Chicken Piccata Recipe

5 from 6 votes

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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.

close up Chicken Piccata on a plate

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.
Chicken Piccata

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

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 RollsHasselback 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.

Chicken Piccata
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5 from 6 votes

Chicken Piccata

Simply amazing Chicken Piccata, made in 20 minutes! Browned chicken topped with sauce made from butter, lemon juice, capers, chicken stock and wine.
servings 4 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 5 tablespoons butter divided
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pound chicken cutlets about 4
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 tablespoon capers drained
  • 2 tablespoons flat-leaf Italian parsley chopped

Instructions

  • Heat 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat.
  • 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, about 3 minutes each side until browned and fully cooked. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
  • In the hot pan, whisk in remaining butter, lemon juice, chicken stock, and white wine to create the sauce. Add in capers, parsley, and chicken pieces.
  • Serve warm with lemon slices or wedges.

Notes

LOWER CARB OPTION: Simply brown your chicken without coating it in flour.

Nutrition

Calories: 411kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 357mg | Potassium: 489mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 471IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: chicken dinner, chicken piccata, chicken piccata recipe, how to make chicken piccata
5 from 6 votes

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Recipe Rating




29 Responses
  1. Tara

    We made this last night and there were no leftovers. It’s now on the rotation list for dinners. Super easy and delicious.

  2. Julie Day

    5 stars
    My family loved your chicken piccata recipe. I have another one that is more labor-intensive! Loved the capers in this one 🙂

  3. Glenda Jean

    5 stars
    I love your recipes because they are easy and especially because they are delicious! I loved that you had included fish as an option. Because it was so good with the chicken, I made it again the following week, but with black bass since we have a bunch of it from my husband’s fishing trip to Alaska. It was so delicious with the fish that I’m trying it out on salmon next. Thank you for all of you wonderful recipes !

  4. Princess Hill

    5 stars
    I was struggling to find a light and quick recipe for dinner and your chicken piccata recipe definitely fits the bill. Thanks for all of your recipes and congratulations on 10 years!

    1. Sarah Etimazian

      This was such an amazing recipe! Thank you for every thought that you’ve given, a photo of the ingredient list for the piccata sauce, a photo of the Nutrition Facts List for the Piccata Sauce to left-over tips, although it turned out so good that the family ate it all!

      Looking forward to your other blogs!!!

  5. Phyllis Zimmerman

    Love t.his recipe. So easy to make. Delicious. Love reading your blog. You have a lovely family. Yours is the only blog I follow.

  6. Amber Kalway

    5 stars
    This recipe is amazing. My family really enjoyed this, and I was surprised how much my kids did too. It’s a regular dinner in our house.

  7. Bess

    One of my favourites! I recently made this, it was very easy but so so delicious. Can’t wait to make it again! Thank you ❤️

  8. Marthanna Donald

    Just found your sites a month or so ago – love your detail, shopping list and all the easy to follow info you share. Can’t wait to try this chicken piccata.😋🌷

  9. Tammy Greer

    This Chicken Piccata sounds so easy and delish! I’m always looking tor quick and simple dinner recipes. The time flies after school so preparing dinner has to be an easy thing for me. Thanks so much for this amazing chicken dish recipe!

  10. Blair Blycker

    How could this recipe be only from August? I swear I fell in love with this recipe from you years ago! Maybe my mom brain is showing! This is far and away my favorite chicken recipe. The tangyness of the lemon and sharpness of the capers are beautiful!

      1. Alison Hecht

        I absolutely love this recipe! I’ve made it a few times and it’s awesome! I like to serve it with potatoes. My favorite meal and my husband loves it too. Thank you for all of your awesome recipes!

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