Chicken Piccata Recipe

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Chicken Piccata is browned chicken topped with a delicious sauce made from butter, lemon juice, capers, chicken stock, and wine. It’s simply amazing and ready in 20 minutes! Serve with my Butter Rice or Pea Salad for a quick weeknight dinner.

But What is Chicken Piccata?

You aren’t going to believe how easy yet delicious this Chicken Piccata recipe is. Not to mention, it’s a quick dinnertime meal. Piccata refers to meat or fish that is sliced, sautéed, and served with a lemon, butter, and spiced sauce. This chicken dish is originally from Italy and is usually served with pasta but my chicken piccata is a classic US version with some of my own touches. I hope you enjoy it!

Chicken Piccata Basics

You can get restaurant-quality chicken piccata with just a couple of ingredients and 30 minutes of your time. Here are some notes about a few of the ingredients.

• Chicken– skinless, boneless chicken breast cutlets are the best cut to use for Chicken Piccata.
• Flour – this helps the chicken brown fast without overcooking. It also helps thicken the sauce. If you need a gluten-free option, replace flour with cornstarch.
• Capers – if you can’t find capers or if you don’t like them, you can either leave them out completely or replace them with green olives.
• Lemon Juice – try to use fresh lemon juice. And if you love love love lemon like me, you can zest some of that lemon peel into the sauce.
• Chicken Stock – I use stock and white wine in this recipe! If you don’t want to use wine, just use all stock.
• White Wine – Cooking wine can come off as strongly salty, while regular white wine brings a depth of flavor to the dish.

How to Make Chicken Piccata

Let’s focus on the chicken first. We are simply going to coat the chicken in flour and seasonings and then brown it in a pan. For full recipe details, see the printable recipe card down below.

Prep Pan

Heat butter and olive oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Make Breading + Dredge Chicken

Stir flour, salt, and pepper together in a shallow dish. Dredge each chicken cutlet in flour mixture and add to the hot pan.

Cook Chicken

Cook chicken, about 3 minutes each side until browned and fully cooked. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Piccata Sauce

Now for the sauce. Once again, super easy. We use the already existing butter/olive oil and what’s leftover in the pan (chicken browning stuff). To that, we mix in the other ingredients, simmer a bit, let the sauce thicken then add back in the chicken along with capers and parsley. Voila! Here’s a breakdown!

Make the Sauce

In the hot pan used to brown the chicken, whisk in remaining butter, lemon juice, chicken stock, and white wine. Add in capers, parsley, and chicken pieces.

Serve

Serve warm with lemon slices or wedges.

Chicken Piccata Add-Ins

Some tasty additions that you can add to this Chicken Piccata are shallots, garlic, and/or lemon slices. You make this recipe how you like it.

If you are a garlic lover, toss in some garlic to the sauce.

Love lemons? Use lemon juice, zest, and make your plate pretty by slicing lemons.

What to Serve with Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata is usually served over pasta, but I’m here today saying that it can be served with other side dishes to complete an easy meal. Basically, starches and carbs.

Pasta. To continue the fast and easy pattern use a fast cooking pasta like angel hair or linguine. Both of these pasta types also hold the sauce super well.

Rice. I personally would recommend my Famous Butter Rice if you are looking for extra buttery deliciousness. Plain white rice or brown rice goes well with this dish too.

Potatoes. Plan ahead with these Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes so you can have more of that precious dinner time with your family. If you aren’t fond of slow cooker dishes here is my Perfect Mashed Potatoes Recipe.

Bread. You can’t go wrong with bread. Grab a fresh loaf at your grocery store bakery or make something fresh. Here are some good homemade bread options: Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls, Hasselback Homemade Garlic Bread Recipe, or Mom’s Potato Rolls.

Leftovers

Luckily, you can eat Chicken Piccata the next day for lunch if you have any leftovers. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. According to the USDA, chicken, after stored for 4 days, is considered unsafe to eat.

More 30 Minute Meals to Try!

Check out all of my other quick meals while you’re at it.

• Beef Stroganoff
• Shrimp Scampi
• Smothered Baked Pork Chops
• Fish Tacos