Chicken Saltimbocca Recipe

This delicious chicken saltimbocca with white wine garlic sauce is the absolute perfect weeknight meal to serve to family or guests. You will love how this comes together in under 30 minutes.

We eat chicken several times a week and love how lean it is and how easy it is to include it in recipes. If you love it as well, then try my Chicken Fried Rice or Chicken Francese.

Chicken Saltimbocca

Saltimbocca is traditionally a Roman dish consisting of veal scaloppini with prosciutto ham and fresh sage. It can either be rolled up or served flat, like I did.

This is an adapted dish from the classic Italian recipe, veal saltimbocca. Veal has become exceedingly hard to find and is on the more expensive side, so the chicken is a great substitute. You make this recipe in the same way with prosciutto ham and sage.

I can’t think of an easier more delicious recipe to make than this chicken saltimbocca. It’s got crispy prosciutto, herbs, and is loaded with protein thanks to the chicken breasts. You can also take it a step further by adding on cheeses and of course, finishing with the amazing white wine garlic pan sauce I made.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Chicken – You will need boneless skinless chicken breasts for this.
• Sage – You will use fresh sage that is encrusted to the chicken as well as in the sauce. Feel free to substitute with dry sage. One sage leaf is equal to 1 teaspoon of dry sage.
• Ham – Prosciutto ham is the classical ham to use in this dish. However, you can use speck, serrano, or even a country-style ham.
• Flour – All-purpose flour is needed for the breading.
• Oil – You can use olive or avocado oil to cook the chicken. Since this is an Italian dish, I recommend using olive oil.
• Shallots – I used shallots in the sauce. However, you can substitute with white, red, or sweet onion.
• Garlic – A few minced garlic cloves are used for the sauce.
• Wine – Any good dry white wine such as chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, or Pinot Grigio works well.
• Stock – Chicken stock is used for the pan gravy. Feel free to also use vegetable stock or brodo.
• Butter – I always use unsalted butter in my cooking and baking so that I control the sodium content.

How to Make Chicken Saltimbocca

1. Slice the 7-9 ounce chicken breasts in half width-wise.
2. Pound it out until they are ½” to 3/4” thick.
3. Season them on both sides with salt, pepper, and finely minced sage.
4. Press a slice of prosciutto ham on top of each breast covering it.
   
5. This part is optional, but press 1 piece of fresh sage to the center of the prosciutto ham on top of the chicken breasts.
6. Lightly dredge them in seasoned flour.
7. Pan-fry them for 2-3 minutes per side in olive oil over medium heat or until browned and cooked through. Serve as is or with a sauce.

Chicken Saltimbocca Sauce

Here are my favorite sauces to serve Chicken Saltimbocca with.

Lemon Butter Sauce – A typical sauce made in the same pan consisting of lemon juice, unsalted butter, salt, and pepper that is then poured over the top.

Pan Gravy – A gravy made in the same pan where you quickly sauté shallots and garlic until browned, about 2 minutes, that is deglazed with white wine and cooked until it is almost gone. You add chicken stock and cook over high heat until it becomes like a thin gravy, about 3-4 minutes. It’s finished with butter, chopped parsley and sage, sea salt and pepper, and served over top of the chicken saltimbocca.

Mushroom Gravy – The same recipe as the pan gravy except you add wild mushrooms to the pan along with the shallots and garlic until they are roasted up.

1. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan and quickly saúte just until fragrant, which takes about 30 to 45 seconds.
2. Deglaze with white wine and cook until au sec or almost gone.
3. Pour in the chicken stock and cook over high heat for 3-4 minutes or until it becomes a thin gravy.
4. Finish with butter, 1 teaspoon sage, parsley, salt and pepper.

How To Bake Chicken Saltimbocca

1. Once it’s lightly dredged in the seasoned flour, place it on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper or sprayed with non-stick spray.
2. Bake in the oven at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until the prosciutto is lightly browned and is cooked throughout.
3. Make the sauce separate in a large sauté pan and serve alongside the baked chicken.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: This is meant to be eaten as soon as it’s done cooking. However, you can keep it warm in a pan over very low heat for up to 20 minutes before serving.

How to Store: This will hold in the refrigerator covered up for up to 4 days. It will also freeze well covered for up to 3 months. Pull it out as you need it and let thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before using it.

How to Reheat: To reheat it place back in a pan with some of the pan sauce, cover, and cook in the oven for 10 minutes at 350°.

chef notes + tips

• The sauce that goes with saltimbocca can vary slightly depending on the region in Italy.
• All of these sauces that can go with it are delicious, but the pan gravy is what I made with this recipe.
• If you finish off the meal with a little squeeze of lemon and make sure it is seasoned well with salt, then you can enjoy whatever wine you’d like with this recipe.
• Baking it will not have the same caramelization on the prosciutto, chicken, or sage, as it does when being pan-fried.

More Chicken Recipes

• Chicken Piccata
• Creamy Chicken Dumpling Soup Recipe 
• Chicken Milanese
• Chicken Parmigiana 
• Best Fried Chicken Recipe
• Authentic Chicken Curry

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Chicken Saltimbocca Recipe

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5 from 25 votes

This delicious chicken saltimbocca with white wine garlic sauce is the absolute perfect weeknight meal & comes together in under 30 minutes.

Servings: 10

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

For the Chicken:

• 5 7-9 ounce chicken breasts, sliced in half width-wise
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon finely minced fresh sage
• 10 slices prosciutto ham
• 10 fresh sage leaves
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup olive oil

For the Sauce:

• ½ small diced shallot
• 2 finely minced cloves of garlic
• ½ cup dry white wine, like chardonnay
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon finely minced fresh parsley
• coarse salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Pound each sliced chicken breast until it is ½” to ¾” thick.
• Season both sides with salt and pepper and then evenly sprinkle on the 1 tablespoon of fresh sage.
• Press a piece of prosciutto ham onto each pounded out chicken breast covering it.
• Next, place a fresh sage leaf into the center of the prosciutto ham on the chicken and press it in to stick. Set aside.
• In a bowl or pan mix together the flour, salt and pepper, and lightly dredge each chicken saltimbocca in the flour and pat off any excess and set aside.
• Add the olive oil to a large saute pan over medium heat and cook the saltimbocca in batches prosciutto ham side down first for 2 ½ to 3 minutes per side or until browned and cooked through out.
• Set the cooked chicken saltimbocca aside and add the shallot and garlic to the pan and saute for 1 to 2 minutes.
• Deglaze with white wine and cook until it’s au sec or almost gone.
• Pour in the chicken stock and cook over high heat for 3-4 minutes or until it becomes a thin gravy.
• Finish with butter, 1 teaspoon sage, parsley, salt and pepper.
• Serve the pan sauce over top of the cooked chicken saltimbocca.

Notes

Make-Ahead: This is meant to be eaten as soon as it’s done cooking. However, you can keep it warm in a pan over very low heat for up to 20 minutes before serving.

Storing and Freezing: This will hold in the refrigerator covered up for up to 4 days. It will also freeze well covered for up to 3 months. Pull it out as you need it and let thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before using it.

How to Reheat: To reheat it place back in a pan with some of the pan sauce, cover, and cook in the oven for 10 minutes at 350°.

The sauce that goes with saltimbocca can vary slightly depending on the region in Italy.

All of these sauces that can go with it are delicious, but the pan gravy is what I made with this recipe.

If you finish off the meal with a little squeeze of lemon and make sure it is seasoned well with salt, then you can enjoy whatever wine you’d like with this recipe.

Baking it will not have the same caramelization on the prosciutto, chicken, or sage, like it does when being pan-fried.

Nutrition

Calories: 200.95kcalCarbohydrates: 11.74gProtein: 10.55gFat: 11.18gSaturated Fat: 2.88gCholesterol: 31.14mgSodium: 145.3mgPotassium: 205.58mgFiber: 0.42gSugar: 0.82gVitamin A: 45.19IUVitamin C: 0.7mgCalcium: 10.75mgIron: 0.94mg

Course: Main

Cuisine: Italian

Author: Chef Billy Parisi