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Lemon Chicken Piccata

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This Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata dish is a very impressive classic Italian dish that takes no time at all to prepare. It is simple light fried chicken in a tasty lemon, butter, and capers sauce. Perfect with pasta and a side salad for a quick and delicious dinner.

Lemon Chicken Piccata

Kayla and I love getting in the kitchen and experimenting with new dishes. She is all about cooking the sweets, but I am all about cooking the savory — which is why she and I work so well together.

We recently tried making Lemon Chicken Piccata and Y'all I am so over the moon for this dish ( I think I say that about every dish we cook).

This chicken piccata is an impressive dish and the best part? It’s so simple to make. I love how you can take simple ingredients and turn them into something so deliciously fabulous. 

Lemon Chicken Piccata

What is Chicken Piccata?

Piccata is a method of preparing food where chicken cutlets are sliced, coated, sautéed, and served in a sauce. The dish is Italian as the name would imply, but it is originally made with veal. However, we are not fans of veal, so we chose to make ours with chicken breasts that we pounded thin.

We did this between two sheets of wax paper and our rolling pin. I seriously need to invest in a meat mallet.

You can buy thin cutlets from the store that have already been flattened making it much easier to make this dish. I get mine from Perdue Chicken. You can find them at Walmart, but most of the time I just buy them online.

lemon chicken piccata

How to Make Easy Chicken Piccata Recipe

The chicken breasts are skinless, boneless, and pounded to about 1/2″ in thickness with a meat mallet. This helps them cook evenly and get done all at the same time.

Generously season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper then dredge them through the flour. Cook chicken in the butter and olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet until golden brown on both sides. Lay the chicken in a single layer in the pan. Cook 3-4 minutes per side.

lemon chicken piccata

Remove the chicken from the skillet and set it aside. Add the fresh lemon juice, dry white wine (like pinot grigio), and salty capers. If you do not cook with wine, you can use chicken broth instead. While that is cooking away, be sure to scrape all those delicious brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

lemon chicken piccata

Thicken the creamy lemon sauce with a little flour and butter and, our special ingredient — fresh garlic. Garlic and lemons go hand in hand in our book. Sprinkle in fresh herbs like parsley or whatever your favorite is.

Now, add the chicken back to the skillet and simmer in the sauce for another 5 minutes. I like to plate it up by adding fresh fettuccini pasta or angel hair to a plate and then topping it with chicken breast. Then, I pour the lemon butter sauce with the capers all over the chicken and pasta. Top each plate with a few lemon slices for extra pucker and extra flavor!

lemon chicken piccata

It’s such an easy dish to make, so full of flavor! If you love lemons, pasta, and chicken then this dish is definitely for you! Make it the next time you are craving an upscale meal without all the fuss.

What to Serve with this Lemon Chicken Piccata Recipe

This juicy chicken piccata is perfect over pasta (we love making homemade fresh pasta or boxed is fine too) and a side of fresh green beans. You can also serve this over quinoa or couscous and a side of roasted broccoli.

Place the leftovers in an airtight container to enjoy later, although, in my home, it's usually a clean plate with no leftovers in sight!

lemon chicken piccata

Check out these other delicious weeknight dinners

Yield: 4 servings

Lemon Chicken Piccata

Lemon Chicken Piccata

Chicken piccata features chicken breasts simmered in a delicious caper and lemon chicken broth sauce.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

For the chicken

  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 lemon zested
  • 4 chicken breasts pounded to about 1/2 inch thick or cut in half crosswise
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil more as needed
  • salt & pepper to taste

For the Sauce

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 1/2 cup dry white wine (or chicken broth)
  • 2 cloves​ of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 lemon juiced (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
  • 3 tablespoons capers drained
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped

Instructions

  1. Combine the flour, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in flour mixture
  2. Heat olive oil over medium high heat and cook chicken about 4-5 minutes per side or until just until cooked through.
  3. In the same pan, melt 1/4 cup butter and add flour to create a roux. Whisk until smooth. Cook 1-2 minutes.
  4. Gradually stir in the wine while whisking after each addition until smooth.
  5. Add lemon juice, garlic and capers. Simmer 3 minutes, whisking occasionally. 
  6. Add chicken back to pan and simmer 2-3 minutes. Stir in parsley and serve over pasta.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1 breast

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 441Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 134mgSodium: 757mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 40g

Did you make this recipe?

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Sara Welch

Tuesday 9th of April 2019

What a great meal for dinner! I will add this to my meal line up for the week!

Caroline

Tuesday 9th of April 2019

I love chicken with lemon, and this looks such a tasty meal.

Heidy L. McCallum

Tuesday 9th of April 2019

Hi, Jennifer, I am so thrilled to see you use a wonderful traditional Italian cooking method. My mom's family is from Italy and we use the Piccatta method for cooking veal and it's so wonderful tasting. Your version is a little different but It looks fabulous and I can see me enjoying it one night soon!!

Andrea Metlika

Tuesday 9th of April 2019

Oh my, this sounds amazing! My family will love this.

Tara

Tuesday 9th of April 2019

This is a keeper! SO easy to make.

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