Lemon & Asparagus Chicken Skillet
This lemon & asparagus chicken skillet is a simple one-pan meal to make on a weeknight or for meal prep. It’s Whole30, Paleo, AIP, and gluten-free.
Sometimes you just need an easy one pan meal! I love cooking skillet meals on busy weeknights or for simple meal prep. It helps keep dishes at a minimum and can reduce overall cooking time. I never really took advantage of one pan meals until I started blogging, and now I can’t get enough of them. There are so many possibilities for what you can make in one pan, and this lemon & asparagus chicken skillet is a light, fresh and flavorful option.
This one-pan meal comes together in under 45 minutes and uses seasonal ingredients like asparagus, and easy to find protein like chicken breast. It features lemon juice to give it a kick of acid, and just a bit of coconut aminos to give a bit more umami.
Plus, this meal is allergen friendly and is made without any of the common allergens. It’s paleo, whole30, and AIP compliant, and great for sharing with family or friends who have gluten, dairy, or soy allergies.
How to Make the Lemon & Asparagus Chicken Skillet Recipe
- Cook the chicken: Add the chicken to the skillet and lightly season with salt and pepper. Cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 F.
- Cook & prepare the asparagus: Prepare the asparagus by chopping off the thick white base and then slice in half again. Add more oil to the pan if needed and saute the asparagus with more salt and pepper for about 5-7 minutes or until softened and lightly crisp. Set aside.
- Combine the chicken & asparagus and make the sauce: Add the broth, lemon juice, coconut aminos, and arrowroot starch to the pan and stir for about 2-3 minutes or until the sauce lightly thickens. Add the chicken and asparagus back to the pan and cook for another 2 minutes to reheat.
The Ingredients You’ll Need for the Lemon & Asparagus Chicken Skillet
Chicken breast
Either chicken breast or thigh will work for this recipe, but I like using chicken breast! Simply cube it up and you’re good to go. This helps it cook a bit faster, and make the meal easier to eat on the go.
Asparagus
Asparagus is really simple to prep and store. What I like to do to store it is to place the bottom of the spears in a mug or glass cup and fill it with about half an inch of water. This helps keep the asparagus fresh and crisp! I’ve had success with keeping it like this for 3-4 days. From there, you want to cut off about an inch of the thicker base of the spears. With this recipe, you’ll cut them in half, but you could easily roast them whole in other recipes like this.
Garlic, green onion, salt, and pepper
You can leave out the pepper if you’re AIP, but these flavors help round out the dish.
Lemon juice
The flavor of lemon and asparagus pair really well together, and I love how it tastes in this dish. It’s light while still adding a kick with the acid. Fresh lemon juice works best, but refrigerated will work as well.
Chicken broth, coconut aminos, and arrowroot starch
These make a light sauce to add more flavor to the dish and keep it from being dry. The coconut aminos is a soy sauce substitute, and the arrowroot starch works to help thicken the sauce.
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PrintLemon & Asparagus Chicken Skillet
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 3 servings 1x
- Category: one pan meals
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: Global
Description
This lemon & asparagus chicken skillet is a simple one-pan meal to make on a weeknight or for meal prep. It’s Whole30, Paleo, AIP, and gluten-free.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 tsp sea salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp pepper, divided (omit for AIP)
- 1 lb chicken breast, cubed
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup chicken broth
- Juice of one lemon
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 tsp arrowroot starch
- 2 tbsp green onion, chopped
Instructions
- Using a large skillet, heat the avocado oil on medium heat.
- Add the chicken to the skillet and lightly season with salt and pepper. Cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 F. Set aside.
- Prepare the asparagus by chopping off the thick white base, and then slice in half again.
- Add more oil to the pan if needed and saute the asparagus with more salt and pepper for about 5-7 minutes or until softened and lightly crisp. Set aside.
- Reduce the heat slightly and add the minced garlic to the pan. Cook until fragrant.
- Add the broth, lemon juice, coconut aminos, and arrowroot starch to the pan and stir for about 2-3 minutes or until the sauce lightly thickens.
- Add the chicken and asparagus back to the pan and cook for another 2 minutes to reheat.
- Serve topped with green onion and season further to taste.
Notes
All nutrition facts are an estimation and not exact.
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 335
- Fat: 15g
- Carbohydrates: 14g
- Fiber: 1.6g
- Protein: 36.9g
This is a great recipe – but I made a few changes mostly due to what I had on hand. I used Better than Bouillon Chicken Base, as some of the bouillon cubes have MSG in them – and I am highly allergic to MS, amd Better than Bouillon is low sodium. I also used Soy Sauce and potato starch and olive oil as that is what I had on hand. I did add 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning when I saluted the chicken to give it a bit more flavor. And I diced the asparagus. Thanks for posting this recipe
So glad you enjoyed!
Delicious, easy meal. This comes together so fast and easy. This dish is going in our regular rotation. This has the ability to be versatile. I’m thinking maybe use blanched broccoli instead of asparagus.
Hey, I pinned this on my Pinterest. Is that ok?
Sure, that is fine! Thank you for sharing it!
Does this freeze well?
Sure, you can freeze it!
Made this for dinner last night and served with spaghetti squash because I had to use the squash. I love the flavors and so did hubby.
Thank you for all of your very tasty AIP recipes. They all taste great and I don’t feel like I am being deprived of great tasting food.
Great tasting recipe, easy to make. My husband and I always enjoy your recipes.
Thank you!
This was so good! I served this with baked sweet potato. Yuuuummm!
Thank you so much Jess!
Can you use something other that the arrowroot starch?
You can try something like tapioca starch as well.
Made this for dinner and it was DELICIOUS!!! I also added carrots
Thank you so much for this recipe! I will be trying it soon!!! 🙂
Thanks, Elena! Hope you love it!!