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Garlic chicken bites are tender, super flavorful, and ready in just 20 minutes! Perfect for a busy weeknight dinner that the whole family will love.
These chicken bites are like chicken nuggets that are loaded with garlic flavor and tossed in a delicious butter sauce! The chicken is super juicy, tender, but with a perfect crust from being pan-seared.
Table of Contents
Why We Love Them
- Simple Ingredients – This recipe uses super simple ingredients that you probably have on hand already!
- Easy Chicken Breast Recipe – I’m always looking for another easy recipe to use chicken breasts.
- Garlic Flavor – You can’t beat the flavor of fresh garlic especially when paired with butter.
- Versatile – Pairs with so many different sides and recipes, like Roasted Lemon Potatoes, Garlic Herb Frozen Vegetables, or a homemade Caesar Salad.
Ingredients for Garlic Chicken Bites
Grab some chicken breasts from your freezer (thaw them first) and a few other staple ingredients.
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts – Cut into bite sized pieces. You can swap in boneless, skinless chicken thighs as well
- Olive Oil
- All Purpose Flour – For dredging and helping to create a beautiful crust.
- Spices – Italian Seasoning, Salt, Pepper
- Unsalted Butter – I prefer to use unsalted butter so I can control the salt amount, but you can use salted butter as well.
- Garlic – Lots of fresh garlic.
- Lemon Juice – Fresh is best.
- Fresh Parsley – For garnish.
How to Make Garlic Chicken Bites
This chicken recipe is so easy to make and ready in only 20 minutes.
- Coat chicken pieces. Start by tossing the chicken pieces in olive oil and then the flour, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir until the chicken is completely coated and the flour is absorbed.
- Brown chicken. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces and let sit untouched so they get nice and browned. Flip the chicken pieces over and cook until the internal temperature reads 165℉ Set aside.
- Make the garlic butter sauce. Lower the temperature and add more butter to the same skillet. Make sure to scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet – this adds so much flavor! Once the butter is melted, add some garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Toss chicken and serve. Add the chicken pieces to the butter sauce along with some lemon juice and fresh parsley. Toss it all together to coat the chicken.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can use chicken thighs in this recipe. Make sure to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs and I like to trim away any excess fat. Chicken thigh pieces will take a minute or two longer to cook than breasts. Make sure to cook the chicken to 165°F.
The best way to tell that chicken is cooked is by the internal temperature. Chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F. This is a better way of telling doneness than cutting into the chicken, which can let the juices spill out. It helps ensure that the chicken is cooked through without overcooking.
Serving Suggestions
This chicken recipe is so versatile! I love pairing the garlic chicken nuggets with rice or noodles (like alfredo pasta). They’re also great served alongside fluffy mashed potatoes, Broccoli Rice Casserole or Garlic and Herb Seasoned Rice.
For a lower carb option, pair them with sauteed asparagus or air fryer broccoli.
Variations
Spicy bites – If you’d like to add some heat to the butter sauce, add a half teaspoon of red chile flakes with the garlic.
Chicken Tenders – Try this recipe with chicken tenders. You’ll need to adjust the cooking time to make sure they’re cooked through, but this will save you the time of cutting the chicken into pieces.
Doubling – You can double this recipe, but you’ll need to do so in batches. To keep the chicken warm, cover the plate with foil while you’re cooking the remaining chicken.
Storage and Reheating
- Storage – Leftover chicken can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezing – These can be frozen, but reheating chicken from frozen can dry them out a bit.
- Reheating – The leftover chicken can be reheated in a skillet over medium or in a 350°F oven until warmed. Add a little butter if they seem dry. They are also delicious cold.
- Dry chicken before coating – It’s best to pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels before tossing with the oil, flour, and spices. Drying the excess moisture helps the chicken brown and not steam.
- About the flour – The flour is necessary for thickening the sauce. It should coat and ABSORB into the chicken pieces. Keep stirring until the chicken looks like the picture, you should barely be able to tell it is coated at all and there should be no remaining flour in the bowl.
- Brown before flipping – Allow the chicken to REALLY cook on the first side. This gets that nice brown crust going and if you’re antsy and peeking, it won’t brown up.
- Add garlic at the end – It’s best to wait to add garlic until the end of cooking as it will get bitter if you add it earlier.
- Don’t crowd the chicken – Use a large skillet so that the chicken pieces aren’t touching. This is key to browning the chicken. If your pan is smaller, you can also cook the chicken in batches.
More Easy Chicken Recipes You’ll Love
- Crispy Chicken Carbonara
- One Pot Chicken Spaghetti
- Chicken and Rice Bake
- Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta
- Chicken Vegetable Soup
Garlic Butter Chicken Bites
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter divided
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- In a large bowl, toss the prepared chicken breasts in olive oil. Add the flour, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and stir until completely incorporated.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 3 tablespoons butter and swirl to coat the pan.
- Add the chicken, being sure to space evenly apart. Do not touch until the chicken appears to be almost cooked through. (About 3 minutes)
- Flip over the chicken pieces and continue cooking an additional 2 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 165 degrees F.
- Remove the cooked chicken from the pan and set aside.
- Lower the temperature to medium low heat and add the remaining butter to the skillet. Use a spatula to scrape the browned chicken bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add garlic to the butter, cooking for 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Return the chicken to the pan and add the lemon juice and fresh parsley.
- Toss to fully coat the chicken in the sauce and serve immediately.
Notes
- Storage – Leftover chicken can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezing – These can be frozen, but reheating chicken from frozen can dry them out a bit.
- Reheating – The leftover chicken can be reheated in a skillet over medium or in a 350℉ oven until warmed. Add a little butter if they seem dry. They are also delicious cold.
Delicious and the kids loved it! The only thing I did differently was add zest of one lemon with the juice.
I bet that added great flavor. Thanks for sharing your experience!
This was so good. I added some asparagus and served it with garlic and herb rice. It was delicious!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Cynthia.
Excellent recipe! I used half butter and half olive oil to sauté chicken. very tasty!
Thank you MaryJo!
I made this tonight for my family and they loved it. Even my picky eaters enjoyed it. Definitely something to add to the normal dinners.
Nice! Thank you for your feedback Joshua.
Super tasty and easy to prepare. I added shredded carrots and topped with green onions.
Awesome feedback Tami! Thanks for stopping by.
Made this tonight. At the end, when it was time to add the chicken into the pan again, I also stirred in cooked penne. The water from the penne, I think, really helped deglaze the last bits off the pan. Nice complete meal.
That’s awesome MB! Love the feedback, thanks for stopping by.
This was delicious! Changed the whole chicken for supper again meal. The fresh garlic (from granny’s garden) with butter n lemon was the game changer in the meal. Served it over some wild rice.. A wonderful way to prepare chicken with a whole new flavor. Thank you.
You are so welcome Gale! Thanks for stopping by.
I tried this for the first time tonight. It was a hit with my entire family. Thank you for the recipe, we really enjoyed it. I did alter a bit though, I added lemon pepper and omitted the salt and not so much garlic or butter.
You are so welcome Jamie! Thank you for the awesome feedback.
My family loves this. I did add heavy whipping cream to make more of a sauce. It’s so yummy.
This recipe is absolutely delicious!! 5 star from my picky teens!! You are a life saver !! Thank you so much!!!
You are so welcome Elena! Thanks for stopping by to share.
SALTY as the sea. Good lord. I’m not sure what we did wrong, but it was inedible, which is a bummer because we were really looking forward to trying these
Salt is definitely a personal taste. But a teaspoon of salt is not unusual for 2 pounds of chicken.
I did not like this recipe, I followed it exactly how it says and it ends up being very cakey like in the flour coating. It is not crispy at all, very mushy and just has way too much butter.
About how many garlic cloves did you need to get 3 Tbsps?
About 6-10 cloves. It will really depend on the size of each clove.
Is the rice on the side a special recipe to just plain white rice?
It’s just a long grain white rice that has a little of the sauce from the chicken. But you could use a Seasoned Rice or Rice Pilaf if you like.
I’m making this for supper tonight. Can’t wait for results. will let you know.
Yes! Please let us know! Thanks for stopping by Mazie.
I tried this for the first time tonight. It was a hit with my entire family. Thank you for the recipe, we really enjoyed it.
You are so welcome Jamie! Thanks for stopping by to share.