This chicken zucchini skillet skips the tomato sauce and builds a lemon butter pan sauce instead.
White wine, chicken broth, and fresh summer corn reduce into something bright and buttery that coats every piece of chicken and zucchini in the pan. One pan, about 25 minutes.
Use Up Your Zucchini With This Weeknight Summer Meal
If you’ve got a zucchini situation happening in your garden, or a pile of them from the farmers market that you keep moving to the front of the fridge and ignoring, this is the recipe you reach for.
It’s fast enough for a Tuesday and the lemon butter pan sauce makes it feel like something you’d order at a restaurant, not something you threw together to use up produce.
Every summer for the past 3 years I find myself searching for a zucchini and chicken recipe, and after scouring Pinterest and Instagram, I’ve always come out unimpressed. This year I decided to change that. This has become my go-to summer dinner for using up garden zucchini and packing in protein.
The corn is what makes this different from every other chicken zucchini skillet. It goes in with the butter and garlic, gets golden and sweet before the wine hits the pan, and by the time everything comes together it’s woven into the sauce.
Looking to use up even more zucchini? Make my grilled zucchini salad, paleo zucchini bread, or buffalo chicken zucchini boats next.
Ingredients for Chicken Zucchini Skillet
You don’t need to track down anything unusual. Here’s what actually matters and why.
- Chicken breast: I use chicken breast here because the lemon butter sauce adds the moisture back at the end. The buttery pan sauce does the work so you get a lean protein with extra richness. If you prefer chicken thighs in a skillet, these cast iron skillet chicken thighs are made a similar way.
- Butter, divided: One tablespoon goes in near the end of searing the chicken to coat it and start building flavor (and color). The remaining two go in with the corn and garlic as the base of the sauce. Don’t swap this for oil, but you can swap it for a plant-based or dairy-free butter.
- White wine: A dry white is what you want, like Sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio. The wine deglazes the pan and picks up all the browning left from the chicken and zucchini. I tested this early on with a riesling and the sauce went too sweet, so stick to dry! If you want to skip the wine, use an extra quarter cup of chicken broth and a teaspoon of white wine vinegar.
- Fresh corn: Two cups, cut from the cob or from a can (drained well). This is not the recipe for frozen corn. I tried it during testing and the sauce didn’t reduce well because the corn steamed instead of caramelizing in the butter. Fresh corn is also what makes this corn feta salad worth making while it’s in season.
- Lemon: Juice goes into the sauce with the wine and broth. Zest goes on at the end for brightness.
- Zucchini: Two medium, cut into half moons. I tested half moons, quarters, and small dice across different rounds of this recipe. Half moons give you the most surface area for browning and hold their shape the best when they go back into the sauce.
How to Make Chicken Zucchini Skillet
Step 1. Season the chicken: Toss the diced chicken with kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and oregano until every piece is coated.
Step 2. Sear the chicken: Heat the avocado oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in a single layer and leave it alone for 2-3 minutes until a golden crust forms on the bottom. Add a Tablespoon of butter, flip, and cook through. Transfer to a clean plate.
Step 3. Cook the zucchini: Add the zucchini to the same pan in a single layer over medium heat. Leave it alone for 2-3 minutes untouched until it’s golden on the flat side. Toss and transfer to the same plate as the chicken.
Step 4. Add the corn and make the pan sauce: Add the remaining butter, corn and garlic, and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the white wine, chicken broth, and lemon juice. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes until the sauce reduces by about half. It should lightly coat the back of a spoon. If it doesn’t, give it another minute.
Step 5. Stir it all together and serve: Add the chicken and zucchini back to the pan and toss everything together until coated. Finish with fresh parsley, basil, and lemon zest. Serve immediately with crusty bread.
How to Keep Zucchini From Getting Mushy In A Skillet
Sear it in a single layer on a mostly dry, hot pan without moving it, until it’s just golden and tender. Zucchini releases water when it heats up. If there’s too much liquid in the pan, if it’s overcrowded, or if the pan isn’t hot enough, it steams instead of sears.
Zucchini can go mushy quickly if overcooked so when in doubt, undercook it because it’s going to get tossed in the hot pan sauce later too.
The sensory cue you’re looking for: a sharp sizzle when the zucchini hits the pan. If it hisses quietly and you see steam immediately, the pan isn’t hot enough. Give it another minute. A proper sear is loud at first and then settles.
Can I Use Chicken Thighs Instead of Chicken Breast?
Yes. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs work well here. Cut them into one-inch pieces and follow the same searing method. Plan for 2-3 minutes longer to cook through, and know they’ll give off more fat in the pan, which is not a problem in a sauce built on butter.
The reason this recipe uses breast is that the lemon butter sauce handles the moisture. You don’t need the thigh fat to keep things juicy when the sauce is already doing that job.
What to Serve with this Chicken Zucchini Skillet
Crusty bread, and a lot of it. The lemon butter sauce pools at the bottom of the pan and it would be a real shame to leave it there.
Beyond bread, rice works well if you want something more substantial underneath. The sauce soaks into it exactly the way it would soak into pasta.
A green salad or cucumber tomato avocado salad with a sharp vinaigrette alongside gives you something acidic to cut through the butter, which balances the plate and keeps it from feeling too rich.
For a summer spread, this sits well next to burrata caprese salad, or grilled corn on the cob if you want to lean fully into the season.
If you’re in a summer skillet rotation right now, this creamy coconut shrimp and creamy lemon chicken orzo both follow the same one-pan logic.
How to Store Leftovers
Leftovers keep for three days in the fridge, and the flavor still tastes amazing overnight as the sauce absorbs into everything. By day two the zucchini softens more, but it’s still worth eating.
Reheat gently on the stovetop over low heat with a splash of chicken broth to loosen the sauce. The microwave works in a pinch, but cover the container and go in 30-second intervals. Chicken breast dries out fast on high heat.
This recipe does not freeze well. The zucchini breaks down completely when frozen and thawed, and the butter sauce separates when it comes back to temperature. Make it fresh and eat it within three days.
For make-ahead: mix the spice blend and store it in a small jar. Measure the wine, broth, and lemon juice the morning of and keep them together in the fridge so the sauce stage comes together without scrambling. Cut the corn from the cob up to a day ahead.
More One Skillet Chicken Dinners
- Creamy Tuscan chicken skillet
- Crispy garlic chicken bites
- Honey garlic chicken bowls
- Ground beef stir fry
Zucchini Corn Chicken Skillet
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Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast diced small
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 Tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 2 medium zucchini cut into half moons
- 2 cups fresh corn kernels
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- Parsley, basil, and crusty bread for serving
Instructions
- Toss the diced chicken in the spices. Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and begin to sear. Let it sit for a few minutes untouched to get crispy. Add 1 Tablespoon of butter and continue to cook until the chicken is cooked through and the butter coats it. Transfer to a clean bowl or plate.1 lb chicken breast, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1/2 teaspoon oregano, 1 Tablespoon avocado oil, 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- To the same skillet, add the zucchini in a single layer and sear over medium heat untouched until golden. Add it to the same plate as the chicken to avoid another dirty dish.2 medium zucchini
- Add the butter, corn, and garlic to the same pan and cook until fragrant. Stir in the wine and chicken broth. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil and reduce the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture reduces by half.2 cups fresh corn kernels, 3 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup white wine, 1/2 cup chicken broth
- Add the chicken and zucchini back to the pan with the lemon butter sauce and toss to coat. Serve with fresh parsley, basil, and lemon zest.Parsley, basil, and crusty bread for serving
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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