Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Pecan Crusted Chicken with Lemon and Thyme

Main Dishes

Pecan Crusted Chicken with Lemon and Thyme

Pecan Crusted Chicken with Lemon and Thyme

I’m on the hunt for new chicken recipes. We’ve been eating more poultry than usual lately due to my hubby’s weightlifting diet. While I haven’t joined him in slurping down protein shakes and chowing down on egg whites every morning, I try to keep things interesting for him at dinner by cooking a variety of chicken recipes. His hard work is definitely paying off – his favorite pair of jeans fell off the other day! I’m really proud of him and especially happy that he is now able to give me a bunch of tips in the gym. I’ve been lifting the same way since college and have always wanted to get a personal trainer to teach me some new moves, but now my hubby is knowledgeable enough to customize my workout for me! He helped me modify my squat technique last weekend and I was sore for 3 days. Every step hurt and for once we were both in need of some high-protein chicken!

This is a great chicken dish because it can be thrown together in less than 10 minutes. I just spread a mixture of lemon juice and mustard over the top of the chicken breasts, and then sprinkled a crispy topping of panko, pecans, lemon zest, and thyme on top. It’s super fast and flavorful.

Pecan Crusted Chicken with Lemon and Thyme
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons mustard
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup panko
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Zest of one lemon, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. Mix lemon juice and mustard in a small dish. Place chicken breasts on a cookie sheet and cover evenly with mustard mixture.

Mix panko, pecans, lemon zest, thyme, and salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over chicken; press down into the mustard mixture. Bake at 350˚F for 20 to 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 404 calories, 14.4g fat, 2.1g fiber, 57.4g protein per serving
Cost: $1.87 per serving

Caprese Bulgur with Chicken Sausage

Apolinaras is like a kid in a candy store at any establishment that sells tools or hardware stuff. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful he’s so handy and likes to do all the maintenance on our cars and tackle home improvement projects. But, the other weekend I was so...

Halloween Pumpkin Quesadillas

I apparently have a bit more Martha in me than I’ve previously appreciated because when I stumbled upon some habanero lime flour tortillas at Trader Joe’s the other night, my eyes got wide with excitement and I squealed, “they’re orange, they have bright orange...

Spinach, Bacon, and Blue Cheese Stuffed Pecan Crusted Chicken Breasts

I’m often asked how I manage to post original recipes so often while working long hours and hitting the gym the majority of the days of the week. Well, what I usually do is work in bursts. I may perfect three or four recipes in one weekend and then take a break. I...

Blackened Chicken Breasts with Gorgonzola Sauce

My recipe for Blackened Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Blue Cheese and Bacon is one of my favorite main dishes on my blog, but pounding out chicken breasts and stuffing them takes more time than I want to put into a meal during the week. So, I recently decided to...

Sesame Chicken with Soba Noodles

I spent the last week at a science conference in Colorado – check out the gorgeous views! While most people ski during the afternoon breaks at Keystone meetings, I decided against pushing my luck with my poor knee that has been acting up again when I jog. I did get to...

Salmon over Coconut Broth with Baby Bok Choy, Snow Peas, and Mushrooms

I have to admit that even though I consider myself a “foodie,” sometimes hearing about the local/organic food debate tires me out. Ideally, we’d all get all our food from farmers in our state who use no pesticides, right? But it’s not really economical for most people...

Plantain Crusted Chicken

Nope, this isn’t a recipe for chicken parm, although that’s what you’d think if you just saw the picture, but it was inspired by this Italian favorite. My hubby loves my chicken parm and loudly proclaims to anyone that will listen that he can never order it in a...

Mediterranean Portobello Mushroom and Eggplant Stacks

Although I make vegetarian meals a couple times a week, it’s usually because I’m feeling too lazy to really cook. I often whip up simple meals like pizza, tofu fried rice, or breakfast for dinner when I’m super busy, but I rarely put extra effort into making really...