Chicken Piccata

This Chicken Piccata features tender chicken in a buttery lemon-white wine sauce with capers for a bright, flavorful restaurant-style meal that's surprisingly easy to make at home.

Course Main Course, Poultry

Cuisine American, Italian, Southern

Keyword chicken-piccata

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Servings servings

Calories 476kcal

Author Melissa Sperka

Ingredients

4 6 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp each garlic salt and black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour plus 2 Tbsp divided use
1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp dry Italian seasoning
4 Tbsp butter divided use
2-4 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup chicken broth plus additional as needed
1/3 cup white wine [see Cook's note]
1 medium lemon juiced and zest
2 Tbsp capers drained
2 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley

Instructions

Prep Chicken: Place the chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound to an even thickness. Sprinkle chicken on both sides with garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper.
In a shallow bowl stir together 1/2 cup all-purpose flour ,1/4 cup panko bread crumbs and dry Italian seasoning. Dredge pieces of chicken lightly on all sides.
Over medium-high heat in a large skillet heat a few drizzles of olive oil with 2 tablespoons of the butter. Brown the chicken cooking for approximately 2-3 minutes on each side or just until cooked through and the juices run clear. If the chicken is thicker, cook longer if thinner, cook for slightly less time. Add additional olive oil if needed, when turning the chicken. Remove to a platter and keep warm.
Piccata Sauce: In a small bowl, stir the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter with 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour to form a paste.
Over medium-high heat add the chicken broth, white wine, lemon juice and zest to the same pan scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
To the pan whisk in the butter-flour paste. Cook until the sauce begins to thicken. Simmer for around 2-3 minutes on low heat, so the taste of the flour, lemon juice and wine mellows.
Taste and adjust the amount of garlic salt and black pepper to your taste. If you like the sauce thinner, add additional chicken broth at this point.
Add the capers and chopped parsley.
Serve immediately drizzling the sauce over the chicken pieces. Garnish with lemon slices and additional fresh parsley, if desired.

Notes

Chicken - You can use chicken thighs in place of skinless chicken breasts. Boneless chicken thighs will take slightly longer to cook.
Capers - Capers give the sauce its classic briny flavor and in this instance you really should use them.
Breadcrumbs - Although it's not a traditional ingredient in the classic chicken piccata breading, I like to add panko breadcrumbs to the flour mixture to give the exterior that little extra crunch that makes it so irresistible. You could also use dried Italian seasoned breadcrumbs.
White Wine - If you prefer not to cook with wine, you can use all chicken broth instead. In that case, add 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar to the sauce.
Fresh Herbs - You can garnish with fresh rosemary, fresh basil or chives.
Heavy Cream - You can add a splash of heavy cream to the sauce for an even richer flavor.

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