Italian · Main · Easy
Chicken Piccata
Thin chicken cutlets in a bright lemon butter sauce with briny capers. Fast, elegant, and done in 20 minutes.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Chicken Piccata, in 5 ideas
- Pounding the chicken even is the secret to quick, even cooking.
- Dredge in flour right before cooking or the coating turns gummy.
- Deglazing with wine captures all the flavor stuck to the pan.
- Swirl the butter in at the end off the heat for a silky sauce.
- Serve over angel hair pasta or mashed potatoes to catch the sauce.
What you need
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4 inch thick
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp butter, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup capers, drained
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
How to make it
Directions
- Pound the chicken breasts to an even 1/4 inch thickness between sheets of plastic wrap.
- Mix the flour, salt, and pepper on a plate and dredge each cutlet, shaking off excess.
- Heat olive oil and 1 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium high heat until shimmering.
- Sear the chicken 3 minutes per side until golden, then transfer to a plate and tent with foil.
- Lower the heat, add garlic, and cook 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Pour in the white wine and scrape up the browned bits, then add broth, lemon juice, and capers.
- Simmer 3 minutes until slightly reduced, then swirl in the remaining 3 tbsp butter.
- Return the chicken to the pan, spoon sauce over it, and sprinkle with parsley before serving.
Chicken broth stands in for wine if you prefer not to cook with alcohol, just add an extra squeeze of lemon.