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Low-fat Lemon Tarragon Chicken

Chicken thighs cooked with mushrooms, garlic, sherry, tarragon, lemon pepper, thickened with flour and broth, finished with sour cream, served over noodles.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Tarragon and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,137 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Low-fat Lemon Tarragon Chicken

Time10 to 12 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce base

  1. In a 12-inch skillet, melt margarine over medium-high heat.

  2. Add chicken, mushrooms, garlic, sherry, tarragon, and lemon-pepper seasoning.

  3. Cook, uncovered, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink, turning once.

  4. Remove the chicken and mushrooms with a slotted spoon.

Thicken and finish

  1. In a screw-top jar, combine chicken broth and flour; shake until blended.

  2. Add the mixture to the skillet.

  3. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly.

  4. Remove about half a cup of the mixture from the skillet and stir it into sour cream.

  5. Return the mixture to the skillet along with the chicken and mushrooms.

  6. Heat through, but do not boil.

Serve

  1. Serve over hot cooked noodles.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

971Calories
72 gProtein
23 gFat
112 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Chicken100g cooked165
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Mushrooms1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Spinach1 cup raw (30g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Tarragon1 tsp dried (0.5g)2

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Tarragon + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,137 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Chicken + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,172 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).

  4. Tarragon + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Mushroom + sherrytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,176 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (smoky, clove).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chicken breast
Provides the main protein; cooking until opaque sets its texture and makes it safe to eat.
Flour
Thickens the broth into a smooth sauce as its starch gelatinizes when heated.
Sour cream
Adds tang and creaminess, and its dairy proteins can curdle if the sauce boils.
Fresh mushrooms
Release moisture and savory flavor into the skillet as they brown.
Dry sherry
Adds acidity and aromatic depth that carries into the sauce.
Margarine or butter
Provides fat for cooking the chicken and carries flavor through the pan.

The step that matters

Stir sour cream in gently, without boiling. Sour cream contains proteins that can curdle and turn grainy when exposed to high heat. Tempering it with some hot sauce first and then heating only through keeps the sauce smooth.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, chicken, mushroom, sherry, tarragon, lemon, pepper):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, chicken, mushroom, sherry, tarragon, lemon, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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