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Made with tender chicken breasts enveloped in a rich and tangy lemon caper sauce, this Chicken Piccata recipe comes together in under 30 minutes to deliver a classic Italian dish with impressive flavor.
Just like my recipes for Creamy Chicken Marsala and Shrimp Scampi, this recipe for Chicken Piccata delivers restaurant-quality results in under 30 minutes.
Thanks to the salty brine of the capers and the bright acidic notes of the lemon, Chicken Piccata delivers an incredibly flavorful meal yet it comes together with minimal effort and minimal ingredients. It is the perfect meal to make at home when you want an impressive flavorful chicken dinner, yet you don't want to spend hours in the kitchen.
Recipe Highlights
Notes on Ingredients
- Chicken: For this recipe, boneless, skinless chicken breasts are the classic choice. You can purchase thinly sliced chicken breast cutlets, or you can cut regular chicken breasts lengthwise to form chicken cutlets.
- Wine: Dry white wine adds flavor and acidic notes to the simple sauce. You want to select a dry white wine like Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio.
- Capers: You can find jarred Capers by pickles in any grocery store.
- Lemon: Only FRESH lemon juice--this is not the time to use jarred lemon juice, as the flavor will not be the same.
- Butter + Oil: For searing the chicken, it is best to use a combination of butter and oil. The butter gives the dish richness, while the oil helps the butter from burning while searing the chicken.
How to Make Chicken Piccata
The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the ingredient quantities and detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Prepare Chicken Cutlets. One of my favorite money-saving tips, is to use chicken breasts and cut them into cutlets yourself. You can do this by simply . cutting each breast in half lengthwise and then pounding gently between plastic wrap (or parchment paper) with a meat mallet or heavy skillet until the cutlets are about ½-inch thick.
- Coat the Chicken with Flour. Dredging your chicken in seasoned flour, will help thicken the sauce and add a nice crust to the chicken.
- Sear the Chicken. Pan-fry the chicken in a combination of oil and butter until golden on each side. keep in mind you may need to work in batches, as you don't want to overcrowd your skillet. Once the chicken is golden on each side, remove it to plate to make the piccata sauce.
- Prepare Piccata Sauce. To make the pan sauce, add the wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, which adds great flavor to the sauce. Add in the lemon juice, capers, and a dash of salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer.
- Finish Cooking the Chicken. Once the piccata sauce is simmering, add the chicken back to the skillet and simmer for just a couple of minutes, or to warm through and coat with the sauce.
- Finish the Piccata Sauce. I recommend removing the chicken to a serving platter and whisking in a tablespoon of butter to finish the sauce. This adds incredible richness to the dish and slightly thickens the sauce. Pour the piccata sauce over the chicken before serving.
Serving Suggestions
Chicken Piccata is traditionally served with angel hair pasta to soak up the additional sauce. I love to add a side of roasted vegetables, like Roasted Asparagus or Roasted Broccoli or a salad, like Greek Salad or Caesar Salad. To really make your meal feel like you are dining at an Italian restaurant, start dinner with Homemade Italian Bread and Italian Bread Dipping Oil. Yum!
Recipe Modifications
- Dairy-Free: Sear the chicken in olive oil, instead of a combination of oil and butter. Feel free to add 1 tablespoon of dairy-free butter to give the dish a rich finish, just keep in mind that dairy-free butter has added sodium, so you may want to cut back on seasoning the sauce with additional salt.
- Gluten-Free Modification: Omit the flour and simply season chicken with salt and pepper and and pan-sear as directed. Thicken the piccata sauce with a cornstarch slurry by whisking together 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water and slowly whisking that mixture into the simmering sauce before returning the chicken to the pan.
- Omit the Wine: If you don't care to cook with alcohol, simply use additional chicken stock.
Storage Instructions
- Refrigerate: Allow the chicken to cool and then transfer the chicken piccata to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Reheat: I find it is best to reheat the leftover chicken piccata in a dry skillet over low heat. This will help the chicken to stay tender and moist. Feel free to take a shortcut and reheat the chicken and piccata sauce on a heat-safe plate covered with a damp paper towel in the microwave in 60-seond intervals until heated through.
More Quick & Easy Chicken Recipes
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Chicken Piccata
Made with a flavorful lemon caper sauce and tender chicken breasts, Chicken Piccata is a classic Italian dish that is simple to make, yet delivers impressive flavor.
Video
Ingredients
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, or 6 thin chicken cutlets
- salt and pepper, to taste
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, for searing first batch of chicken
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, for searing first batch of chicken
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, for searing 2nd batch of chicken
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, for searing 2nd batch of chicken
- ½ cup dry white wine, or chicken stock
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup brined capers, rinsed and drained
- ⅓ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, for the sauce
Instructions
- Cut 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts in half lengthwise to end up with chicken cutlets. If your chicken cutlets are still thicker than ½-inch thick, place between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet or heavy skillet until they are no thicker than ½-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides evenly with salt and pepper.
- In a shallow dish, mix together ½ cup all-purpose flour with ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken cutlets in the flour mixture, shaking off excess. Place the coated chicken on a plate to prepare for searing.
- In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter with 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is sizzling, add half of the prepared chicken cutlets to the pan, being careful not overcrowd the skillet. Saute the chicken until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.. Set the chicken aside onto a CLEAN plate. Add an additional 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon unsalted butter to the skillet and saute the remaining chicken. Once browned, remove the chicken and place them on the plate with the first batch of seared chicken.
- Add ½ cup dry white wine (or stock) into the skillet, and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add in ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice and ¼ cup brined capers and a dash of salt and pepper (omit salt if using stock instead of wine) and bring to a simmer, this should only take a minute or two.
- Return the chicken to the pan and simmer for 3 minutes, or until the chicken is heated through and cooked to an internal temperature or 165℉/74℃. Remove the chicken to a serving dish.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon unsalted butter into the cooking sauce and whisk vigorously. Turn off the heat immediately.
- Serve the sauce over chicken and garnish with ⅓ cup fresh parsley and fresh slices of lemon if desired.
Notes
Chicken: You can purchase thinly sliced chicken breast cutlets, or you can cut regular chicken breasts lengthwise to form chicken cutlets.
Wine: If using wine, select a dry white wine such as chardonnay or Pinot Grigio. If you do not care for wine, use chicken stock in its place and OMIT the additional salt added to the pan sauce.
Gluten-Free Modification: Skip dredging the chicken in flour and pan-sear the chicken in just olive oil and butter. Prepare the sauce as directed and coat the chicken in sauce. Remove the chicken from the skillet and thicken the sauce by whisking together 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water. Add to the sauce and simmer until slightly thickened. Add in the butter and serve with the chicken.
Dairy-Free Modification: Sear the chicken in olive oil, instead of a combination of oil and butter. And to finish the sauce, add 1 tablespoon of dairy-free butter to give the dish a rich finish.
Storing Leftovers: Allow the chicken to cool and then transfer the chicken piccata to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat the leftover chicken piccata in a dry skillet over low heat or reheat on a heat-safe plate covered with a damp paper towel in the microwave in 60-seond intervals until heated through.
Nutrition
Calories: 252kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 13gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 70mgPotassium: 271mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 534IUVitamin C: 11mgCalcium: 16mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I thickened the sauce slightly more and it is wonderful! Nice salad and a glass of wine!
Can this be done the day before? If so, how would you suggest?
Yes, I would follow the instructions for storage and reheating. It is best to store the sauce and chicken separately. To reheat the chicken piccata, heat a nonstick skillet to medium-high heat. Add the chicken and allow to heat for 1 minute per side. Remove the chicken from the skillet, add the sauce to the pan, and heat until simmering. Serve the sauce over the chicken.
Can I freeze this
Hi Kay! Yes, you can freeze the leftover chicken with the picatta sauce for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator and then reheat over low heat in a dry skillet. You may need to add a pat of butter or a splash of stock to keep it from drying out when reheated.
I served this over rice with a side salad it was fantastic, definitely will be making this again.
Wonderful! So happy to hear you enjoyed!
My family loved this and was my first time making it. So delicious!
Thanks for sharing that Mary! I love hearing that!
This was delightful!
Thanks Ange! I love hearing you enjoyed the Chicken Piccata.
Absolutely fantastic! We had it with spaghetti pasta, reserving some pasta water so the sauce blended well with the pasta. Added to my repertoire for my family.
Thanks for sharing Dayyna! I am so happy to hear you enjoyed this meal.
I enjoy chicken as much as the next person but this recipe takes it to the next level! The tender, delicious chicken meat is only made better by the flavorful tang of the lemon caper sauce.
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed Izzy! The sauce really is key here.
This looks so delicious and yummy!
I was wondering if I could make this with just chicken drumsticks? Thanks!
Hi Tanya! Yes, you would be able to use drumsticks or bone-in, skin-on thighs if you like with a few changes. Dredge the chicken as directed and then sear for about 8 minutes per side. Remove the chicken, prepare the sauce, and then return the chicken to the skillet and simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until it reaches 165 degrees. Enjoy!