This quick and easy Chicken Piccata Recipe is made with juicy chicken breasts in a buttery and creamy lemon sauce with tangy capers and fresh parsley. We love serving this romantic dish over fresh Angel hair pasta.
Holy smokes, you guys! If you haven’t had the deliciousness of Chicken Piccata before, you’re in for a real treat. This tender, pan-fried chicken is simmered in a buttery and silky smooth lemon sauce that’s finger-licking good. I think my favorite part are the tiny capers that stud the sauce and give you a salty punch. (in a good way).
What Is Chicken Piccata?
Chicken Piccata is a classic Italian dish that consists of chicken breasts that have been pounded thin, then dredged in flour and seared in butter. It’s then simmered in a buttery, lemon wine sauce that’s filled with capers and fresh parsley. This Italian dinner is typically prepared with veal instead of chicken, but most commonly served over freshly cooked pasta.
How To Sear Chicken:
- Start by halving your chicken breasts to create two thinner slices per breast. This will help to make your chicken cook quickly and efficiently.
- Season the chicken with salt and lemon pepper seasoning, then lightly coat (dredge) them with all purpose flour to give them a nice golden brown crust when cooked.
- Sear the chicken in a hot skillet on both sides, until cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.
How To Make Chicken Piccata Sauce:
- Remove the chicken from the skillet and toss in some butter and garlic. Sauté until fragrant then whisk in all purpose flour to create a simple roux.
- Add a splash or two of white wine and scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pan (hello flavor town!).
- Finish the sauce by stirring in some chicken broth, lemon juice and the capers. Add a little more butter to the sauce then let it simmer and return the chicken to the sauce to heat through. Garnish with fresh parsley.
Recipe Tips and Variations –
- In order to get a beautiful pale yellow sauce, you want to make sure you don’t heat the skillet too high when cooking your chicken so it doesn’t burn. Too much browned/blackened bits on the bottom of the skillet will turn your sauce a little more brown than yellow.
- You can use chicken thighs or tenderloins in place of chicken breasts, just make sure they’re cooked through.
- This recipe would also work really well with thinly sliced pork chops, veal, cod or tilapia!
- To get ultra tender chicken, make sure to pound the chicken to an even thickness before dredging in the flour.
- Not a fan of capers? You could leave them out, but this would no longer be considered a piccata recipe; although it would still be delicious.
What To Serve with Chicken Piccata
This quick and easy chicken dish is best served over fresh cooked pasta. Angel hair pasta is our favorite because it cooks quite fast, making this an easy weeknight favorite.
We have also served this lemon chicken over creamy Mashed Potatoes or even riced cauliflower (for a low carb option).
These 2 Ingredient Dough Garlic Breadsticks would make a great side too!
More Favorite Chicken Recipes To Try:
- Juicy Oven Baked Chicken Breasts
- Last Minute Chicken Recipe
- Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts
- Spinach Herb Baked Chicken
Helpful Products To Make This Recipe:
Easy Chicken Piccata Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb. chicken breasts, cut breasts in half horizontally and pounded thin
- 1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning or fresh lemon zest
- 1/4 tsp salt
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 6 tbsp butter, divided
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
For the Sauce:
- 2 tsp garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup white wine, dry
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp capers, brined and rinsed
- 2 tbsp parsley, freshly chopped
Instructions
- Season chicken breasts with lemon pepper seasoning and salt on all sides. Coat in the flour.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil. Cook 2 chicken breast halves in skillet till golden brown on each side, about 3 to 4 minutes until cooked through. Remove from pan to a plate to keep warm.
- Add another tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of oil to the pan and cook the remaining two chicken breasts. Remove from pan and keep warm.
For the Sauce:
- To the pan melt 3 tbsp butter and add in the garlic, cooking until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Whisk in the flour, until smooth. Splash in the white wine, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan and cook until the wine is evaporated. Gradually pour in the chicken stock, whisking until mixture is smooth. Add the lemon juice and capers to the sauce and allow to simmer until reduced slightly (about 5 minutes).
- Finally add in the remaining tablespoon of butter and let it melt into the sauce. Add the chicken breasts back to the skillet and let simmer for an additional 5 minutes to heat through. Garnish with fresh parsley and lemon wedges if desired. Serve immediately over freshly cooked pasta and enjoy!
Nutrition
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Parmesan Roasted Green Beans
Stumbit
I will say that this is bachelor-friendly recipe because it can be made instantly with limited ingredients. I have also made this without heavy cream. It also turned out well. Just make sure that you add only cold butter rather than room temperature one.
Debv
Easy and Fast. This was amazingly good. My new go to Company chicken recipe!
Linda
What can I use to replace the dry white wine ?
Lauren
This was fabulous! The lemon zest in the chicken was a game changer and the sauce was delicious on pasta. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Shawn
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Lauren!
Jamie
I can’t wait to try this! To make it dairy free could I substitute ghee for butter or something else?
Shawn
Definitely!
Allison
Can I substitute white wine vinegar instead of white wine?
Shirley
This was great. Made it with sunflower oil instead of butter and gf flour. Chicken would be great by itself with no sauce.
Shawn
That’s awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and were able to make it work for your needs. 🙂