Elegant and easy.
Chicken piccata is one of those recipes that looks much more complicated than it really is. It looks so elegant, with the tender, juicy chicken breasts drenched in buttery lemon sauce and sprinkled with capers, that it makes you think only a master chef could handle it.
But in fact, it’s one of the simplest chicken dishes there is. No, really, it is! All you have to do is coat your chicken breasts in the seasoning mix, cook them in a skillet, add the sauce ingredients to the pan, and let it heat through. That’s it! Trust me, if you can handle a dish like my Thai Peanut Chicken or Bruschetta Chicken, you can do this – no problem.
If you still feel intimidated, think about this: Chicken Piccata is an Italian dish, and you probably know lots of Italian dishes that you make all the time without even thinking about it. You have no trouble with spaghetti and meatballs, right? Or Easy Eggplant Parmesan? Just think about this dish as part of the same category, and you’ll be fine.
And if your family is super impressed when they taste this tender, flavorful chicken dish because they think it must have been super hard – well, what they don’t know won’t hurt them.
Isn’t chicken piccata supposed to have white wine in the sauce?
- Some recipes call for it, but you don’t need it. The really essential flavors come from the lemon, the butter, and those zingy little capers. If you’ve got all of those, you can use stock instead of wine and your sauce will have plenty of punch.
OK, but don’t you have to pound the chicken breasts flat before cooking them?
- Nah. They’ll cook more evenly if you do it that way, but as long as you cut the breasts in half and check to make sure they get to the right internal temperature, you’re fine.
What should I serve with Chicken Piccata?
- It’s delicious over pasta or rice, which soaks up all that yummy, buttery sauce. If you don’t want all those carbs, try a lighter alternative like zucchini noodles or cauliflower rice. A Caesar salad or green salad with Italian dressing is great on the side.
How to Make Chicken Piccata
- Slice the lemon in half. Squeeze to juice ½ of the lemon, slice the other ½ and set aside.
- Mix salt, pepper and garlic into a small bowl, set aside.
- Slice chicken in half. Season both sides of the chicken breast with salt, pepper and garlic mix.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and oil into a large skillet. Add 4 pieces of the chicken and cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat with the last 4 pieces.
- Reduce the heat and add chicken broth, flour, lemon juice, sliced lemons and capers. Cook for 2-3 minutes while scraping down the sides of the pan.
- Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter until melted.
- Spoon the sauce over the top of the cooked chicken breast.
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Chicken Piccata
This Chicken Piccata is so easy to make. It has tender, juicy chicken breasts drenched in buttery lemon sauce and sprinkled with capers.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Serves:8
Hover over “serves” value to reveal recipe scaler
Ingredients
- 1 lemon ½ juiced, ½ slices
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅓ cup flour
- 4 tablespoons butter divided
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 cup of chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons of capers or a mix of capers and olives
Instructions
-
Slice the lemon in half. Squeeze to juice ½ of the lemon, slice the other ½ and set aside.
-
Mix salt, pepper and garlic into a small bowl, set aside.
-
Slice chicken in half. Season both sides of the chicken breast with salt, pepper and garlic mix.
-
Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and oil into a large skillet. Add 4 pieces of the chicken and cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat with the last 4 pieces.
-
Reduce the heat and add chicken broth, flour, lemon juice, sliced lemons and capers. Cook for 2-3 minutes while scraping down the sides of the pan.
-
Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter until melted.
-
Spoon the sauce over the top of the cooked chicken breast.
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 236kcal (12%)Carbohydrates: 6g (2%)Protein: 25g (50%)Fat: 12g (18%)Saturated Fat: 5g (25%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 87mg (29%)Sodium: 580mg (24%)Potassium: 475mg (14%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 1g (1%)Vitamin A: 214IU (4%)Vitamin C: 11mg (13%)Calcium: 15mg (2%)Iron: 1mg (6%)