Gluten-Free Chinese Lemon Chicken

Gluten-Free Lemon Chicken, just like take out – crispy chicken tenders coated in a delicious, lightly sweetened lemon sauce.

Do you love Chinese take out? Then you must try this lemon chicken recipe 🙂

If you love Chinese take out and are looking for gluten-free versions, this is one of those recipes you will love ♥ This chicken dish is made without deep-frying or refined sugar, making this a healthier lemon chicken recipe. 

The secret to this dish is marinating the chicken first in an egg, tamari sauce, maple syrup, and rich sesame oil. This flavours and coats the chicken with a sticky sauce used as part of the crispy coating. Once the chicken has finished marinating, this takes about an hour, the chicken is lightly dusted with tapioca starch. Then, it is flash-fried before it is baked. By baking, the chicken will become crispy without deep frying. 

The lemon sauce must be made from fresh lemons, not bottled lemon juice or lemon extract, as most restaurants do. The sauce is slowly simmered with fresh lemon juice, chicken stock, maple syrup, and lemon slices, creating a fresh lemon flavour. Then, the sauce is thickened with tapioca starch. When the chicken is done baking, pour the sauce over the chicken. Done!

I often serve this gluten-free lemon chicken as an appetizer. But, if you are looking for a light chicken dinner meal, you can serve the chicken tenders over curry pork fried rice or a green salad. Are you looking for take-out inspired recipes? Check out our list of simply made gluten-free Asian recipes!