Using thin chicken cutlets is the secret to this Quick and Easy Chicken Piccata recipe. Dredging the chicken in flour and quickly pan-frying it creates a crispy crust on the chicken which is briefly sauteed in a flavorful lemon caper sauce.
This restaurant-quality chicken piccata was featured on the cover of Cuisine At Home magazine. Chicken Piccata is one of my favorite dishes to eat at restaurants, so it’s great to have a quick and easy recipe chicken piccata recipe I can make at home.
I’ve updated the post with a video so you can see just how easy it is to make.
Coincidentally, Pam, For the Love of Cooking, and Jamie, Mom’s Cooking Club, also posted this recipe and their families loved it too. It really is a must-try recipe. In fact, my son like it so much he asked me to make it for him for his birthday dinner.
How to Cut Chicken Cutlets for Chicken Piccata:
For this recipe, you need to cut chicken breasts in half horizontally so you create 4 thin chicken cutlets from two large chicken breasts. Serious Eats has a good post with a video showing how easy it to create chicken cutlets.
Don’t worry they don’t have to be perfect. You just want them fairly uniform so they cook evenly. You can use a heavy skillet or meat pounder to pound out spots that are a little too thick. If your chicken breasts are very small, you can just pound them until they’re ¼-inch thick.
I fried my cutlets in a Mealthy Stainless Steel 10-inch Frying Pan which was sent to me by Mealthy to review. It did a great job of maintaining an even temperature for frying with no apparent hot spots.
I loved that the handle never got hot, so I didn’t need to use a hot pad to hold onto the handle. This pan is going to get a lot of use in my kitchen.
All Clad makes a great 10-inch frying pan with a lid that I really love.
Little single-serving mini bottles of wine are nice to keep on hand to use in recipes when you don’t want to open a large bottle of wine, or like me, you’re not a wine drinker. I used Woodbridge Chardonnay in this recipe.
You’ll use the wine to deglaze the pan and get the flavorful bits off the bottom. If you prefer not to use wine, someone tweeted that apple juice or white grape juice is a good substitute for white wine in recipes. I’ve used apple juice in this recipe, and it does work well.
What are Capers:
Capers are little flower buds that are picked before the flowers open. Capers are bitter when eaten right off the bush, so they pickle them, and when added to recipes, like this easy Chicken Piccata, they add a bright, fresh flavor to the dish.
Jars of capers are sold in most grocery stores generally alongside pickles and olives. Wide Open Eats has a great post about capers, including a picture of the beautiful flowers the capers will turn into.
How to Serve Chicken Piccata:
I like to serve chicken piccata on a bed of angel hair pasta, but often I’ll also serve it with Pressure Cooker Rice Pilaf with Carrots, Peas and Parsley from my other recipe blog, Pressure Cooking Today. It’s also great with roasted potatoes or mashed potatoes. (If you’re not pressure cooking yet, you’re missing out!)
It’s a great recipe for a weeknight or for company. This recipe has become a family favorite. I hope you’ll give it a try!
More chicken recipes you might like:
Kung Pao Chicken, Barbara Bakes
Barbecued Chicken Kebabs, Barbara Bakes
Pressure Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken, Pressure Cooking Today
Pressure Cooker Chicken Lazone, Pressure Cooking Today
Quick and Easy Chicken Piccata
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
- All-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¼ cup dry white wine can substitute apple juice
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon drained capers
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- Fresh lemon slices
- Fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Split each chicken breast in to two pieces horizontally and place between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a mallet gently pound chicken into ¼ inch thick cutlets.
- Season cutlets with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour. Heat oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute cutlets 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through.
- Transfer cutlets to a warmed platter. Deglaze pan with wine. Add minced garlic and cook until garlic is slightly brown and liquid is nearly evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add broth, lemon juice, and capers.
- Return cutlets to pan and cook on each side for 1 minute. Transfer cutlets to warm plates.
- Finish sauce with butter and lemons. Once butter melts, pour sauce over cutlets. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and serve immediately.
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc
Looks wonderful! My kids love Chicken Picatta
cindy harris
Back in the ‘olden days’ when chicken had bones I found a recipe for Chicken Piccata in Good Housekeeping. I tore it out, made the recipe–we loved it. This is basically the same recipe I made years ago. It is fun how a few simple ingredients can make a Wow dish. Have a great weekend.
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
Can you believe I’ve never tried this dish before mum? 😮 I’ve seen and heard about it on tv so much though! Thanks for the recipe, you knew I was curious about it didn’t you! 😉 xxx
Eliana
This looks delicious Barbara and even better that the restaurant kind. Can’t wait to give it a try. Thanks so much for sharing.
RJ Flamingo
I love chicken piccata, too, and this sounds like a really good version. Must try!
rebecca
wow great recipe for a busy weeknight have a great weekend Barbara
kristy
I have heard of this chicken piccata so often but have yet to try it. So, have to bookmark this for later use. Thank you very much. Hope you’re having a terrific weekend, Barbara.
Cheers, Kristy
Anne
Anything with capers is amazing. My family thinks they are “foreign objects” – but they have yet to develop discriminating tastes. Lovely post!
Stephanie Miskew
Chicken picatta is one of my all time faves! My husband hated capers before I made it for him and now he asks me to make it quite often. I’ve never heard of using apple juice to deglaze but makes sense it would work and taste yummy – thanks for sharing your experience – I will have to give this delicious recipe a try!
Renata
That sounds delicious, a great twist to the everyday meals with chicken. Love that!
Mama Kelly aka Jia
Other than the capers I have everything i need to make this right now! And I may just make it tomorrow as I need to do something with some chicken breasts I defrosted. It looks wonderful
Kalynskitchen
This is definitely one of my favorite dishes in the world!
Nisrine, Dinners & Dreams
Thanks for this recipe, Barabara. I love the lemony taste of piccata. Now it’s time to make it at home!
Lauren from Lauren's Latest
Deglazing with apple juice is a great tip! I always have that on hand! Thanks, Barbara! {And, I totally know what you mean about getting a decent picture at dinner time. No sunlight certainly makes things difficult!}
Nicole@HeatOvenTo350
I often substitute apple juice or grape juice too, and it seems to work just great. Sometimes, like in a risotto, I dilute it half and half so it won’t be too sweet but it seems to work. Cranberry juice is good too. Thanks for sharing your recipe. It looks delicious!
Daniela
Un super piattino ricco di sapore, ottimo l’abbinamento con la pasta in modo tale da formare un piatto unico. Buon week end Daniela.
Lyndsey
I love these quick and easy dishes for weekday suppers. Chicken piccata is a favorite at my house. I posted one too a while back! Yours looks lovely! YUM!
Rosa
Delicious and so comforting!
Cheers,
Rosa
Frieda
I love simple chicken dishes! I also loved that you subbed the white wine for apple juice ~ works for me!
Bonnie
This looks so fast and yummy. My family would love this.