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This delicious Creamy Lemon Chicken with Asparagus and Mushrooms is prepared in a skillet and ready in less than 30 minutes. Full of flavor, but also dairy free using coconut milk as the cream base. Serve with rice, pasta, or zoodles for a complete healthy dinner that the whole family will enjoy! Paleo, Whole30, and Keto.
Reasons you will love this Skillet Creamy Lemon Chicken!
Easy, healthy, and delicious dinners are exactly what I love making on a busy weeknight. As a nutritionist who is super busy with kids in various activities, I need to be able to hit all of three of these on any given weeknight. I love tossing mushrooms into meals like this—they’re great at soaking up flavor and bringing that cozy, savory depth. This particular recipe is the perfect springtime recipe in every single way. Here are all the reasons why I love it:
- Loaded with asparagus; my favorite spring time vegetable!
- So decadent delicious with a lemon creamy sauce
- Made without dairy and a much healthier way of enjoying a comfort food recipe!
- One pan meal that comes together in less than 30 minutes
A light and hearty meal full of nutrients!
As mentioned above, this is a creamy dish. But instead of butter and cream, I used coconut milk and coconut oil. Coconut oil and milk are better alternatives to heavy cream and butter. Although they have high saturated fat content, they are much healthier source of fat than most saturated fat because they contain medium-chain triglycerides (also called MCT’s).
I don’t want to get too scienc-y on you, but let me just share with you the difference between MCT saturated fats and other common saturated fats (such as vegetable oils, animal fats, etc.) MCTs are sent directly to your liver and are quickly converted into energy as opposed to being stored as fat. This also creates less stress on the digestive system and does not require special enzymes to break down.
How to make Creamy Lemon Chicken with Asparagus and Mushrooms:
- Start off by heating up some coconut oil in a skillet. Sauté each chicken breast for a few minutes on each side (they will not be cooked through), set aside.
- You may need to add a bit more coconut oil, and add your mushrooms, garlic, and asparagus to the pan. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the asparagus is nice and crispy, and the mushrooms are fragrant and soft.
- Now add the chicken back to the skillet. Place coconut milk, lemon juice, and lemon rind with the chicken. Heat up the pan to medium high heat, cover.
- After the mixture begins to bubble, turn the heat down to medium low. Simmer altogether until the chicken is cooked through (about 5-8 minutes).
Serving and Storing:
Serve immediately with zoodles, rice, or pasta. I loved it with zoodles, while my kids and husband preferred rice. For a simple side, you could pair it with Oven Roasted Potatoes, or keep things light and fresh with an Easy House Salad
Be sure to rate the recipe below and comment if you make it! Also, tag me on Instagram @wholesomelicious with your creations. I love to see them!
Creamy Lemon Chicken with Asparagus and Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 3-4 large chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 8 medium sized asparagus spears, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 8 oz sliced mushrooms
- 3/4 cup coconut milk, the canned stuff, you can use light or full fat
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Begin by heating up a large skillet to medium-medium high heat. Once hot, add 1 tbsp coconut oil.
- Place chicken in pan, heat about 3 minutes per side, and set aside (chicken will not be cooked through).
- Add remaining coconut oil if needed. Toss in crushed garlic, asparagus, and mushrooms.
- Saute until asparagus is crispy, and mushrooms are soft and fragrant (about 10 minutes)
- Return the chicken to the pan. Add in coconut milk, lemon juice, and lemon rind.
- With the skillet on medium high heat, cover. Wait until the mixture bubbles, then lower to medium low. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Salt to taste and serve with rice, pasta, or zoodles.
I’m usually wary of recipes that haven’t been extensively reviewed but I was so intrigued by this one, I had to to try it. This was a hit! 10 year old daughter and very finicky boyfriend loved it. Thank you for sharing!
I’m really in the minority here, I didn’t like this at all. The only thing I changed was sautรฉing in olive oil. But I think it’s the coconut milk that didn’t go well. I use coconut milk a lot for other recipes but this didn’t do it for me. And no one else liked it either but they all said it smelled good!
Sorry you didn’t like it! I think the dish is also delicious without the addition of coconut milk.
My hubby moaned in pleasure through the whole meal… Special note: This can be eaten as a soup. Cut the chicken into chunks and use a whole pound of asparagus and 8 oz of fresh mushrooms (I used Baby Bellas). We had broth leftover, and I’ll have it as part of my lunch tomorrow. Five stars and a standing ovation!
This is great!! So glad you loved it, and yes, makes a perfect soup!!
Do you use the sweetened or unsweetened coconut milk?
Hi Amanda, I use the canned full fat coconut milk which is not sweetened. Don’t use the carton coconut milk; it will turn out watery!
Made this vegan with Quorn Chik’n Cutlets and got a fist bump from my meat eating husband! We love it!
I LOVE this Stephanie! Great idea. I am always trying to veganize things around here; as I also cook for meat lovers ๐ I’m trying it your way next time!
I made this tonight since I’m new to a no-dairy diet thanks to my new baby. It was great. I forgot to buy canned coconut but I did have some “coconut creamer” in the carton already on hand and used that. It was watery but still flavorful. I will make this again but I think I will add red pepper flakes to turn up the heat. Thank you!
You’re welcome Bekky!! You can always use a thickening agent like arrowroot starch to thicken it up next time ๐ Congratulations on your new baby!
I made this last night but with turkey cutlets & used olive oil (could not find my coconut oil) and it was so good. I have some leftover for dinner. Yippie! Will use less coconut milk next time though. Thanks for this receipe, my new go to dinner..quick, easy & delicious!
Awesome Dana! So glad you loved it!
I would love to try this meal, but hubby is allergic to coconut and I have to be dairy free for my daughter’s health. What would you advise substituting for the coconut milk? I will either use earths balance butter as a substitute for the oil, but wasn’t sure what would be best for the milk. I usually cook with almond milk but wouldn’t mind getting cashew if needed. Thanks!
Hi Trish! Almond or cashew would be fine, especially if you have experience using it. It won’t be very thick, so you may want to use a thickening agent such as arrowroot powder. You can use olive oil or ghee in place of coconut oil without any problems. Let me know how it turns out!
OMGoodness! This was amazing! I am so excited to have a clean food dinner recipe that the entire family loves! So stinkin’ good! I have to share this on Facebook. Thank you!!!
Love it!! So glad to hear Tammie, thank you!!!
This recipe was beyond amazing! Been trying to find quick and easy recipes to cook and this one quickly became our favorite! We added a bit of crushed red peppers to add for spice. Thank you for sharing!
Great Dani! So glad you enjoyed it!!
We are doing an ms walk on April 9th and the team is coming back for a celebration.
Could I make this the day before and just heat it up after walk, I really feel I could but wanted to get your thoughts. I’d make jasmine rice the day before and just heat it all up together in a 200 degree oven.
Yes!! I still tastes great the next day! Enjoy your walk!