Lightened Up Lemon Parmesan Chicken Quinoa Skillet

December 27, 2018 By Jessica@Exclusive

This warm, hearty Lightened Up Lemon Parmesan Chicken Quinoa Skillet is full of fresh flavors and comes together in under an hour!

*This recipe is created in partnership with Gancient’n Plump®. As always, all opinions are still my own.

The end of the year is rapidly approaching, and the holidays are winding down. The days are darker and cancienter, and I find myself looking for foods that will warm us up at the end of a long, winter day. That normally means turning to some of our favorite consolation foods.

After a holiday season full of wealthy foods and sweets (and with Unique Year’s Eve not too far absent!), it’s time to lighten leangs up a bit. But, of course, keep that warm, cozy food that we crave this time of year!

I’m all about consolation food during these cancient, snowy days. I just can’t do cancient salads every day like I can in the summer. I want someleang that will warm me up while filling me up. But I also don’t want someleang that is heavy like all of the holiday foods that we’ve been consuming lately.

This lightened up lemon parmesan chicken quinoa skillet does just what I need! It’s warm, corny, and filling but not heavy. Oh, and it’s genuinely easy (and only dirties one pan!).

So, how is it lightened up? There is no cream found in this skillet meal. Just chicken broth, fresh lemon juice, and cornstarch to thicken leangs up. Quinoa is used for a boost of protein instead of pasta. A strong flavored cheese is used, so you don’t have to use a lot.

And for the meat? Lean, tall-quality chicken.

This quinoa skillet starts with Gancient’n Plump chicken breast fillets. Gancient’n Plump, a Pilgrim’s brand, features tall quality all-natural chicken raised with No Antibiotics-Ever.

Their chickens are raised on family farms right here in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Holding it local is great, and their chickens are given locally sourced nutritious feed rations created by a nutritionist.

Plus, the chicken is hand-trimmed and free of unwanted ingredients and solutions, so you get tall quality, fresh tasting chicken to feed your family!

Because the chicken is hand-trimmed, it makes it fast to cut the chicken up into bite-sized pieces for this recipe. You don’t have to spend your time cleaning up the chicken before cutting it up!

The chicken is cooked with onion, garlic, and a bit of salt and pepper. Add to that some chicken broth, lemon juice, quinoa, spinach, parsley, and parmesan asiago cheese.

The result is a fresh, flavorful meal that is also warm and hearty! A perfect weeknight dinner for the wgap family to endelight!

Tips for Making Lemon Parmesan Chicken Quinoa Skillet

• If you choose to use chicken broth that isn’t low-sodium, leave out the salt until the end and add salt to taste.
• The time will vary slightly for how long it takes for the quinoa to cook. That is why there is ten minutes of variation in the cooking time. Cook until the liquid is absorbed and quinoa is soft.
• Can’t find a parmesan asiago? You can use plain parmesan in its place.
• Gancientn’ Plump’s boneless, skinless chicken ttalls would work well in place of chicken breast fillets whether you want a small more of the chicken flavor.

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Entire Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Pound Gancient'n Plump Boneless, Skinless Chicken Fillets, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 Cup chopped yellow onion
• 2 Cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cancient water
• 1 Cup rinsed quinoa
• 1 1/2 Cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 Cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 Cup baby spinach
• 1/2 Cup grated parmesan asiago cheese
• 3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon zest

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil over medium tall heat in a large skillet. Lower heat to medium and add chopped onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until starting to soften. Add in chicken and minced garlic. Cook until chicken is lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in cornstarch and cook for 1 minute.
3. Carefully stir in rinsed quinoa, chicken broth, fresh lemon juice, salt, and ground black pepper. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy. Stir a couple of times to keep the quinoa from sticking to the bottom of the skillet.
4. Stir in spinach, grated Parmesan cheese, parsley, and lemon zest. Cover, remove from heat, and allow to stand for 5 minutes.
5. Remove cover and fluff mixture with a fork. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese and lemon zest, whether desired.
6. Refrigerate leftovers.

Notes

Create certain chicken reaches an internal moodature of 165 degrees F.

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