Easy Lemon Chicken Piccata
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You won’t believe how quick/easy this is with ingredients you already have on hand! Serve over pasta – SO GOOD!
Featured Comment
This recipe is pretty much dedicated to Chandler and Janice because that’s the only thing that comes to mind when I think of chicken piccata.
why i love this recipe
- Restaurant-quality yet so easy. With simple pantry ingredients, this dish comes together so quickly and easily, perfect for a romantic date night, Sunday Supper or even a super busy weeknight.
- Luscious, velvety lemon cream sauce. You could even double the sauce, skip the chicken and put it on a bed of pasta. The chicken would honestly just get in the way anyway.
what is chicken piccata
Chicken piccata is an Italian-American dish typically made with pan-fried chicken breast cutlets, capers and a lemon butter sauce served with pasta, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes or crusty bread.
tips and tricks for success
- Cut the chicken crosswise. Rather than pounding out the chicken, cut the chicken breasts crosswise, slicing horizontally across the thickest part of the breasts – this will help cut down on prep time even more.
- Choose a wine you will drink. A dry white wine (pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc) is great here – it does not have to be anything fancy or overpriced. Just something you don’t mind sipping on since you will have an open bottle.
- Add the cream slowly. Always add the heavy cream at the very end, pouring very slowly to prevent curdling.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
- Mix it up. Swap out the chicken for veal or shrimp.
what to serve with lemon chicken piccata
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Easy Lemon Chicken Piccata: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, a chicken cutlet is a chicken breast already cut in half horizontally!
Additional chicken broth can be used for white wine as a non-alcoholic substitute.
Heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) has one of the highest fat contents with about 36-40% fat. Half and half or whole milk are suitable substitutes, but will yield a lighter result.
Long, thin pasta such as angel hair or spaghetti are both great options.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, reheating over low heat until warmed through.
Easy Lemon Chicken Piccata
Ingredients
- 1 pound spaghetti
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut crosswise in half
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup diced shallots
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup dry white wine*
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup capers, drained
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Working one at a time, dredge chicken in flour.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook, flipping once, until cooked through, about 4-5 minutes on each side. Set aside and keep warm.
- Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the skillet. Add garlic and shallots, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in chicken broth, wine and lemon juice. Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes.
- Gradually whisk in heavy cream until slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in capers.
- Serve immediately with pasta and chicken, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Video
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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We made it exactly as written. AMAZING!!!!
Substituted zoodles for the noodles for an low carb version
While I’m obsessed with your lemon garlic chicken thigh recipe, this one might be my favorite of all. I make it at least once a week over a green salad, so usually omit the cream. My husband (steak guy, not a fan of chicken) loves it too. Thanks for this awesome recipe that has become one of our weeknight staples!
There is 5 of us. Think I could throw in an extra piece of chicken without changing the rest of the recipe??
Have made this recipe of chicken piccata so many times and it comes out delicious every time. Love these recipes!!!
This recipe is amazing. I make it as much as I can. So delicious!
I love this recipe and have shared it with everyone. Chicken is my favorite, but I have also made it with thin pork chops and shrimp. Not a big lemon fan, so I usually only use juice from a lemon half. Just yummy!
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it out on the family.
I just made this as a buffet item for 50 guests for a cocktail buffet. I cut the chicken pieces small and did not use the wine, per the client’s request. Used 11 pounds of chicken and served it over penne. She told me this morning that it was the best she has ever had. It was a real hit with the guests. Thank you for this great recipe!
Very good. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs that I didn’t pound down, so they took a while longer to cook. The sauce was delicious, well flavored. A lb of pasta was too much for us, so next time I will cook half pound. We paired with grilled zucchini. Delicious flavor in this chicken piccata, will make again.
Great recipe albeit I used a bit of sugar to balance what I thought was a bit too much the bitterness in the sauce
Made it just the way it was instructed. *chef’s kiss*
Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Sauce was to thin so had to add flour to thicken. And the lemon was a bit strong for me. But other than that it was delicious. Thank you!!
Wendy: If you s & p and flour the chicken before sauteeing, then when you make the sauce, it’s thicker. We love the sauce so I double it. I make fettuccini noodles and add garlic-olive oil, steamed asparagus (cut in 2 inch sections), and halved grape tomatoes, and serve the pasta with the chicken and sauce. Yummy! Cheers!
Can you share your proportions for the pasta? It sounds great!
I made this today followed it step by step well I added a little extra seasoning to the flour and chicken but overall this was so good 10 out of 10 just like my favorite restaurant
Oh my gosh it’s so good. My fam is so picky it’s rare we all like the same recipe but you just added another awesome recipe to the precious few we all enjoy together. Thank you so much!
question, has anyone tried this shrimp instead of chicken?
We love this recipe I make it for my husband all the time
I wouldn’t call it easy but directions were easy to follow and it was better than most restaurant versions. I followed the recipe exactly, but doubled it because I had a group of six. Only one piece of chicken was left and I made 2 and 1/2 pounds. It tasted so good and was tender and was perfect with angel hair pasta. I had picky eaters who really gave their approval as well. My sauce was a little thin so I might not use as much liquid next time. Thanks for a tasty dinner.
Absolutely delish! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Three of us ate every bite! I doubled the sauce and it was amazing!!!