Chicken piccata is one of my all-time favorite dishes, and it’s SO easy to make!
Chicken breasts are lightly browned and simmered in a bright lemon caper white wine sauce. Serve over pasta or with crusty bread.
This recipe comes together quickly for a delicious weeknight favorite.
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You’ll Love This Chicken Piccata Because…
- This is a restaurant-quality dish that comes together quickly.
- It uses simple ingredients that I always have on hand.
- It seems fancy, but it’s actually quite easy to make!
- The sauce is bright and flavorful with lemon, capers, and wine (or broth).
What Is Chicken Piccata?
Piccata is a dish with meat in a buttery lemon caper sauce. Piccata is usually served over pasta.
This is a chicken piccata recipe; however, it can also be made with veal or shrimp—you’ll find a 20-minute shrimp piccata in my cookbook. The sauce is vibrant but delicate, so I prefer to serve it with thinner pasta such as angel hair or light linguine.
Unlock the Magic of Chicken Piccata
- Chicken: Choose small, skinless, boneless chicken breasts for this recipe. You can also use chicken cutlets or boneless skinless chicken thighs in this recipe.
- Broth: Chicken broth is the base of this piccata sauce, adding flavor while balancing the lemon so it’s not overpowering. A simple butter and flour roux thickens it up.
- Lemon: Fresh lemon adds the best flavor, I also add zest to the flour mix.
- Capers: Capers have a tangy, briny, salty flavor and are delicious. You can replace capers with chopped green olives, chopped artichoke hearts, or even a very small amount finely chopped anchovy.
- Wine: Choose a dry white wine like pinot grigio or replace the wine with additional broth.
How to Make Chicken Piccata
- The Chicken: Pound the chicken and dredge it in the flour mixture. Brown brown it on each side in a large skillet or braiser.
- The Sauce: Add the flour and butter to the pan. Slowly add the broth. Then add the lemon juice, capers, and wine. Simmer until thickened.
- The Final Touch: Add the chicken to the sauce until heated through.
Holly’s Helpful Tips
If the chicken breasts are around 6oz each, gently pound to ½-inch thick. If they’re larger, you can cut them in half crosswise before pounding. This will help them to cook quickly and evenly.
To pound chicken, place the chicken on a cutting board and cover it with plastic wrap (to avoid splatter). Use the flat side of a meat tenderizer or a rolling pin to gently pound the chicken.
Pan-frying in batches helps the chicken to brown better.
What to Serve With Chicken Piccata
Pasta: Chicken piccata has a delicious buttery lemon sauce, and it’s great over a long, thin pasta like angel hair or spaghettini.
Other starches: It can also be served with mashed potatoes, rice, noodles or a big chunk of crusty bread for dipping (if you haven’t tried my easy artisan bread, it’s a favorite).
Veggies: I love to pair this easy chicken piccata recipe with a fresh green veggie like broccoli, asparagus, green beans, or Brussels sprouts.
Pucker Up With These Fresh Lemon Favorites
Storing Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Did you enjoy this Chicken Piccata Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts 6 ounces each, about 1 ½ lbs
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons olive oil more as needed
- salt and black pepper to taste
Sauce
- ¼ cup salted butter
- 1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken broth or chicken stock
- ½ lemon juiced, about 1 ½ tablespoons
- ½ cup dry white wine or chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons capers drained
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley additional for garnish
- shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Using a meat mallet, gently pound each chicken breast to ½-inch thick. See notes for larger chicken breasts.
- Combine the all-purpose flour, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl. Dip each chicken breast in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess.
- In a 10-inch skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken in two batches for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until lightly browned and cooked through (165°F). Remove from the skillet and set aside to keep warm.
- Reduce the heat to medium and melt the butter in the same skillet. Whisk in the flour, scraping up any brown bits, and cook for 2 minutes.
- Gradually add the chicken broth, whisking until smooth after each addition.
- Add lemon juice, white wine, and capers. Simmer for 3 minutes, whisking occasionally.
- Add the chicken back into the skillet, and simmer in the sauce for 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir in the chopped parsley and serve.
Video
Notes
- Chicken: If the chicken breasts are very large (over 7oz), cut them in half crosswise and pound to ½-inch thick if needed. It can be replaced with chicken thighs or veal—adjust cooking time as needed.
- Sauce: Use fresh lemon juice for the best flavor. Capers can be replaced with finely chopped green olive if desired.
- Serving: I love chicken piccata with a thin pasta like linguini or angel hair pasta. It can also be served with mashed potatoes or rice. Serve with roasted asparagus, steamed broccoli, or roasted cauliflower pair well.
- Fresh minced garlic can be added to the butter in the skillet if desired.
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© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
EXCELLENT recipe!!! Chicken piccata is my all-time favorite meal. And I hate when people modify recipes and say, “oh I left this out, and I put this in, and I substituted this for that and that for this”. That’s not the recipe the person posted, that’s a totally different recipe people.
I didn’t change a thing, only doubling up on the sauce since I like extra sauce for my mashed potatoes or pasta. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful dish.
Agreed, Ginger. If you’re going to change the recipe, don’t leave a rating! :-)
Absolutely phenomenal recipe. Easy to follow and totally delicious. Served it with your Italian salad recipe. Better than our favorite Italian restaurant. I have enjoyed so many of your recipes.
Made this for mom’s birthday dinner.
YUMMY!!!!!
We both loved this recipe!
Did not make any changes at all. Perfect.
This Piccata was excellent! Lemon did not overwhelm the dish.
Love you recipes
This is by far the best chicken piccata recipe!! I have tried several others in search of the best, and this is it!! This recipe is a keeper!!
My god this dish was delicious! My whole family loved it and everyone went back for seconds. Thank you for this recipe. I look forward to making it again
These are great recipes
This was absolutely amazing! I added some sliced marinated artichoke hearts and wilted spinach at the end because they went with it perfectly and my husband said it was restaurant quality! Thank you so much!
Seriously…this was beyond amazing. I actually used the leftover flour mixture for the flour in the sauce and sautéed the butter with a little minced garlic. But the sauce was perfect. For someone whose been wanting to make chicken piccata for awhile now, I’m SO glad this was the recipe I found. I’m excited to add this to my rotation of meals. My boyfriend complimented me and said this is one of the best meals I’ve had in awhile! Made us feel like we were in a fancy restaurant!
That is great Juliana! So glad this recipe was a hit for you :)
I love this recipe. I wouldn’t change a thing. The sauce makes the dish. I have made it with both rice and a pasta and found both great. Thank you for sharing it. (A side note: I did use pheasant breasts one time and our guests loved how tender and flavorful they were.)
EXCELENTE………… TODAS VUESTRAS RECETAS SE COCINAN A LA PERFECCION Y RESULTAN MUY SABROSAS………….
Fabulous! Made it on a weeknight and it was a winner…quick and easy. I may make a little more sauce next time to put over the pasta. I’ve been craving it so will make again this week. Thank you!
Hi,
You mentioned in the second paragraph under “How to Make…” that the sauce brings out the various flavors including garlic, but I didn’t see garlic in the recipe.
A little confused….
Nevertheless it sounds great and am excited to try it this week.
Dana
Apologies for the confusion Dana, this recipe does not contain garlic.
Great recipe find! Tasty and simple. Everyone enjoyed this meal, will make again!
Perfect piccata!
I add lemon zest to type sauce and pair with either fresh pasta or rice
I don’t like capers, would this receive work without them.
Yes but they do add a salty briney flavor. A good substitute might be green olives (although I haven’t tried it). You can leave them out, it would be more of a lemon chicken flavor but still delicious I’m sure!
So easy and fast. My family loved it.
Hi! Can you make this Chicken Piccata with Ghee instead of the butter?
While I haven’t tried it I do think it will work beautifully. Let us know how it goes Laurie!
Absolutely great! Made extra sauce and served with angel hair pasta, salad, and bread. Will make often!