Meyer Lemon Rosemary Chicken – Easy One-Pan Stovetop Recipe
This Meyer Lemon Rosemary Chicken is the simplest and heartiest, zestiest and most aromatic way to cook chicken on the stove. We’ve always got rosemary and lemon growing in the garden, so this is our #1 go-to quick and yummy chicken dinner dish to make on those evenings when cooking feels like a drag but we’ve still got a lot of mouths to feed.
Rosemary and Chicken — oof — that’s a dynamic duo that’s hard to beat. But then add some lemon and butter? Get out of here. This chicken is going to be so good, breathing in the aromatics will be almost as good as eating it. This Meyer Lemon Rosemary Chicken is such a hit at our dinner table that it’s also known as my tot’s “favorite chicken”. That’s right. Yes, it’s a Proud Mama Badge I wear with pride.
A savory meyer lemon dish? Yup, not all meyer fates need end up in desserts. Meyer lemons are fragrant and juicy, and they’re not as sour as other lemons, like the genoa or eureka, making them a great addition to creating a most flavorful brothy sauce to chicken.
Adding a few sprigs of rosemary will completely infuse the sauce and the chicken. It’s a dynamic duo not to be messed with.
6 Ingredients. Simple. Aromatic.
Here are the basic ingredients – just 6 (excluding salt and pepper, of course).
- Fresh Rosemary, 2-3 sprigs
- Meyer Lemon – 1 big ass meyer lemon or 2 so-so sized lemons. Fine with regular lemons (i.e., Eureka lemons), but best with Meyer Lemons, as they are the juiciest with less zing.
- Butter, 2 tbsp
- Onion – half, sliced. Any onion will do
- Cooking Wine – white or rice, 1/3 cup
- Chicken Thighs – 3-4, bone-in and skin-on
Rosemary & Meyer Lemon Chicken
Kitchen Notes
- Lemons – If you don’t have meyers, regular lemons, like the eurekas, will do just fine. Meyer lemons are juicier and less sour, which make for a great sauce base. But if you don’t got them (I didn’t even know what a meyer lemon was until my mid-20s), then use regular lemons.
- Let the skin on those thighs sizzle! – When adding in the chicken thighs, make sure to place skin-side down — and then don’t touch it! Resist the urge to scrape it off and flip it over. This is a critical cooking step to get that beautiful goden brown on that chicken thigh, so let it sizzle.
- Let the rosemary bathe – Leave the rosemary in the whole time to get as much of the aroma as possible. Most recipes will say to take out the rosemary earlier on in the cooking process, but I say, “leave it in!”
Melt, infuse, and sautee
Skin-side down
Golden brown -
keep cooking and squeeze in the lemon
Meyer Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Goes Great With...
The Meyer Lemon Rosemary Chicken is the star, but no meal is complete without some good sides.
Steam some rice, boil some pasta, or bake or mash a potato, and cook up some veggies or a salad to make this a complete and balanced dinner.
- Better yet, combine this with some roasted vegetables. Check out the Roasted Root Vegetables for both veggies and starch in one simple baking sheet. For a vibrant dish with a citrusy zing, try our Roasted Sweet Potato Brussel Sprouts with a Lemon Honey Vinaigrette — this isn’t your ordinary roasted veggies!
- In the mood for soup? Try our Miso Pumpkin for a clean and healthy soup starter, or go bold with the Tom Kha (Lemongrass Coconut), or mix it up with a classic Hot & Sour Soup.
- Want more chicken? If you like chicken and herbs, try our Thyme Lemon Garlic Chicken. It’s just 6 simple ingredients.
Meyer Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Equipment
- 1 saute pan
Ingredients
- 2-3 sprigs Rosemary
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 1 Meyer Lemon Any lemon will do, but meyer lemon is best/juiciest. Big ass juiciest lemons preferred. If no meyers, then use 2 eurekas/other lemons.
- 1/2 Onion Rough chop (purple, onion, or white)
- 1/3 cup Cooking Wine White or rice wine work great. Splash enough to scrape off the bottom flavors of the pan
- 4 Chicken Thighs Bone-in, Skin-on
- 1/2 tsp salt
- pepper just a dash
- oil light drizzle to coat pan
Instructions
- Drizzle in oil, enough to lightly spread across the bottom of pan, and add butter to large saute pan on medium heat
- Add the rough chopped onions, and the rosemary to the pan
- Stir together, allowing butter to melt, onions to cook, and rosemary to bathe in the sauce -- this is where we're creating the base flavor
- When sauce starts sizzling, add the chicken thighs skin-side down, and let cook for 5-7 minutes -- resist the urge to flip them! This is when the skin gets its golden brown.
- Once chicken looks seared with a golden-brown skin, gently flip each thigh over to cook the other side.
- Cook the other side of chicken on medium heat for another 5-7 minutes.
- Splash in the wine (approx. 1/3 cup), leaving chicken in. Use a wooden spoon to go around and under the chicken to scrape off the reduced, thickened sauce and grilled onions from the bottom of the pan (i.e., the good stuff). Let it simmer to allow alcohol to evaporate.
- Squeeze in the meyer lemon
- Add salt and pepper, and gently stir sauce around the chicken to bring together the flavors. Baste the chicken with a spoon, by scooping up the sauce and lacing over the chicken.
- Place lid on, base a few times in between, and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until inside is no longer pink.
- Plate the chicken, and pour and scrape the sauce out of the pan right over the chicken.
Enjoy! Wabi Sabi!
Let me know what you think!
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this recipe. Let me know by leaving a comment!
To Share
Cooking feeds the soul, not just the stomach.
Imperfectly Wabi Sabi recipes are focused on creating simple, cozy comfort foods by blending family tradition, creative ways to “use what we got” – food scraps, left-overs, and all – and by using what’s in season from our very own regenerative Garden.
There’s no wasting around here. Only garden-to-table and family tradition wrapped tastefully together. Happy Wabi Sabi eats.
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EAARL
Wow! My go to recipe! Love the complex tastes and textures of this dish! 10 out of 10! This girl knows how to put together a dish!