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.
Phyllis
What a great recipe.
Janette Griffin
I was needing inspiration for dinner tonight!. Looks like I need to go buy some wine! Good tip about buying the small bottles. I’m not a big fan of most wines.
Barbara Schieving
Glad it was helpful Janette – Enjoy!
MaryB
We love chicken piccata here. This looks delicious. We don’t fry a lot but chicken and onion rings are probably our favorites.
Susan Dunaway
I love making chicken and fish meals
Rocky Mountain Woman
I love Chicken Piccata! This version looks nice and easy which is always a plus for me.
Stephanie J. Schiltz
Just printed the Chicken Piccata recipe out. Can’t wait to try! Thank you!
Barbara Schieving
Great – enjoy!
Christi
Honestly the only thing that gets fried in this house is potatoes or rice . I don’t eat meat but this looks wonderful.
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Christi! I don’t do a lot of frying either, but this recipe is definitely an exception.
Joyce
Chicken Picatta is such an easy gourmet meal that impresses both family and friends. I love the lemon and caper combo. I’ve usually served mine with Angel Hair pasta. Your recipe is little different, and seems to be better. It’s time for me to make the switch.
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Joyce! I love it served with pasta as well.
Sandie@afoodieaffair.com
One of my most favorite things in the WORLD! I’ve made this recipe and LOVE it! You will too!
zouhair fiorino najjar
mouthwatering delicious recipe…posted to all my social media accounts
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
I can’t believe that I’ve never eaten this before. Thanks for the recipe mum! I’ll definitely give it a go 😀 xxx
Nagi@RecipeTinEats
Look how wonderful this Chicken Piccata is! It looks so yummy. I love that it has some lemony flavour in it 🙂
Jenn
Gorgeous pictures, Mom!
Carol
Cuisine at Home is one of my favorite magazines…..we love Chicken PIccata so will have to try this version. Perfect weather for pressure cooking too-no excess heating up the kitchen…it’s definitely roasty toasty here these days.
Susie Bee on Maui
Barbara, thanks for sharing this great recipe. I made it for this month’s Secret Recipe Club!
Beth
This looks like the simple kind of entree that I love to make and serve. And deglazing with apple juice is a great tip.
pigpigscorner
YUM! I like the idea of using apple juice.
Summer Rose
Its really nice to make something u really like at home and this looks like u got it way way better!
The apple juice instead of the wine sounds fantastic too!
Mary
This is a gorgeous chicken dish. I love piccata and you’ve shared a great recipe with us. I hope you have a wonderful day. Blessings…Mary
Sweets By Vicky
3 rave reviews and such a simple recipe? I’m definitely adding this to my cooking repertoire. Easy is always welcome on nights when you just want to have cereal for dinner.
Nutmeg Nanny
Looks great! I’m always looking for a new chicken dish.