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Chicken Piccata

Chicken piccata is an Italian-American pan sauce chicken dinner with thin golden cutlets simmered in a bright lemon-butter-caper sauce. The silky sauce glistens and pools around crispy-edged fillets for an easy weeknight Italian dinner.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian-American
Calories: 560
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Chicken and seasoning
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts Halved horizontally to make 8 thin cutlets.
  • 0.25 Salt and pepper To taste.
  • 0.5 cup all-purpose flour
Lemon caper pan sauce
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp butter Divided; use 2 tbsp during chicken cooking.
  • 4 cloves garlic Minced.
  • 0.5 cup dry white wine
  • 0.75 cup chicken broth
  • 0.25 cup fresh lemon juice About 2 lemons.
  • 3 tbsp capers Drained.
  • 1 lemon Thinly sliced.
  • 2 tbsp butter Remaining 2 tbsp, swirled in cold at the end.
  • 1 Fresh parsley Chopped, for garnish.

Equipment

  • 1 cast iron skillet

Method
 

Dredge and cook the chicken
  1. Season the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper, then dredge lightly in flour and shake off excess so the cutlets are coated but not pasty.
  2. Heat olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then cook the chicken in batches for 3-4 minutes per side until golden and cooked through; remove and set aside.
Make the lemon caper pan sauce
  1. Add garlic to the skillet and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant, then pour in the white wine and scrape up the browned bits.
  2. Simmer the wine mixture for 2 minutes, then add chicken broth, lemon juice, capers, and lemon slices and simmer for 4-5 minutes until the sauce reduces by about a third.
Finish and serve
  1. Remove the skillet from the heat and swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons cold butter until the sauce is glossy.
  2. Return chicken to the skillet, spoon sauce over each cutlet, and garnish with fresh parsley.

Notes

For extra glossy sauce, keep the final butter cold and swirl it in off the heat. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days; rewarm gently in a skillet until hot, adding a splash of broth if needed. Freezing is not recommended because the cutlets can lose texture. For a lighter swap, use reduced-fat butter and decrease the oil slightly while keeping the pan-sauce steps the same.