This easy chicken piccata recipe is a bright, savory dish with a touch of elegance!
This is a fast skillet meal that looks and tastes fancy! Tender chicken breasts are cooked in a buttery lemon-caper sauce.
This dish is easy enough for every day, yet elegant enough to serve to guests.
Chicken Piccata Is Easy to Make!
This chicken piccata recipe is delightfully zesty and full of flavor! Pan-fried chicken breasts are simmered in a buttery lemon, wine, and capers sauce. It’s an easy-to-make dish that adds a touch of luxury to everyday cooking.
In addition to favorites like Carbonara and Alfredo, Italy has some beautiful savory and lemony sauce dishes, like piccata. In North America, we more often see chicken piccata although in Italy this dish is more frequently made with veal.
Ingredients in Chicken Piccata
Chicken: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts or ½-inch thick chicken cutlets. If you’re using full chicken breasts, flatten them to ½ inch thick with a meat mallet.
Chicken Piccata Sauce – A fresh lemon is needed for the best flavor. For the wine, choose a dry white variety that you’d enjoy drinking; cooking wines aren’t recommended.
Extra Flavor: Capers add a pop of salty flavor and a liittle texture. If capers aren’t to your liking, feel free to substitute or add chopped olives, sun-dried tomatoes, or sautéed mushrooms.
How to Make Chicken Piccata
The chicken will come out tender and delicious when you follow these steps.
- Dredge the pounded chicken breasts in flour and lemon zest mixture, lightly brown both sides, and set aside.
- In the same pan, add chicken broth, butter wine, lemon juice, and capers and cook until slightly thickened.
- Add the chicken back to the pan to finish cooking (as per the recipe below).
While it’s not traditional, a little heavy cream can be added at the end of cooking.
What to Serve with Chicken Piccata?
- Serve with rice or pasta, and one of these fabulous side dishes, below.
- Feeling ambitious? Elevate your dinner with tender, fluffy homemade egg noodles.
- For a welcome contrast to the savory richness of chicken piccata, try low-carb and low-cal sauteed zucchini, parmesan roasted brussels sprouts, tender, and tasty roasted broccolini, or green beans almondine.
More Chicken Skillet Recipes
These chicken recipes all skillet favorites!
Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Easy Chicken Caprese
Did you love this Chicken Piccata Recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and a rating below!
Chicken Piccata Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded to about ½ inch thick or cut in half crosswise
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons olive oil more as needed
- salt and pepper to taste
Sauce
- ¼ cup salted butter
- 1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ lemon juiced, about 1 ½ tablespoons
- ½ cup white wine or chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons capers drained
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
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Combine the all-purpose flour, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl. Dredge each chicken breast in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess.
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In a 10-inch skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Cook the chicken in two batches for 4 to 5 minutes per side, or until just cooked through. Cook in batches to avoid overcrowding the skillet. Remove from pan and place in a dish to keep warm.
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Using the same skillet, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour until smooth and let cook for 1-2 minutes.
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Gradually add the chicken broth, whisking until smooth after each addition.
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Add lemon juice, white wine, and capers. Simmer for 3 minutes, whisking occasionally.
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Add the chicken back into the skillet, letting it simmer in the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Stir in the chopped parsley and serve.
Notes
- Use fresh lemon juice for the best flavor.
- Chicken piccata pairs well with long pasta like linguini or angel hair pasta, but can also be served with mashed potatoes or rice pilaf.
- Fresh minced garlic can be added to the butter in the skillet if desired.
- Veal works wonderfully in this recipe.
- Serve with roasted asparagus, steamed broccoli, or roasted cauliflower.
- Chicken piccata will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and in the freezer for 2-3 months.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Dinner, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian, Mediterranean
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When making the sauce, is it a total of 1 1/2 cups of liquid? You have 1 cup broth and then a little further down you have 1/2 cup wine or broth.
Yes, this recipe uses 1 ½ cups of liquid.
Works as advertised.
Amazing recipe that can be made quickly. But be careful not to add more lemon juice because it may over-power the entire recipe. Just add 1.5 tbsp of lemon juice which will give the perfect taste to the recipe.
Excellent recipe, leaves nothing out.
I brined the chicken, put slices of lemon in the sauce but stuck to the recipe.
Everyone loved it.
Thanks for sharing.