Lemon Chicken with Barley

When you are short on time but want a satisfying meal to serve your family, start with Knorr® One Skillet Meals. It's so easy to prepare Lemon Chicken with Barley loaded with carrots and spinach and perfectly seasoned with lemon, savory herbs, and garlic for dinner in under 40 minutes.

This post is sponsored by Mirum. All opinions expressed below are my own.
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I spend most of my days in my kitchen making fun party food to share with you here, so when it comes to preparing dinner I am always looking for super easy recipes. It's important also that those recipes be nutritious, wholesome, and of course, tasty. So, I was really excited when I was asked to try out the new Knorr® One Skillet Meal Starters, available at Giant Eagle, and to share this recipe to make Lemon Chicken with Barley with you.

I have to admit that I have gotten into a pattern of making the same handful of recipes for dinner every week. Do you do that too? It's an easy rut to fall into, isn't it?

My criteria for a dinner recipe is as follows:

• it must be super easy to make
• it must be flavorful
• it must include protein, vegetables, and whole grains
• it must be easy to clean up

The beauty of these new Knorr One Skillet Meal Starters is that you cook your entire dinner, which is loaded with protein, vegetables, and ancient grains, all in one skillet. Easy,  check, flavorful, check, nutritious, check, quick clean up, check.

The prep time for the Lemon Chicken and Barley was about 10 minutes. While the dish simmered on the stovetop, I was able to get my prep bowls, cutting boards, and knives cleaned. We are not fancy around here, so I served dinner right from the skillet. Afterwards clean up was a snap. Now that's my kind of meal.

How to make Knorr Skillet Meals Lemon Chicken and Barley

• Cut chicken breast into bite-size pieces, season with salt and pepper, toss with flour,  and brown in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil.
  • I used a 12-inch stainless steel skillet and found that it was best to cook my chicken in two batches in order to get a nice brown color on the chicken.
  • If the chicken is crowded in the pan it will simply steam, which is fine, but I love the flavor of the browned bits of chicken, so I opted to spend 4 extra minutes to get my chicken nicely browned.
• Add water, carrots, and the Knorr Lemon Chicken and Barley packet to the chicken and bring to a boil. Then cover, reduce the heat, and let simmer until the barley is cooked through and softened.
  • You'll know the barley is done when almost all of the water has evaporated.
  • Make sure you use a nice tight lid on your skillet. This will keep all the steam inside and cook the barley properly.
• Toss in fresh spinach and cover until wilted.
  • The recipe calls for 6 ounces of spinach which will seem like quite a lot when you add it in raw, but it will wilt down nicely and blend in well.
• This Lemon Chicken skillet meal is perfectly balanced, but I know every family has different tastes, so you can easily adjust the quantities of vegetables according to your family's preferences.
  • When we had this as leftovers the second day, I chopped up some steamed asparagus and tossed it into this one skillet meal. It was a wonderful addition.

It is always great to have such a well-balanced meal on the table so quickly and it makes me happy.

Recipe

5 from 1 vote

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Lemon Chicken with Barley

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

28 mins

Total Time

38 mins

 

Quick and easy one skillet meal loaded with chicken, barley, carrots and spinach and perfectly flavored with lemon, fresh herbs, and garlic. 

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Keyword: lemon chicken

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 380 kcal

Author: Beth Klosterboer

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 package Knorr® One Skillet Meals – Lemon Chicken with Barley
• 6 ounces fresh baby spinach

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a 12 inch skillet set over medium-high heat. 

2. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
   

3. Sprinkle flour over chicken and toss to coat.

4. Brown the chicken in the skillet for about 4 minutes, in one or two batches.

5. Add the water, carrots, and the contents of the packet of Knorr® One Skillet Meal, and bring to a boil. 

6. Reduce the heat to low, and cover the skillet. Simmer for 23 minutes, or until the barley is tender and most of the liquid has evaporated.

7. Remove the pan from the heat and add the spinach. Cover for an additional 2 minutes until the spinach wilts.

8. Stir in the spinach and serve.

Lemon Chicken with Barley

I hope you enjoy making this Lemon Chicken with Barley one skillet meal for your family. If you try this or any of the other Knorr One Skillet Meal Starts, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments below.

I was compensated for sharing this post with you, but all the opinions expressed within this article are my own.

Be sure to check out my other everyday meal ideas, here.

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Beth Klosterboer

Hi, I'm Beth Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com

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