Grilled Chinese Lemon Chicken (Homemade Asian Lemon Sauce)

Grilled Chinese Lemon Chicken explodes with juicy flavour, bathed in a light, sweet and sour lemon sauce without the batter. This healthy twist on a classic Chinese dish is perfect for a quick and satisfying dinner or meal prep (make sure you follow my instructions to get the best result.

Lemon chicken was my go-to Chinese takeaway recipe, but the batter always made my tummy a bit funny. So, I decided to make this lemon chicken without flour or batter for a healthier option that I could have as a meal prep. Honestly, I think it's better than the takeaway version and I'll show you how to make it!

I absolutely love lemon and will incorporate it into dishes as much as possible. While it's usually a popular baking flavour, it works ridiculously well in this dish.

The benefit of making this yourself is that you can customise to your liking. If you're less of lemon flavour fan, decrease the amount of lemon in the dish. For example, I add extra lemon zest to the coating of the chicken to increase the tartness of the dish! I've given you tips throughout the post to make sure the lemon sauce is to your liking.

If you're after other Fakeaway recipes, then check out my Best Asian Fakeaway Recipes.

Lemon chicken ingredients

Chicken Breast. I use chicken breast for this recipe. You can always substitute for thigh, tenderloins or other protein options if you want.

Eggs. Eggs help the batter stick to the chicken pieces (although my batter doesn't have breadcrumbs and it's not deep-fried because of the healthy twist to this Asian lemon chicken).

Cornstarch. Helps give the lemon chicken a crispy coating when pan-fried.

Soy sauce. The saltiness in the soy sauce helps to cut through some of the sourness of the lemon and balance the flavours.

Vinegar. I normally use white vinegar because I always have it on hand, but you can use Chinese rice vinegar or Shaoxing wine if you have these in your cupboard. This helps balance the sourness from the lemon while keeping the lemony taste.

Lemon. Lemon juice and zest (don't forget this bit if you're a lemon lover like me) are a must for this recipe!

Ginger. Added to give the lemon chicken an extra zest of flavour.

Chicken stock or broth. This helps give bulk to the lemon sauce recipe. You can use water if you're short on stock, but the flavour won't be as full.

Brown sugar and honey. The sweetness in the brown sugar and honey helps to balance the sourness of the lemon. You can adjust if you prefer a sweeter lemon chicken.

Please check the recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantity. See below for substitutions and variations

How to make lemon chicken

In one bowl, whisk together eggs, soy sauce and vinegar. In another bowl, mix lemon rind with corn starch. I recommend grating the lemon rind with a very fine grater (or a zest grater). If you're not HUGE on the lemon flavour, skip the extra lemon zest.

Slice chicken into 1inch cubes (or however you prefer these to be sliced).

Place chicken pieces into the egg mixture, coat well. Then place them into the cornstarch mixture and turn onto each side so the whole piece is coated.

Heat oil in a large pan and then add the coated chicken pieces. Cook until they're golden brown. This will take approx. 5 minutes depending on the type of stove you have. At this stage, they don't need to be at the safe temperature as the sauce will help continue to cook the inside of the chicken.

While the chicken is cooking, mix together the sauce ingredients (except water and cornstarch) until well combined.

At this stage, you can remove the chicken from the pan and do a quick clean to ensure there's no batter left over (as this will create some small clumps in the lemon sauce).

I'm pretty lazy, so I normally just add the lemon sauce straight into the pan. Allow the sauce to heat up and bubble, then reduce the heat to low. Combine cornstarch and water together and add to the mixture. Stir gently as the lemon sauce thickens and sticks to the chicken.

Serve with your choice of sides. Suggestions under meal prep below.

Substitutions and variations

One of the main complaints you might hear at a Chinese restaurant for lemon chicken is that "It's too sour" or on the opposite end, "It's too sweet". Luckily for homemade lemon chicken, you can adjust this.

If you're finding the lemon sauce too sour when you do a taste test, there's one simple way to decrease the sour taste of your dish. Sugar!

Sugar decreases the sour lemon taste in dishes because it changes the way our taste buds perceive sourness. Sourness is detected by our taste buds through the presence of hydrogen ions. When these ions bind to our taste buds, they send a signal to our brain that we are tasting something sour. Sugar binds to our taste buds in a different way by blocking the hydrogen ions preventing our brains from registering the sour taste.

When we add sugar to a dish that contains lemon juice, the sweetness of the sugar helps to balance out the sourness, making the dish taste less sour overall.

Here are some additional tips for decreasing the sour lemon taste in lemon chicken:

• Use less lemon
• Add other acidic ingredients, such as vinegar or tomatoes to balance out the sourness.
• Add a pinch of baking soda as it helps neutralise the acidity of lemon juice.
• Cook the dish for a longer period of time. This helps to break down the acids in the lemon juice, making the dish taste less sour.

Meal prep and leftovers

Lemon chicken with rice is an easy meal to make for a light and refreshing lunch or dinner. The lemon juice adds a tart and bright flavour to the chicken, while the rice absorbs some of the lemon flavours. You could even be EXTRA FANCY and make my Pineapple Fried Rice with it.

If you want to add vegetables to this easy lemon chicken recipe, you can simply stir fry the vegetables  in a pan with a bit of oil, boil them or roast in the oven. Vegetables will add additional nutrients and fibre to the meal, making it a more balanced option.

For my lemon chicken meal prep recipe, I included some boiled broccoli as I did this at the same time as the rice. Some other vegetables that would work well include: carrots, capsicum or zucchini.

Storing

If you really enjoy the crispiness of the chicken, I would suggest storing the chicken and lemon sauce separately and then putting them together the day you want to eat it.

I don't do this because I don't mind the chicken not remaining crispy. Plus, I normally serve it with rice, and reheating the lemon chicken with the rice allows some of the delicious lemony-ness (not sure that's a word hahah!) seep into the rice.

The lemon chicken will store in the fridge in good airtight containers for up to 4 days.

Reheating

If storing the lemon chicken with rice and vegetables, add a drizzle of water over the entire dish before reheating in the microwave. Microwave on 1 minute increments and gently stir to ensure the whole dish reheats evenly. Do this until reheated thoroughly (approx. 3 minutes).

If storing the chicken and lemon sauce separately, add the sauce to the pan when ready to cook and stir until it begins to bubble. Add the chicken to the sauce and lower the heat. Mix until the chicken is heated through (approx. 10 minutes)

Freezing

If you want to prepare CRISPY lemon chicken to freeze and have at a later date, freeze the chicken and the sauce separately in an airtight container, silicone ziplock or vacuum sealer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating as per above.

Overall, freezing the chicken once it's already coated in the batter can affect how it crisps up upon reheating. I would recommend making smaller batches and enjoying it for leftovers that have been stored in the fridge instead.