Sage Brown Butter Chicken

Why You'll Love Sage Browned Butter Chicken

Nutty Flavor: Sage-infused browned butter creates a deep, savory richness that perfectly complements the tender chicken, adding layers of flavor that elevate the dish.

Simple Yet Gourmet: This dish is quick and easy to prepare, yet its sophisticated combination of flavors makes it feel like a restaurant-quality meal right at home.

Versatile Pairing: Sage browned butter pairs wonderfully with a variety of sides, from mashed potatoes, acorn squash, or mashed cauliflower, making it a versatile and crowd-pleasing main course.

Ingredients

You need just a few pantry staples and fresh chicken thighs for a rich, flavorful chicken dinner in under 30 minutes.

• Skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Olive oil: for frying the chicken
• Almond flour: a coating for the outside of the chicken that gives a nutty compliment to the sage sauce.
• Butter: the most important component for the sage sauce, it absorbs the flavor of fresh sage as it fries and browns to nutty deliciousness.
• Fresh sage leaves: choose fresh fragrant sprigs with medium sized leaves.
• Onion: white or yellow onions works best.
• Fresh thyme: cooked with the onions for another level of flavor.
• Lemon juice

How To Make Sage Browned Butter Chicken

Using a meat mallet, pound chicken into thin cutlets.

Dredge chicken in almond flour and fry until golden brown.

Fry sage leaves in butter.

Remove sage and cook onions in browned butter.

1. Sprinkle the pounded chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Place almond flour in a shallow dish; dredge chicken in almond flour.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add breaded chicken to hot skillet and sauté for 4 minutes on each side or until internal temperature of thickest part of the chicken reaches 165 degrees F. Remove chicken from the skillet and wipe the skillet clean.
3. Add butter to the skillet and melt until bubbly. Place sage leaves in the butter and fry medium heat until butter browns and sage is crispy. Remove the sage from the skillet and set aside.
4. Add onions and thyme to the browned butter and cook for 1 minute, until onions have softened. Stir in the lemon juice the brown butter mixture and simmer for 30 seconds. Serve sage sauce over top of fried chicken. Garnish with crispy sage and lemon zest

Substitutions

• Breadcrumbs or panko - If gluten free or low carb is not your goal, you can use seasoned breadcrumbs or panko to coat the chicken.
• Fresh Herbs - use your favorite aromatic herbs in place of sage, try basil or thyme leaves.

Variations

While this is a recipe for two, you can easily adjust the number of servings in the recipe card below to cater to a larger group of people.

• Spicy - add red pepper flakes while cooking the onion mixture to add heat into the dish.
• Extra veggies - add halved cherry tomatoes and/or fresh spinach to the onion mixture.

​Try this Creamy Rosemary Chicken Tenders on my website!

Equipment

The most important equipment needed for this recipe is a meat mallet (affiliate link). To quickly cook the chicken, you will need to pound it out thin. I like to place the chicken between plastic wrap to prevent chicken juice spatters.

You will also want a large skillet, my preferred skillet is cast-iron (affiliate link) but a good stainless steel skillet will work great as well.

Storage

Refrigerate: store any leftover chicken in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Reheat: warm leftovers in a skillet or the microwave until heated through.

Top Tips

• For best results, be sure to not overcrowd the pan with chicken while cooking allowing air circulation helps keep the chicken crispy.
• Brown the butter on a medium-low heat and keep a close eye on it as it browns to be sure it doesn't burn.