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Lemon Chicken I

Chicken breasts wrapped in foil with lemon juice, tarragon, and pepper, baked until cooked.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and tarragon 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 ↓

Lemon Chicken I

Oven350 °F
Timeabout 45 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Remove all visible fat from chicken.

  2. Place each breast in the center of a 12‑inch square piece of aluminum foil.

  3. Fold the sides of the foil up so the lemon juice won't run out.

Season and wrap

  1. Halve the lemons and squeeze the juice of ½ lemon over each chicken breast.

  2. Sprinkle each with ¼ teaspoon tarragon and pepper.

  3. Fold the foil together and seal well to secure the chicken inside.

Bake

  1. Place the wrapped chicken in a shallow baking dish and bake at 350 °F for about 45 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

185Calories
32 gProtein
4 gFat
6 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
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. Lemon + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,137 recipes

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

  2. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + tarragontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Chicken + tarragontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together619 recipes

    Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).

  5. Chicken + lemontop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken breast halves
Provides the lean protein that forms the main body of the dish.
Lemons
Their juice adds acidity and brightness that cut through the richness of the chicken.
Tarragon
Adds a sharp, anise-like aroma that flavours the chicken.

The step that matters

Seal the foil well. A tight seal traps steam around the chicken so it cooks gently in its own juices. A leaky packet lets moisture escape, which can leave the meat drier and the lemon flavour weaker.

Swap the tarragon

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

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Parsleyfits about as well
  4. Tarragonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, lemon. 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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