• Low-Carb Baked Chicken Stuffed with Pesto and Cheese
• Marinated Air Fryer Chicken Thighs

Continue to Content

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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

• 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. Serve hot.

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's been 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.

Did you make this recipe?

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This chicken 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 it strictly.

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 Chicken with Lemons, Green Olives, and Capers was first posted in 2006! I’ve made it many times since then, and the recipe was last updated in 2024.

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