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.
What white wine do you recommend using in the recipe?
A Chardonnay or Sauvignon blanc would be a good pairing, we would recommend using something you would like to drink in general!
I thought this was easy and delicious. Yummo.
Delicious and easy! I got cutlets because on sale, they were a better price than chk brsts. That really saves time and energy.
I am looking forward to making chicken piccata.
Wine recommendation?
We serve this with a white like a chardonnay.
Hi Becky,
I keep Vermouth on hand. It works well as wine in recipes and it does not go bad.
Looks delicious. I’m thinking about making this for a party. Do you think it would work to make any part of it ahead? Could I make the chicken ahead and refrigerate or even freeze, then make the sauce and reheat the chicken in it on the day of the party? Any other suggestions?
Hi Kristen, you could make this dish the day before and heat in the oven as per instructions on the day of the party! Enjoy :)
Great but needed to add 3 cloves of garlic with the butter, added a whole lemon or two. I added Parmesan at the end.
Delicious! I used a gluten free flour and served over mashed potatoes. Husband was in heaven!
So delicious! Thank you so much for sharing. My husband and three kids loved it.
My husband grew up on the east coast with the best Italian and be LOVES this dish. I reduced the quantity of chicken broth to 3/4 cup since he likes a thicker broth. Also I keep fresh parsley frozen and it worked great!
It’s great over basmati rice also. Such great flavor.
Great variety of simply great meal ideas.
This chicken piccata was a HUGE hit tonight! Everyone loved it! Defiantly going in my rotation thanks so much!!
Thanks again for your yummy recipes holly. They are all so good.
So glad you’ve enjoyed them Carolann!
I have made chicken piccata many times but this was by far the best one. I really think the secret is the lemon zest in the flour. This recipe is a keeper! Wish I could post a picture. Served with spaghetti and doubled the sauce. Could have licked my plate!
I want to add the zest, but I think I would prefer it better in the sauce.
I don’t have fresh parsley, only dried. Would that work? If so, what would the measurements be? I do have fresh cilantro….not sure if that flavor would work. Making this recipe today. Looks wonderful and I appreciate the detailed, yet understandable information. Thank you.
I would suggest using the dried parsley (and not the cilantro). You will need 2 teaspoons of dried parsley. Enjoy!
I served this over garlic cauliflower mash with beet greens and fresh green beans as sides. After dinner it occurred to me that if I’d eaten at a restaurant I’d be in the parking lot giving a RAVE Yelp review. So I’m doing that now. I’ve used many of your recipes and this is another example of why. Just spot on, I wouldn’t change a thing and will suggest it to everyone I know. Thank you Holly! ps- the lemon zest was inspired.
Aww thank you so much for your kind words Jane, you made my night!! I really appreciate you coming back and leaving a review! :)
An absolutely superb dish, and very easy to make. I put ours on a bed of roasted golden and purple mini potatoes and added a nice fresh salad. Outstanding!
PERFECT without any changes. Best chicken piccata recipe ever. The right ingredients, the correct amount and easy to follow instructions. As good or better than eating out.
My sauce turned brown. What did I do wrong? Still tasted good.
If it turned dark brown you may have “overcooked” it slightly Melanie. Still delicious so I wouldn’t worry but you could try lowering your temperature slightly in step 3 to help with that.
I read your receipe, and out of all the others, and it is exactly what I wanted to find. I look forward to making it and many of your other receipes.