Lemon & Garlic Chicken Thighs with Sour Cream
Lemon and Garlic Chicken Thighs with Sour Cream are a deliciously simple, yet incredibly quick and easy recipe to make any night of the week.
Lemon and Garlic Chicken Thighs are a quick and simple meal prep chicken recipe idea you can make any night of the week.
What you need to make Lemon & Garlic Chicken Thighs:
- Chicken Thighs – doesn’t matter if they’ve got the bones and skin on, or not.
- Lemon zest + the juice
- Garlic cloves
- Fresh herbs — I’m using dill today
- Sour cream
Kitchen Equipment you’ll need:
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- Shallow Plate to marinate in
- Microplane
- Cast iron skillet
- Tongs
To start, you’ll grate garlic and lemon zest over a plate
I added some fresh dill, because I had it, and it was starting to dry out.
You could definitely use other fresh herbs!
Other Herbs to use in this recipe:
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Basil
Next, we’ll add some olive oil to the plate.
This is my favorite brands of olive oil — if you can find them in your stores or order them online:
Mix all this around with a fork, and add your chicken thighs.
Smoosh your chicken thighs all around, give them a good flip and a flop.
We’ll add a quarter cup of our sour cream dressing/dip after we’ve made it, so just set the chicken to the side.
Now, we’ll work on the sour cream business
In a small bowl, grate another clove of garlic and lemon zest.
Add in fresh dill, or whichever herb you are using.
Over a fine-mesh strainer, squeeze a whole lemon into the bowl.
Plop some sour cream into the bowl and get mixing!
Store this in an air-tight container in the fridge and use for dipping your cooked chicken in, a salad dressing, or a dip for raw veggies.
Using a quarter cup of the sour cream business, smoosh it all over the chicken thighs that you set to the side.
Marinate the chicken for an hour or up to 24 hours.
Does sour cream tenderize chicken?
The slightly acidic nature of sour cream tenderizes the chicken and allows other seasonings to really hold on to the meat.
The next step is to grill or sear your lemon and garlic chicken.
Using a cast-iron skillet on the stovetop, I seared my chicken thighs on both sides, then let them cook the oven until moist and juicy inside, and a 165˚.
Tips for Cooking Chicken Thighs:
- Unroll chicken thighs — this not only helps in the browning and crisping up, but you’ll get a quicker cook time.
- Before you season the chicken, pat it dry with a paper towel.
- If you got to flip your chicken and it sticks, just let it cook more on that first side.
- Until the proteins are ready they won’t release from the pan
Variations:
- Try using chicken breasts
- Pork Chops
- Shrimp – this marinade recipe is great on shrimp, and it only needs about 10 minutes of marinating!
If you are serving this chicken as a main dish, here a few recipes that pair well:
Low Carb Side Dish Ideas
- Chili Onion Crunch Roasted Cauliflower
- Bacon-Wrapped Green Bean Bundles
- Parmesan Zucchini
- Keto Spinach Pie
Family Favorite Side Dish Ideas:
Lemon and garlic chicken thighs with sour cream are a fantastic meal prep chicken recipe to make on the weekend.
Top salads, add to pasta, pair with sides dishes and you’ve got a meal starter ready in no time.
Save this to your favorite chicken or meal prep board on Pinterest!
Lemon & Garlic Chicken Thighs with Sour Cream
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: chicken recipes
- Method: meal prep
- Cuisine: american
Description
Lemon and Garlic Chicken Thighs with Sour Cream are a deliciously simple, yet incredibly quick and easy recipe to make any night of the week.
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade:
- 1 garlic clove, grated/minced
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp fresh herb (such as dill, thyme, oregano, rosemary, etc)
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 6–8 chicken thighs (boneless, skinless preferred)
- 1/4 cup sour cream dip (recipe below)
Sour Cream Dip
- 1 garlic clove, grated/minced
- 1 lemon, seated & juiced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp fresh herb
- 8 ounces sour cream
Instructions
- In a bowl, add garlic, lemon zest, salt, pepper, herb, and oil and mix around.
- Smoosh chicken thighs around to coat in the oil mixture – set aside while you make the sour cream dip.
- In a bowl, combine garlic, lemon zest + juice, salt, pepper, herb, and sour cream.
- Stir to combine really well.
- Reserve a quarter cup of the dip, and add to the chicken thighs that were set aside.
- Store the remaining dip in an air-tight container, in the fridge for up to a week. Use on salads, fresh veggies, and as a dip for protein.
- The chicken can marinade for an hour or up to 24 hours.
- When you’re ready to cook the chicken either grill or pan sear over medium high heat.
- Cooking 5+ minutes per side until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165˚.
Notes
Store the remaining dip in an air-tight container, in the fridge for up to a week. Use on salads, fresh veggies, and as a dip for protein.
Keywords: lemon and garlic chicken thighs with sour cream
This sounds super easy and delicious – I’ve pinned for later!
Lemon and garlic are my two favorite flavors, will be making this chicken very soon!
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Woo hoo! Hope you like it!
The lemon, garlic, and the herbs are all working together creating a delicious chicken dish. This is instantly going into our family recipe folder. 🙂
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Oh yay! Love hearing that!
This looks delicious, I’m saving the recipe for later. Thank you for sharing!!
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Enjoy!!
What a delicious way to make chicken! Love the lemon garlic flavors and it pairs great with rice and veggies.
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Oh definitely! And all of those items make a killer salad the next day with the sour cream dip! 😉
Sour cream? Who knew. This sounds wonderful and looks delicious. I like that you can use it as a dip too.
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Right?! Use what you have! 😉