Lemon Basil Chicken With Feta

Lemon basil chicken has the flavorful, tangy taste of lemon, basil, and feta. Try this recipe tonight. It’s creamy and zippy with every bite!

Do you like feta cheese? If so, you will love this recipe for lemon basil chicken!

I’m confessing my love for feta cheese right now.

I DO, and I cannot help it! I LOVE FETA CHEESE!

The Corn Zucchini Orzo Salad I made a few weeks ago inspired me to create this delicious lemon basil chicken with feta. The chicken breast is butterflied open and filled with a mixture of lemon, basil, cream cheese, and feta. Then, it is baked in the oven until the chicken is done and the filling is warm and bubbling.

I love the way the flavors mesh together in the cheese filling, and you will too. Let’s make some lemon basil chicken together!

What is Feta Cheese?

Feta cheese is a well-known Greek cheese with a rich, tangy taste that adds loads of flavor to any dish. I was so pleased to find out that feta is one of the healthiest cheeses you can buy. It’s rare to find a cheese low in calories with so much flavor. Feta can satisfy your cheese craving without going straight to your hips.

Shopping For Feta Cheese

When purchasing feta cheese, I highly recommend that you buy it in chunk form, preferably in a brine. Believe it or not, feta cheese in chunk form is cheaper, and it is a lot more flavorful than crumbled feta cheese.

Lemon Basil Chicken Recipe Ingredients

The filling has a flavorful and tangy mixture of feta cheese, cream cheese, lemon, basil, and garlic. It’s creamy and zippy with every bite. Here’s a rundown of the ingredients and possible substitutions. The recipe card at the end of this post lists the full ingredient list with measurements.

Chicken: I use boneless-skinless split chicken breasts because they are easier to handle and stuffing. If you have bone-in chicken breast with the skin, you can put the filling mixture underneath the skin instead.

Cream Cheese: I use full-fat cream cheese, but you can save calories by using low-fat cream cheese instead. Make sure it is softened at room temperature.

Feta Cheese: I recommend buying it in a chunk and crumbling it by hand. Precrumbled feta cheese is kind of dry, but use it if that is what you have.

Lemon: Use fresh lemon zest and lemon juice. Zest the lemon before juicing it. You may want to add some extra lemon wedges for serving.

Garlic: Grated fresh garlic. If you are sensitive to garlic, you can use garlic powder or soak the raw grated garlic in lemon juice for 10 minutes before mixing it into the filling mixture.

Basil: fresh julienned basil leaves are added to the chicken filling and used as garnish.

Seasoning: Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.

How To Make Lemon Basil Chicken

Besides the flavor, the feta cheese keeps the chicken moist during cooking, which is an added bonus. The recipe card at the end of this post provides detailed instructions with time and temperature.

1. Prepare the Chicken: butterfly the chicken breast creating a pocket in the chicken breast to add the filling inside.

2. Mix the Filling: Combine the cream cheese, feta, lemon zest and juice, garlic, and basil in a small bowl. Mix until well incorporated.

3. Fill The Breasts: Fill each chicken breast with half of the cheese mixture. Close the breast around the cheese mixture and secure it with toothpicks, if needed. Smear any extra filling over the outside of the chicken and season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Bake: Place the chicken on a small foil or parchment paper-lined sheet pan inside the oven and bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer reads 165-170 degrees F.

5. Rest, Garnish and Serve: Allow the chicken breast to reast 5 minutes. Discard wooden picks and serve with lemon wedges and extra basil as garnish.

Tips For Making This Chicken Recipe

• If the cheese oozes out, make sure you don’t leave it on the pan… it’s way too good to leave behind!
• Store leftover chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
• I do not recommend freezing leftovers. The filling mixture loses its creaminess and separates.

What to Serve With Lemon Basil Chicken

• Oven-Roasted Asparagus
• Mashed Potatoes
• Roasted Turnips
• Smashed Potatoes
• Rice

This chicken was just as good as I imagined it would be. The flavors of the feta, basil, and lemon are so good together. I’m practically drooling to have this on my plate again. I hope you will enjoy this recipe as much as we did.

What’s your favorite feta cheese recipe? I’d love to try it. 

Comment below!