Creamy Lemon Chicken

  • 5MINS
  • 35MINS
  • Serves 4
  • 192KCAL

This creamy dish feels so indulgent, you'd never guess it was so low in calories and points. Swapping double cream for low fat cream cheese keeps the fat content low. Tangy lemon juice and spinach keep it fresh.

  • Batch Cook pinchofnom.com
  • Everyday Light pinchofnom.com
  • Freezable pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy Creamy Lemon Chicken pinchofnom.com
4

NutritionPer Serving

  • Calories192
  • Carbs2.3g
  • Fat2.9g
  • Saturates0.9g
  • Protein39g
  • Sugars1.9g

Creamy Lemon Chicken - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card at the end of this post. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff to know in the blurb!

If you’re craving something creamy, rich and ready on the table within 40 minutes then this Creamy Lemon Chicken recipe is just what you’re looking for!

Instead of high calorie double cream, we’ve used low fat cream cheese. You get the same delicious indulgent flavour, without compromising on calories and points. The spinach adds some extra nutrients and a bit more texture and colour; as a bonus it also looks great on your plate!

This Creamy Lemon Chicken recipe is also really versatile, so you can pick your favourite sides or look at our inspiration below.

What diets is this Creamy Lemon Chicken suitable for?

This Creamy Lemon Chicken can be made gluten free as long as you swap out the following ingredients for gluten free versions;

  • Stock cube

Please make sure to double or triple check all of your ingredients if you’re cooking for people with allergies.

Do you need any special ingredients to make Creamy Lemon Chicken?

Nope! This recipe contains common ingredients you may already have in the fridge, or can be found at any supermarket!

Hints & Tips

Below we added some of our communities most common hints and tips. We hope you find them useful.

Delicious Creamy Lemon Chicken
Really delicious dish and I doubled the amount of stock & cream cheese for more sauce as it wasn’t enough for us. Also added garden peas as well as spinach for a little extra veg.
Easy and tasty
I cut the chicken into strips which made it even quicker to make. I added some mixed herbs and served with mash and vegetables. Really tasty.
1
Delicious 😋
Love this recipe, I diced the chicken breasts up with our's as I prefer it like that and I feel like I have more on my plate, we had this with veg and the chipotle hasselback potatoes from the website, it was delicious 😋
Very tasty!
Such an easy recipe to follow, definitely will make again.
1
Replaced chicken with salmon
Did the creamy lemon sauce, but used salmon instead of chicken, it was delicious
1
Preferences
I switch out the spinach for green beans and also to make this a quick dish I use the leftover chicken from the Sunday roast.
Another household favourite!
Very tasty, easy to make dish. I used mini chicken fillets for this, and it was amazing! I added in a little thyme, oregano and garlic, along with the black pepper. Served with pasta but would go well with potatoes or lots of veggies
This was delicious and so easy to make!
I might consider using mini chicken fillets next time as they would cook quicker.
Cream cheese
I used dairylea light triangles as part of slimming world healthy extra
Delicious and simple
I followed the recipe exactly, although I was worried it might be too strong of lemon, it was perfect. I had it it with paprika sweet potato cubes and Parmesan and garlic courgette sliced, the flavours all went great together.
Sneaky veg!
I have a family that don’t like eating veg! So it is a great way to get them to eat spinach and get all the goodness from an iron rich veg!
Half the amount
If like me your not a fan of lemons use half the lemon juice still has a slight zest but not overly lemony

We love hearing from you, submit any tips or tricks you have for this dish and we’ll review them and add some of them here. Just click here.

SEND US a HINT & TIP, Or QUOTE for this recipe

THANKS
we have your picture

The process

  • Check Now we have your Hint & tip
    we’ll check them over.
  • Review We’ll review your Hint & Tip, and see if its suitable to use on the website.

Your details

  • Name: %name%
  • Recipe: %recipeName%

YOUR HINTS & TIPS

Your “QUOTE”

SWAG!

Due to the large number of submissions we recieve we’re afraid we’ll only inform you if we use it on the Recipe page - then we’ll send you some swag…

(Please remember others may of had the same idea as you!)

Close

‘Really easy dish to prepare and cook in a short time so good for those busy days. We all loved this dish, very tasty one of our favourites so far from PON’

Sally123

How many calories are in this Creamy Lemon Chicken recipe?

There are 192 calories per serving in this Creamy Lemon Chicken recipe, which means it falls into our Everyday Light category.

This Creamy Lemon Chicken is perfect if you’re following a calorie controlled diet and fits well with any one of the major diet plans such as Weight Watchers.

As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. Obviously, if your goal is to lose weight then you might want to adjust these slightly! You can read more about these recommendations on the NHS website.

Step 1

Spray the frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat.

Step 2

When the pan is hot, place the chicken breasts in and cook for 2 minutes each side to seal and colour. Remove to a plate and place to one side.

Step 2 pinchofnom.com

Step 3

Give the pan another spray with low calorie cooking spray then add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes until soft.

Step 4

Add the stock cube to the boiling water and pour into the pan along with the lemon juice and bring to a simmer.

Step 4 pinchofnom.com

Step 5

Stir in the low fat cream cheese, then return the chicken to the pan.

Step 5 pinchofnom.com

Step 6

Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the chicken is cooked through.

Step 7

The sauce should have reduced and thickened slightly, but if it is too runny, turn up the heat and allow to bubble until you reach the consistency of single cream.

Step 7 pinchofnom.com

Step 8

Stir in the spinach and cook for a couple more minutes until it has wilted.

Step 9

Season with a little freshly ground black pepper and serve with your choice of accompaniment.

Creamy Lemon Chicken - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

What could I serve with these Creamy Lemon Chicken?

This recipe is really versatile. We like serving it with lots of fluffy rice or a large portion of steamed vegetables. You could even try over pasta! If you’re looking for ideas, these sides would go well with this dish too:

Rustic Potato Wedges pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy
  • 45MINS
  • 164KCal
Chipotle Hasselback Potatoes pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy
  • 50MINS
  • 161KCal
Marmite Sprouts pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy
  • 30MINS
  • 62KCal
Garlic Green Beans pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy
  • 5MINS
  • 39KCal

How do you know when these Creamy Lemon Chicken are cooked?

 The sauce should be the consistency of single cream and the chicken should be cooked through. This will take around 35 minutes.

Standard advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep your family safe.

How long can you keep Creamy Lemon Chicken in the fridge?

Lemon Chicken, ideally you should eat it within 4 hours.

If you allow any leftovers to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill.  You can keep leftover Creamy Lemon Chicken in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so.

Can I freeze these Creamy Lemon Chicken?

Yes you can! This recipe can be frozen, but please remember to do the following;

  • Freeze it as soon as it is cold enough.
  • Use a container or bag that is suitable for freezing.

Don’t forget to add a label with what it is, and on what date you put it in the freezer!

How do I reheat Creamy Lemon Chicken?

Creamy Lemon Chicken is best reheated from chilled.

From chilled: cover the chicken and pop in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Remove, stir, and cook for another 2-3 minutes until piping hot.

From frozen: defrost thoroughly in the fridge and follow the instructions as above.

ORDER Our NEW cookbook Air Fryer NOW

Creamy Lemon Chicken

This creamy dish feels so indulgent, you'd never guess it was so low in calories and points. Swapping double cream for low fat cream cheese keeps the fat content low. Tangy lemon juice and spinach keep it fresh.
  • Prep Time
    5 MINS
  • Cook Time
    35 MINS
  • KCals 192
  • Carbs 2.3G

Ingredients

  • 4 medium chicken breasts approx 150g each
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • 300 ml boiling water
  • ½ lemon juice only
  • 75 g low fat cream cheese
  • 50 g spinach
  • black pepper
  • low calorie cooking spray

We use a fan assisted oven for all of our recipes. Check out our oven temperature conversion guide.

Please do not screenshot this. Recipes are updated often

Instructions

  1. Spray the frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat.
  2. When the pan is hot, place the chicken breasts in and cook for 2 minutes each side to seal and colour. Remove to a plate and place to one side.
  3. Give the pan another spray with low calorie cooking spray then add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes until soft.
  4. Add the stock cube to the boiling water and pour into the pan along with the lemon juice and bring to a simmer.
  5. Stir in the low fat cream cheese, then return the chicken to the pan.
  6. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the chicken is cooked through.
  7. The sauce should have reduced and thickened slightly, but if it is too runny turn up the heat and allow to bubble until you reach the consistency of single cream.
  8. Stir in the spinach and cook for a couple more minutes until it has wilted.
  9. Season with a little freshly ground black pepper and serve with your choice of accompaniment.

Looking for Slimming World Syns or Weight Watchers (WW) Points?

With ever-changing plans and point calculations, we have made the decision to remove WW Points from the website - referring to your individual plan or advice from your consultant is always going to give the most accurate results.



We agreed with Slimming World to remove their trademarked terms from our website

Find out why here

Recipe notes

A versatile dish, this can be served any way you like. It goes great with potatoes, rice or even pasta!

Love this Creamy Lemon Chicken recipe? Tag us!

ORDER Our NEW cookbook Air Fryer NOW

If you like these…try these

Lemon and Garlic Chicken Tray Bake pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy
  • 50MINS
  • 355KCal
Chicken Tartiflette pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy
  • 55MINS
  • 488KCal
Lemon Chicken pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy
  • 25MINS
  • 201KCal
Creamy Garlic Chicken pinchofnom.com
Cookbook Pinch of Nom Cookbook pinchofnom.com
  • 30MINS
  • 260KCal

58 comments

See what others have to say

Helen ThirnleyFriday 22nd March 2024

I absolutely love this dish! It looks and tastes so indulgent but is perfect for weight loss programmes. I used sliced leek tonight instead of spinach and veg stock as didn’t have chicken and it was still delicious. Served with plenty of fresh vegetables and roasted butternut squash it was a restaurant worthy meal!

Reply

    HollyMonday 25th March 2024

    Hey Helen, thanks so much for your tips so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe!

    Reply

EmmaWednesday 26th July 2023

Could I use frozen spinach?

Reply

    SharonThursday 19th October 2023

    Hi Emma, yes, you could use frozen spinach in our Creamy Lemon Chicken. Defrost it thoroughly and squeeze out the excess liquid before adding it to the recipe. Enjoy the recipe.

    Reply

Janet KingMonday 20th February 2023

This has to be the best recipe! Such an elegant dish for every day or a special occasion. Love it.

Reply

    SharonThursday 23rd February 2023

    Hi Janet, thanks for your lovely comment! We’re so pleased to hear you love our Creamy Lemon Chicken.

    Reply

Join the conversation

Comment or ask our advice
4.15 from 788 votes (788 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply

Our newsletter

Get the latest pinch