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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.
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.
Chicken Piccata Recipe
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 fresh lemon juice 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.
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.
This was excellent and I’ve made various versions over the years. I served it with roasted and smashed mini potatoes and asparagus.
I made this dish this evening but added chopped prosciutto.Yummy!
Best recipe ever for chicken Piccata. My guests enjoyed it tremendously as did I.
I am excited to try this! I used to work in a restaurant and this was my favorite thing to order on the menu! I haven’t had it in almost 4 years now. They added halved cherry tomatoes and artichokes to it and it was so amazing!
I hope this one lives up to the memory. Enjoy, Cari!
This is a FAVORITE in our house! Planning to make this on Christmas Eve for my in laws. Can I just double the recipe for more sauce if I plan on having for chicken? Thanks!
That sounds like a delicious idea, Kristen! Enjoy!
Just made this, very easy and delicious!! I did have to change one thing, didn’t realize I didn’t have any chicken stock so I used a packet of chicken gravy mix… it turned out awesome!!! Made the sauce a bit thicker which we love!
Great recipe, quick and easy. Love it!
Absolutely delicious!!
just made this tonight with chicken tenderloins..turned out great with linguini
Was able to make sauce ahead of time early in the morning and let it sit until I was ready for dinner made the sauce again as in recipe. We had double sauce for our angel hair pasta and enough sauce for leftovers
This recipe has become my go-to meal.
My husband called this “restaurant quality” and learned to love capers while enjoying this meal.
Serve it with angel hair pasta and roasted asparagus
Made this for dinner tonight and followed the recipe exactly. It was amazing!! Thank you for a great recipe!
This was was amazing. My foodie boyfriend didn’t leave a morsel of food on his plate when he was finished and kept raving about great it was! I used chicken thighs instead of breast and used the flour with lemon peel to thicken the sauce for the flour to use at the end. 10/10 recommend! #recipeisakeeper
So happy to hear that Dawn! Glad you both enjoyed it.
Great recipe that leaves room for tweaking!
Very good recipe
This was so awesome! Easy and elegant. I used chicken tenders and flattened them out a little (1/4″). This is definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome Donna! Sounds like a great idea!
Love your recipes!
I’m giving this four stars, but it is likely my error for this rating. I think my cast iron pan was simply too hot and, although the chicken can out beautifully, the roux was brown. I must have burned the butter and flour to have caused this. Still, I went ahead and finished. It was a passable dinner, but not what I wanted to put down. Any thoughts? PS I absolutely love and have such success with all your other delicious recipes!!
I agree, if the roux was brown, chances are that your pan was too hot Kathy.
I use marinated articoke hearts and juice with my chicken piccata
Sounds delicous Patty!
Incredibly delicious and simple to prepare!! Saving this one for sure!