Chicken Piccata
Chicken piccata is one of those recipes that looks much more complicated than it really is. It looks so elegant, with the tender, juicy chicken breasts drenched in buttery lemon sauce and sprinkled with capers, that it makes you think only a master chef could handle it.
But in fact, it’s one of the simplest chicken dishes there is. No, really, it is! All you have to do is coat your chicken breasts in the seasoning mix, cook them in a skillet, add the sauce ingredients to the pan, and let it heat through. That’s it! Trust me, if you can handle a dish like my Thai Peanut Chicken or Bruschetta Chicken, you can do this – no problem.
If you still feel intimidated, think about this: Chicken Piccata is an Italian dish, and you probably know lots of Italian dishes that you make all the time without even thinking about it. You have no trouble with spaghetti and meatballs, right? Or Easy Eggplant Parmesan? Just think about this dish as part of the same category, and you’ll be fine.
And if your family is super impressed when they taste this tender, flavorful chicken dish because they think it must have been super hard – well, what they don’t know won’t hurt them.
Email Me This Recipe!
Need to save time? Have this article emailed straight to your inbox + sign up for all the latest recipes!
Isn’t chicken piccata supposed to have white wine in the sauce?
- Some recipes call for it, but you don’t need it. The really essential flavors come from the lemon, the butter, and those zingy little capers. If you’ve got all of those, you can use stock instead of wine and your sauce will have plenty of punch.
OK, but don’t you have to pound the chicken breasts flat before cooking them?
- Nah. They’ll cook more evenly if you do it that way, but as long as you cut the breasts in half and check to make sure they get to the right internal temperature, you’re fine.
What should I serve with Chicken Piccata?
- It’s delicious over pasta or rice, which soaks up all that yummy, buttery sauce. If you don’t want all those carbs, try a lighter alternative like zucchini noodles or cauliflower rice. A Caesar salad or green salad with Italian dressing is great on the side.
How to Make Chicken Piccata
- Slice the lemon in half. Squeeze to juice ½ of the lemon, slice the other ½ and set aside.
- Mix salt, pepper and garlic into a small bowl, set aside.
- Slice chicken in half. Season both sides of the chicken breast with salt, pepper and garlic mix.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and oil into a large skillet. Add 4 pieces of the chicken and cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat with the last 4 pieces.
- Reduce the heat and add chicken broth, flour, lemon juice, sliced lemons and capers. Cook for 2-3 minutes while scraping down the sides of the pan.
- Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter until melted.
- Spoon the sauce over the top of the cooked chicken breast.
More easy chicken recipes we love!
- Grilled Caprese Chicken
- Crockpot Creamy Crack Chicken
- Easy Chicken Tetrazzini
- King Ranch Chicken Casserole
Chicken Piccata
Email this recipe!
Get this recipe emailed straight to your inbox!
Ingredients
- 1 lemon ½ juiced, ½ slices
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅓ cup flour
- 4 tablespoons butter divided
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 cup of chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons of capers or a mix of capers and olives
Instructions
- Slice the lemon in half. Squeeze to juice ½ of the lemon, slice the other ½ and set aside.
- Mix salt, pepper and garlic into a small bowl, set aside.
- Slice chicken in half. Season both sides of the chicken breast with salt, pepper and garlic mix.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and oil into a large skillet. Add 4 pieces of the chicken and cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat with the last 4 pieces.
- Reduce the heat and add chicken broth, flour, lemon juice, sliced lemons and capers. Cook for 2-3 minutes while scraping down the sides of the pan.
- Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter until melted.
- Spoon the sauce over the top of the cooked chicken breast.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer: Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Make sure to share it with me below!
When do you add the flour?
Hello Cheryl! You add the flour in step 5. ( with the broth, capers, lemon)
What do you do with the 1/3 cup of flour?
Howdy Grace, You add the flour in step 5. ( with the broth, capers, lemon)
When do you add the flour?
Hi Melissa!
🙂 You add the flour in step 5. ( with the broth, capers, lemon)
Do you slice the chicken breast lengthwise in half?
Yes, to make them thinner.
I don’t see instructions for the 1/3 cup of flour
Hi Doris 🙂 You add the flour in step 5. ( with the broth, capers, lemon)
This tasted nice but 1/3 c. of flour was way too much. Instead of a creamy sauce to coat the chicken and pasta I had a thick, lumpy sauce. I would go with 1/4c. (or less) flour or add more liquid.
Way too much flour! Might even be a mistake/spelling error. It became a gravy versus a sauce. Will not be redoing this
The sauce is meant to be very thick. If you like a more watery sauce, I would suggest starting with 3 or 4 tablespoons and work up from there. We prefer a thicker sauce over here. Hope that helps 🙂