Chicken Piccata
A classic Italian-American dish that's super underrated. Lemony, caper-topped, and just buttery goodness, my chicken piccata recipe makes for an easy weeknight supper that's fast and easy to love. A few simple ingredients, 25 minutes, and dinner is ready! Serve with some pasta, rice, or steamed or sauteed veggies.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced in half lengthwise and pounded to 1/2-inch thickness
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 large lemons
- 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 1 tbsp separated
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 shallot minced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 ½ cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tbsp dry white wine
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter cut into 6 pieces
- 2 tbsp capers drained
- Heavy cream optional (see notes for the creamy version)
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Halve 1 lemon lengthwise. Trim the ends from one half, halve lengthwise again, then cut into 1/4-inch thick strips. Juice the remaining half and whole lemon, then set aside.
- Spread the flour in a dish. Dredge the chicken in the flour, shaking off the excess back into the dish.
- Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat with 2 tbsp of vegetable oil until just smoking. Cook half of the cutlets until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a dish, then heat the remaining oil and repeat with the remaining chicken.
- Turn the heat to medium, then add a drizzle of more oil if desired and cook the shallots until softened, about 1 minute. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more until fragrant. Add the chicken broth, wine, reserved lemon juice, and lemon slices. Allow it to simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add the cutlets to the sauce and simmer for 4 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking. Make sure the chicken is 165F before removing it from the sauce. Add 1 tbsp of flour and whisk to thicken the sauce.
- Remove the pan from the heat, then add butter one piece at a time, whisking to incorporate. Stir in the capers and parsley. Add the chicken back in and coat with sauce. Serve.
Notes
Make it creamy: Follow up to step 6, then add in 1/2 cup heavy cream. Stir to incorporate. Allow it to come to a simmer then turn off the heat. Continue to step 7.
Variation: Add 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese to the flour before dredging the chicken cutlets.