Lemon Chicken Piccata
Chicken Piccata is creamy, buttery, and tangy at the same time! All the flavors combined in this savory chicken dish, make it perfect for pasta!
If you want gourmet food right from your kitchen, then, follow this recipe! Check out our other restaurant-quality dishes like the Creamy Garlic Parmesan Shrimp Pasta, Pesto Pasta Salad, and Italian Chopped Salad!
Chicken Piccata Recipe
Chicken Piccata is another Italian dish that we’re adding to our roster of classic favorites. The key to the perfect one is in the sauce.
The sauce itself has the unique taste of butter and lemon – an unforgettable combination once you try it. The capers add richness to the overall meal, too.
And, we love a good chicken dish! The white meat is prepared in a way to cook it evenly and the technique itself gives more texture to the crust.
Learn how to make this dish at home with this easy recipe!
What is Chicken Piccata?
It is a kind of Italian dish made with meat that has been thinned out evenly. This ensures that it is cooked evenly, too.
The term piccata refers to that technique, not just the name of the dish. Hence, you can use this cooking method with other kinds of meat like veal, which is the more popular one in Italy.
In the US, the popular version is made with white meat. This dish has the meat dredged in flour and seared. Then, the sauce is made out of the pan drippings for more flavor.
What do you need to make Chicken Piccata:
For the meat, the ingredients that you will need are the following:
- chicken breasts
- flour
- parmesan
- onion powder
- garlic powder
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
For the sauce, you will need the following:
- butter
- flour
- chicken broth
- lemon (juice and zest)
- white wine
- capers
- parsley
How do you make Chicken Piccata:
- Prep the meat: Butterfly the breasts. Then, place each piece in between sheets of plastic wrap and pound them until they are only a quarter of an inch thick.
- Coat: In a bowl, prepare the flour mixture by combining all the other dry ingredients for the meat. Then, thinly coat the breasts with the flour mixture and shake off any excess.
- Cook: In a pan, put olive oil and cook the meat for about 4 to 5 minutes per side just until cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Make the sauce: In the same pan, melt the butter and add flour. Whisk for about 1 to 2 minutes until fully combined without lumps. Then, slowly whisk in the broth until smooth. Add in the other ingredients and let simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Combine: Add in the cooked breasts and let everything simmer for a few more minutes. Stir in the parsley.
- Serve: Serve over pasta and enjoy!
How to butterfly a chicken breast:
Here is a quick guide as to how you can prepare the meat in this recipe:
- Place each breast flat on the chopping board.
- Hold the top surface flat with one hand and hold your knife with your other hand.
- Slice with the knife horizontally through the meat parallel to the chopping board. Do not cut all the way through by leaving a thin strip untouched.
- Open the halves.
- If the pieces are too big, you may halve them.
How to make chicken breast juicy?
The key to juicy and tender breasts is to cook them quick enough so that they will not dry out. And you can achieve this by making them thin, just like how we do it in this recipe!
How to Store:
- Refrigerate: Within two hours of cooking, let it cool and transfer it into an airtight container. Refrigerate and consume within 3 days.
- Freeze: It is better to freeze the breaded cutlets and sauce separately in freeze-proof containers if you are going to cook them later. But for freezing after cooking, let the dish cool entirely and transfer to single-portion containers before placing in the freezer. Consume within a month.
- To reheat: You can bake them in the oven for a few minutes, or heat them up in a skillet.
Recipe Tips:
- If the capers are too intense for your taste, soak them in water before using in this recipe to somehow tame down the briny taste.
- Aside from serving over pasta, you can serve this with rice or bread or mashed potatoes. For low carb options, you can serve it with a side of greens, salad, or roasted veggies.
- In tenderizing the meat, you can use a meat hammer to pound them or use a rolling pin to thin out the thick portions.
Lemon Chicken Piccata
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 4 chicken breasts cut in half crosswise
- 1/2 cup flour
- 3 tablespoons parmesan grated
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil more as needed
- Salt and pepper to taste
Sauce:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock
- 1/4 capers drained
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
Chicken:
- Start by lightly pounding the chicken and slicing it in halves horizontally, butterflying the chicken breasts open. If the breast pieces you are working with are large, you may want to cut them each into two pieces.
- Place the butterflied chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound them with a meat hammer to 1/4-inch thickness.
- In a large shallow bowl combine the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, grated parmesan, salt, and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture and set aside.
- In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat and cook chicken for about 4-5 minutes per side or until just until cooked through. Cook in batches if needed. Remove from pan and place into a deep dish, cover with foil to keep warm.
Sauce:
- In the same pan, melt the butter and add flour to create a roux, whisk until smooth. Cook 1-2 minutes.
- Gradually stir in chicken broth whisking until smooth.
- Add lemon juice, white wine, lemon zest, and capers. Simmer the mixture for 3-5 minutes, whisking occasionally.
- Add chicken back to the pan and simmer 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in parsley and serve over pasta.
Nutrition
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