Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata – A simple yet flavorful dish complete with tender chicken and lemon infused pan sauce all served on top of your favorite pasta or mashed potatoes. A versatile recipe that’s perfect for a weeknight dinner or for hosting friends and family.

 

Chicken Piccata is one of those classic dishes that’s full of flavor thanks to fresh lemon, briny capers, and rich butter. Make this a complete meal and serve it alongside our simple roasted broccolini or steamed asparagus.

The Best Chicken Piccata Recipe

We love this dish for its delicious sauce, tender and crispy chicken, and versatile serving options. With classic Italian seasonings, simple ingredients, and an easy to follow cooking method, you’ll have fresh lemon chicken piccata on the table in under an hour. Served on top of mashed potatoes or your favorite pasta, this dish will leave you feeling satisfied and comfortably full for hours.

What Is Chicken Piccata

This is a classic Italian recipe with chicken breasts coated in Italian seasonings and pan-fried to give it a slightly crunchy yet tender texture. But what really makes this meal shine is its rich and lemony piccata sauce made of savory butter, zesty lemon, sharp garlic, classic olive oil, and pungent capers.

What You Will Need

• chicken breasts – Select boneless and skinless as you’ll cut through them to make cutlets.
• flour – All-purpose flour or gluten-free flour will work great.
• garlic powder – There can never be enough garlic.
• onion powder – Pairs nicely with the minced shallot in the pan sauce.
• Italian seasoning – Classic flavors of basil, oregano, thyme, and much more.
• butter – The base of the delicious piccata sauce. Salted or unsalted butter will both work, but its always a good idea to taste test and adjust seasonings as needed.
• olive oil – Extra virgin olive oil is our favorite.
• shallot – Found next to the onions in the grocery store, this little vegetable has a more delicate and sweet flavor than a traditional onion.
• garlic – A kick of heat and flavor.
• chicken broth – Helps add depth to the pan sauce.
• white wine – Pinot grigio is the perfect compliment to the savory butter and other rich Italian flavors.
• fresh lemon juice – Fresh truly is better, but store bought will work too.
• lemon zest – This extra step adds an undeniable amount of citrus in each bite.
• lemon – Sliced and laid in the sauce to make your plating game look extra special.
• capers – These are actually tiny edible flower buds from the caper bush, offering a briny, full-flavored topping to bring your dish to the next level.
• kosher salt & ground black pepper – season to your liking

For Serving

• shaved parmesan – Just a bit sprinkled on top for serving.
• mashed potatoes – Another tasty and savory serving option.
• pasta of your choice – Linguini and spaghetti noodles are our favorites for this recipe.

How To Make Chicken Piccata

Set up your prep area with a sturdy cutting board, a sharp knife, and your boneless and skinless chicken breasts. To ensure that they cook quickly and evenly, slice chicken breasts in half lengthwise to create chicken cutlets.

Season all of the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper and set them aside.

To season the chicken cutlets, get a shallow bowl and combine your flour, garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning and mix to combine. Take one cutlet at a time and place it in the flour mixture, being sure that each piece is fully coated.

Throw out the remaining flour mixture and set the fully coated chicken cutlets on a clean plate and set aside.

Bring a large skillet to medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter and olive oil to coat the pan. Add the chicken pieces in batches, making sure to evenly sear both sides for 2-3 minutes or until the chicken is light golden brown. Place the seared chicken on a clean plate and set aside.

Now it’s time for the sauce. Add the remaining two tablespoons of butter along with the shallots and garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.

Next, add the broth, white wine, lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon slices and capers. Let the sauce simmer until it has reduced by half, which takes around 5-6 minutes.

Nestle the seared chicken back into the skillet and bring everything to a gentle simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Use a meat thermometer to ensure that the internal chicken temperature reaches 165°F.