Chicken Piccata
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Make a classic Italian dish at home with this easy Chicken Piccata recipe. Made with an incredibly flavorful lemon caper sauce, it only takes 30 minutes to make this delicious dish! Serve it with pasta for a simple weeknight meal.
This chicken piccata recipe is one of my go-to meals during the week. It’s so easy to make and the sauce is so incredibly flavorful, I could just slurp it up with a spoon!
I love to serve the piccata with pasta to keep things simple, but it’s also delicious over creamy polenta or mashed potatoes.
This recipe is quick and easy to make, and is pretty much guaranteed to become a new family favorite at your house! Be sure to save this recipe so you can come back to it again and again.
Ingredients
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts – you could also make this recipe with chicken thighs, but I prefer chicken breasts. They’re a lean protein option, and they cook quickly when sliced in half through the middle. For this recipe, you want the chicken breasts to be about a half inch thick.
- All-purpose flour – to make this recipe gluten free, you can use cornstarch, or a gluten-free flour blend to bread the chicken.
- Salt and black pepper – to season the chicken and the lemon caper sauce.
- Butter – used both to cook the chicken and brown it on the outside, and to make the delicious lemon caper piccata sauce.
- Olive oil – extra virgin olive oil has a great neutral flavor that works perfectly along with everything else. You can use other mild tasting vegetable oils as well.
- Shallot – this variety of onion has a sweet, delicate flavor with a hint of sharpness. You can substitute onions in this recipe, just know that they’ll have a more sharp, pungent, less sweet flavor than the shallots.
- Garlic – I always recommend fresh minced cloves for the best flavor.
- Chicken broth – a cup of broth is added to deglaze the pan and make the base of the piccata sauce.
- Fresh lemon juice and zest – I recommend zesting a fresh lemon first, then slicing it open and juicing it for fresh zest and juice that will really brighten up the dish and shine through in the sauce.
- Capers – these little pickled flower buds have a briny, savory flavor, similar to green olives. You can find them in small glass jars near the olives at the grocery store.
- Fresh parsley (optional) – chop this up as a fresh garnish to finish the dish.
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe super easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Prepare the chicken.
- Add flour to a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper.
- Slice two chicken breasts in half, lengthwise through the middle. Place the chicken pieces on a cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. Use a meat tenderizer to pound the chicken until it’s 1/2 inch thick.
- Dredge each piece of chicken through the seasoned flour until it’s coated on all sides. Shake off any excess flour, then set the chicken aside.
- Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat.
- Once the butter is melted and the skillet is hot, add the chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set it on a wire rack. Loosely cover with a piece of foil.
Prepare the lemon caper piccata sauce.
- In the same skillet that you cooked the chicken, melt 3 tablespoons of butter.
- Once melted, add minced shallots and garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour chicken broth in the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Bring the sauce to a simmer, then simmer for 5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat on the stove to low and add lemon juice, lemon zest and capers. Stir to combine everything and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
To finish the dish, plate the chicken and pour the sauce over the chicken. Optionally garnish with chopped fresh parsley. Serve the chicken with cooked pasta, white rice, brown rice, polenta, or mashed potatoes.
Be sure to prepare the side dishes before starting the chicken piccata recipe, because you want to serve the chicken with it’s nice and hot.
Recipe tips
- Do not add the chicken to the pan until it’s hot! If you add the chicken to the pan when it’s cold, it will not sear on the outside and get the beautiful golden crust that we’re looking for. It also won’t cook fully in 5 minutes on each side.
- I always recommend using an instant-read thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken to make sure it reaches 165°F in the thickest part of the breast. Since chicken breast sizes vary greatly, it might take 1-2 more minutes on each side to cook the chicken breast fully. Be sure the chicken breasts are fully cooked before making the pan sauce.
- To make this chicken piccata recipe gluten free, replace the flour with cornstarch, or an all-purpose gluten free flour blend.
Storage and reheating
Store chicken piccata leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
I recommend reheating the chicken in a pan on the stove with a little bit of olive oil, over medium heat for 2-3 minutes per side, or until heated through.
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Chicken Piccata
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Piccata sauce
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 shallot, minced (or ½ cup minced red onion)
- 1 tablespoon garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth, or half broth and half dry white wine
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh squeezed
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons capers
To garnish
- 2 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Slice each chicken breast in half, lengthwise through the middle. Place the pieces of chicken on a cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. Use a meat tenderizer to pound the chicken until it’s ½ inch thick.
- Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl, then dredge the chicken in the flour until it's covered on all sides.
- Add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil to a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat.
- Once the butter has melted, and the skillet is hot, add the chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes per side, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Remove the chicken from the skillet and set it aside on a wire rack. Loosely tent with foil.
Picatta Sauce
- In the same skillet that you cooked the chicken, melt 3 tablespoons of butter.
- Once melted, add the minced shallots and garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the chicken stock in the skillet and season with the salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then simmer for 5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat on the stove to low, then add the lemon juice, lemon zest and capers. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Plate the chicken and pour the sauce over the chicken for serving. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if you'd like.
Notes
- Do not add the chicken to the pan until it’s hot! If you add the chicken to the pan when it’s cold, it will not sear on the outside and get the beautiful golden crust that we’re looking for. It also won’t cook fully in 5 minutes on each side.
- To make this recipe gluten free, replace the flour with cornstarch, or an all-purpose gluten free flour blend.
- Store chicken piccata leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. I recommend reheating the chicken in a pan on the stove with a little bit of olive oil, over medium heat for 2-3 minutes per side, or until heated through.
Nutrition Facts
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