What’s a recipe for Lemon Garlic Chicken doing on a Grain-Free food blog?
Simple: seasonings. One of the most common sources of hidden grains is in seasonings even in spice blends!
Liven up your menu with lemon, garlic, parsley, thyme, and olive oil! All without grains, gluten, dairy, egg, soy, corn, almond, cashew, peanut, sesame, or yeast!
Ready in less than an hour this Lemon Garlic Chicken is loaded with flavor and nutrients!
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Welcome To Break A Recipe
Thank you so much for stopping by! My name is Nina, and this is my little corner of the internet where I share recipes free of grain, gluten, dairy, egg, soy, corn, peanut and almond.
If this is your first time visiting the blog, thank you so much for coming by to check out this recipe for Lemon Garlic Chicken. If you are a returning reader, Facebook group member, patron, or newsletter subscriber, thank you for reading, following, commenting and for all the feedback you give me each week!
Life is better with foodie friends, and I’m glad to call you mine.
Today we’re going to talk about infusing our food with flavor without using common allergens. How many times have you picked up a seasoning blend to see it includes starch or spices? That term, “spices” seems to be code for ingredients that will magically transform my whole body into a hive! Glamorous right?
So let’s skip the hives, and go straight to the flavor!!
We’re going to make a delicious Lemon Garlic Chicken without Gluten, Grain, Dairy, Egg, Soy, Corn, Peanut, Sesame, Almond, or Cashew!
How can we do this, we’ll be using our secret ingredient, Unicorn Farts, of course! Okay, maybe not.
We’re going to use simple delicious ingredients to infuse flavor into our recipe!
As the name of my blog implies, I break things in the kitchen. I would love it if you would come behind the scenes with me every week and let me tell you more about it in my newsletter. This recipe was actually released to my subscribers a month early! (Snickerdoodles are coming soon!)
You can subscribe on the right hand side on a desktop, after the recipe in the blog post, or after the blogpost on a mobile device. I’m a food nerd and I love having foodie friends!
Now Let’s Get Back To Breaking A Recipe For Lemon Garlic Chicken!
How are we going to make sure our recipe is free of the top 8 allergens? We are going to use fresh lemon, parsley, thyme, garlic, salt and organic olive oil.
Have you ever cooked with lemon zest? If you have you are a pro chef! If you haven’t, you are in for a real treat! It adds such bold lemon flavor to any food. Please make sure you use a zester. This special tool will only get the zest–yellow part of the lemon rind. If you have ever made the mistake of using the pith, the white part of the lemon rind, you will know it. A little bit can really spoil your recipe!
One of the most frequent ingredients people ask about is salt. Lots of people ask if they can limit the salt—please try not to. Let me explain.
We are going to use chicken breast or tenderloin in our recipe. I’ve made the recipe with both. It looks more appealing when made with breast, but I prefer the flavor of the tenderloin because it seems to be richer than the chicken breast.
Why Do We Use Salt When We Marinate Our Chicken?
Regardless of the cut of chicken you choose, the meat will have no salt in it. By using salt in our marinade we are accelerating the marinating process! We are quickly infusing the flavor of fresh lemon and garlic into our chicken in only 20 minutes. This would take much longer without salt!
Remember learning about osmosis back in science class? That’s when a high concentration of an ingredient will attempt to “equal out” or evenly distribute itself. By adding salt to the marinade, we are using osmosis to quickly transfer the salted marinade into the chicken. 20 minutes and boom, we’re good to go.
If you were to purchase a marinade, it would have a lot more than 1 teaspoon of salt that’s for sure! You’d be getting allergens and additives. You’ll end up with 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt in each serving of chicken. That’s not much at all.
I’ve noticed that by properly salting food in the kitchen and keeping the salt shaker off the table we actually consume less salt overall.
Are you ready to Break a Recipe? Let’s Go Shopping!
Ingredients
- Chicken Breasts or Tenderloins
- Fresh Lemons
- Fresh Parsley
- Fresh Thyme
- Fresh Garlic
- Salt
- Olive Oil
Equipment
- Grill
- Grill Tray
- Grilling Gloves
- Grill Utensils-Tongs, Fork, Spatula
- Shallow Baking Dish
- Basting Brush
- Garlic Press
- Lemon Zester
- Kitchen Sheers
- Lemon Juicer
- Chef’s Knife
- Cutting Board
These ingredients and equipment are what I use in my own kitchen. As an amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you purchase anything through an affiliate link, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for helping to “keep the lights on,” here at Break A Recipe.
Enough With the Words, Let’s Break A Recipe!
Lemon Garlic Chicken
Equipment
- Grill Tray
- Grilling Utensils
- Grilling Gloves
- 2 quart casserole/ shallow baking dish
- Garlic Press
- Lemon Zester
- Kitchen Sheers
- Small Bowl
- Citrus Juicer
- Basting Brush
- Utility Knife
- Cutting Board
Ingredients
- 3 medium Lemons
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley snipped I buy a bunch and just snip until I have 2 tablespoons
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Thyme
- 3 Cloves Fresh Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 Pounds Chicken Breasts or Tenderloins
Instructions
- Using a lemon zester, remove zest. In a small prep bowl, snip zest with kitchen sheers. (I like to use about 2 Tablespoons of zest.)
- Slice and juice lemons. I don't measure the juice, it all goes in. As long as you have 3 lemons, you'll have plenty. (If you only have two lemons, you should have just enough.)
- Press garlic, and snip herbs using kitchen sheers.
- Using a basting brush, mix juice, zest, garlic, herbs, salt, and olive oil in a shallow baking dish.
- Once marinade is mixed, add chicken to dish. Use basting brush to coat chicken with marinade on both sides. (I like to make sure there are herbs and zest on top of the chicken.)
- Marinate Chicken for 20 minutes. While chicken marinates, heat grill to 400°F.
- Place tray on grill ahead of time so it is the same temperature as grill racks.
- Using tongs, place chicken on hot grill tray. Close lid and cook 10 minutes.
- Turn chicken with tongs. Cook 10 minutes.
- Using Grilling gloves remove tray from grill. Enjoy delicious Lemon Garlic Chicken
Notes
It Really Is That Easy!
Let’s See It Happen
That’s All There Is To It!
Are you intimidated by the grill? I used to be! I had never done it before, and I had no clue how to start. It was using an open flame that got me. That’s why I prefer to use grilling gloves and long tongs to make sure I don’t burn myself.
It’s not that different than most other cooking. Open the cover, turn on the gas, wait for the lines to pressurize. After waiting 30 seconds, stand back safely and use the igniter to light the grill. Close the cover and wait for your grill to reach the desired temperature. And you’re ready to grill! Just follow the recipe above. Remember to turn the gas tank off when you are finished.
Let’s Take a Closer Look At Our Ingredients
Lemon Juice/ Fresh Lemons
I don’t know a single marinade without an acid. In this case we are using lemon juice because vinegar can be inflammatory, especially when it’s made from grain. I like using lemon zest in recipes because it provides the flavor of lemon without the added water found in lemon juice. Using the two together gives our recipe extra “zing.”
When you select your lemons, it’s helpful to know that the more round lemons are more mature and the more oval lemons are less mature! And can you ever really argue with a recipe that combines lemon with garlic and parsley?
Chicken Breasts or Tenderloins–
Chicken is a safe food for many, but plenty of people avoid it for allergies or dietary preferences. If chicken is not your preferred protein use one that is safe for you. I prefer to use chicken tenderloins when making this recipe. They seem to have more flavor than chicken breast.
Fresh Parsley-
This mild herb will combine with the garlic, thyme, lemon, and olive oil to have a savory balanced flavor. Parsley also aids in digestion. Flavor and health, the best combination!
Fresh Thyme—
In addition to its sharp flavor, thyme is packed with antioxidants. Thyme works best when it is cooked for a long time in food. We are using the acid in the lemon juice to break down the thyme and extract the flavor into the marinade so that it can be absorbed by the chicken!
Fresh Garlic—
When we crush garlic, we release allicin, a compound made by combining two chemicals (Alliin and allinaise). This creates the pungent flavor we associate with garlic. If we roast the garlic, it will have mild flavor because allicin would not be created. Isn’t it amazing to know that the technique we use changes our food chemically?
Besides adding flavor to our food, there are many possible health benefits of cooking with garlic: lowering cholesterol; reducing inflammation; decreasing blood pressure; supporting the immune system; keeping away unwanted vampires; to name a few. To learn more about how garlic affects our health, click here.
Salt—
Salt is also an essential nutrient we need in moderation. For many Americans, it is their major source of iodine. If you are going to use a naturally occurring salt, such as sea salt or Himalayan pink salt, you may want to ask your doctor about an iodine supplement. If you are watching your salt intake, an easy way to make sure you don’t consume to much salt is to take the salt shaker off the table, and salt your recipes in the kitchen.
Olive Oil—
Olive oil has such a rich delicious flavor. In a marinade such as this, the flavor of the herbs is extracted into the oil. The flavors in the olive oil then mix with the lemon juice and salt before being absorbed into the chicken.
So that’s all there is to it! We Broke A Recipe for lemon garlic chicken and prepared it without any of the top allergens! We learned a little bit about our ingredients and what makes them good for our health. Every time I research ingredients, I get so excited as I learn how fresh natural ingredients we use for taste also support our health and wellness.
Make it an Allergen-Friendly Meal!
Now that we’ve reviewed our ingredients…how will you serve this delicious Lemon Garlic Chicken? Maybe with some grilled vegetables? Click here for my grilled carrots and zucchini recipe. Or you could serve it over some leafy greens rich in vitamin K, D, & E. I have a creamy garlic dressing that would go perfectly with it. It’s also made with lemon juice! How about serving it with some dairy-free mac’n cheese? Click here for my easy recipe! It’s ready in minutes.
Recipes Are Meant To Be Broken! When you make this chicken be sure to Break The Recipe in away that is safe for you! Sometimes that means omitting some garlic, or substituting an ingredient. If you need help with this please reach out to me at breakarecipe@gmail.com. I’ll do my best to help you with this.
Before You Go…
Thank you for reading, for trying this recipe, and for taking a chance on a recipe made with unique ingredients!
You’ll find it’s easy to make, and your body will feel much better after eating it. You will find your gluten-and grain loving friends going for seconds!
If you’re cooking this for someone with allergies, thank you again for supporting them. You’re an amazing friend. Pin this recipe so you can share it with those who need it, and find it later!
Please tell me how your recipe turned out when you make it. Click here to reach me directly. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest using the links below. I really enjoy your feedback and comments. I can’t wait to hear how your recipe turned out!
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