This delicious chicken piccata recipe comes together in under 30 minutes and is the perfect date night meal to serve up.
If you love simple chicken recipes, then this is hands down for you. Like my Chicken Cacciatore Recipe, It has few ingredients and is incredibly delicious. From the lemon flavor to the tender perfectly cooked chicken boneless breasts, to the rich buttery sauce, this one my friends is a guaranteed people pleaser.
What Is Chicken Piccata
This is a simple recipe consisting of lightly floured pan-seared chicken breasts that are served up with a simple beurre blanc pan sauce with capers and lemon juice. it’s is a classic Italian recipe traditionally using veal.
Piccata is a cooking technique where you pan-fry thin slices of meat that is served with a sauce.
Ingredients
Most of the ingredients for chicken piccata are simple and can easily be found at your local grocery store.
- Chicken Breasts
- Flour
- Shallots
- Garlic
- White Wine (Pinot Grigio)
- Capers
- Lemon Juice
- Butter
- Sea Salt and Pepper
The Sauce
The chicken piccata pan sauce is essentially a beurre blanc, which is a white wine butter sauce, with the addition of lemon juice, capers, and parsley. It is very similar to the sauce I use in my Pan Seared Scallops Recipe.
How to Make the Best Chicken Piccata
Slice the chicken breasts in half width-wise and gently pound them in between 2 pieces of plastic wrap so that they are about a ½” thick.
Coat the chicken breasts in salt and pepper seasoned flour until coated and pat off any excess flour.
Pan sear the chicken breasts in olive oil for 4-5 minutes per side or until golden brown and set them aside.
Add the shallots and garlic to the pan and quickly sauté for 1 to 2 minutes.
Deglaze with white wine and add in the capers.
Squeeze in lemon juice and cook until the liquid is almost gone or, “au sec.”
Remove the pan from the burner and stir in the butter by moving the pan in a circular motion to mix it in.
Finish the sauce with parsley, lemon juice, and salt and pepper.
What Kind of White Wine Do You Use
The wine that would be classically used in this recipe would be a Pinot Grigio but any other dry Italian white wine would work.
Is There a Substitute for Capers
There is no perfect substitute for capers in a chicken piccata however you could simply use sliced or chopped green olives, like in a Puttanesca sauce.
Recipe Chef Notes + Tips
Make-Ahead: You can precook the chicken but you will not be able to make the sauce ahead of time as it will break.
Storing It: Keep covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
How to Freeze: Cover and keep frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw for 1 day in the refrigerator before reheating.
If your sauce breaks add some cold heavy cream to help emulsify it back together.
You actually do not need to flour the chicken ahead of time if you’d like to keep this gluten-free.
How To Reheat: You can place the chicken in the sauce back into a pan and heat over low heat until hot.
You can absolutely use a spoon or whisk to mix in the butter to the sauce at the end.
Try pounding out the chicken in a plastic zip bag 2 at a time if that is easier.
What To Serve It With
This would go excellent with these amazing side dishes:
More Amazing Chicken Recipes
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Video
Chicken Piccata Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 7-9 ounce boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 peeled small diced shallot
- 2 finely minced cloves of garlic
- ¼ cup white wine
- ¼ cup capers
- juice of ½ lemon + 1 tablespoon
- 1 stick unsalted butter cut into pads
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Slice the chicken breasts in half widthwise.
- Place them in between 2 large pieces of plastic wrap or in a large plastic zip bag and gently pound them with a mallet until they are about a ½” thick. Set aside.
- Add the flour to a bowl and season very well with salt and pepper and mix together.
- Coat the chicken breasts on both sides in the flour and pat off any excess flour. Set on a plate.
- Add the olive oil to a large frying pan over high heat. Once the oil begins to very lightly smoke add in the chicken breasts and immediately turn the heat down to medium.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes or until browned and halfway cooked through and flip over.
- Turn the heat down to low and cook for a further 4-5 minutes or until cooked throughout.
- Remove the chicken breasts and set aside.
- Add the shallots and garlic to the pan where the chicken was cooked and saute for 1 to 2 minutes or until very lightly browned over low to medium heat.
- Add in the wine, capers, and juice of ½ lemon and cook until the liquid is almost gone or about 1-2 tablespoons are left.
- Remove from the heat and add in the butter and swirl the pan in a circular motion until completely melted.
- Finish with parsley, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, salt, and pepper and pour over the cooked chicken breasts and serve.
Notes
- Make-Ahead: You can precook the chicken but you will not be able to make the sauce ahead of time as it will break.
- How to Store: Keep covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- How to Freeze: Cover and keep frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw for 1 day in the refrigerator before reheating.
- How to Reheat: You can place the chicken in the sauce back into a pan and heat over low heat until hot.
- If your sauce breaks add some cold heavy cream to help emulsify it back together.
- You actually do not need to flour the chicken ahead of time if you’d like to keep this gluten-free.
- You can absolutely use a spoon or whisk to mix in the butter to the sauce at the end.
- Try pounding out the chicken in a plastic zip bag 2 at a time if that is easier.
Nutrition
Kevin Walsh says
Can you share the type/brand of pan you use in this recipe? It looks like carbon steel.
Chef Billy Parisi says
It is, it’s a DeBuyer