Chicken Piccata
Pan-fried chicken breasts coated in a buttery lemon-wine sauce with capers after being dredged in flour are known as chicken piccata. For another chicken recipe with loads of lemon flavor, try my Lemon Chicken Pasta.
Chicken Piccata
Ingredients
Chicken
- 3 Boneless skinless chicken breasts, each sliced in half horizontally into two pieces
- ½ All-purpose flour
- 1 Tsp Kosher salt
- ½ Tsp Ground black pepper
- 2-3 Tsp Butter, plus more as needed
Sauce
- ½ Cup (1 stick, 113g) unsalted butter
- 1 Cup Dry white wine, or chicken stock
- 1 Medium lemon, juiced (approximately ⅓ cup)
- 2 Tsp Capers, rinsed and drained
- 1 Medium lemon, sliced into 5 rounds and halved
- 2 Tsp Chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
Chicken
- Put the flour, salt, and pepper on a medium plate. Combine.
- Coat every piece of chicken completely by dredging it in the flour. Put aside.
- Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 4–6 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 165°F, after the butter has melted. The size of your skillet will determine whether you need to work in batches. Before cooking the next batch of chicken, add a little extra butter if you're working in batches.
- After taking the chicken out of the pan, put it on a platter and cover it with a tent to stay warm.
Sauce
- Add wine gradually while whisking constantly.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and squeeze in the lemon juice. Simmer, whisking regularly, until the sauce has reduced by half, about 10 minutes
- Whisk together the lemon halves and capers.
- Turn the chicken to coat it after adding it back to the sauce. Add 3–5 more minutes of simmering.
- Serve the chicken with pasta or rice on the side. Over the top, spoon the sauce.
Piccata with chicken
In general, piccata is a method of cooking fish or meat. After the meat—in this example, chicken—is cut in half and sautéed, it is covered with capers and a buttery lemon sauce. This recipe is a tasty and valuable midweek dinner that takes less than 45 minutes to prepare.
Ingredients for Chicken Piccata
Chicken: I cut two horizontally sliced slices of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You may also use chicken thighs, but the cooking time might differ, and you won’t use the slicing-in-half approach.
White Wine: This recipe requires dry white wine. Known as a “crisp” wine, dry white wine is high in acidity and not sweet. Unoaked Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio are a few examples. You could use chicken stock instead of wine if you don’t want to cook with it.
Lemons: This recipe calls for two lemons. Juice one lemon to make about one-third cup of lemon juice. Cut the second lemon into five rounds and cut each round in half.
Flower buds from Capparis plants are known as capers. Typically, they are packed in salt or kept in brine. Rinse and drain them before using them in a recipe, whether they are brined or in salt (we used brined). Rinsing the capers will reduce the amount of salt, allowing the authentic caper flavor to shine through. An essential component of piccata is capers.
Getting the Chicken Ready
The first step in this dish is cutting each chicken breast in half. To do this, put one hand on top of the bird and hold it down. A sharp knife should be positioned midway between the chicken piece’s top and bottom. Let the knife do most of the work as you slowly cut through the chicken. When the knife has cut through the chicken completely, cut the chicken in half.
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a shallow plate with the chopped chicken. Each chicken piece should be dipped in flour. Next, in a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 165°F and each piece of chicken is golden brown, 4–6 minutes per side. The size of your skillet will determine whether you need to work in batches. When frying the subsequent chicken pieces, melt a bit more butter melt a bit more butter if you are working in batches.
After removing the chicken from the skillet, transfer it to a fresh plate. While you make the sauce, tent the chicken with aluminum foil to keep it warm.
How to Prepare Piccata with Chicken
The sauce needs to be prepared after the chicken has been cooked and placed aside. Continue using the same skillet you used to cook the chicken to prepare the sauce. Scrap any brown parts in the pan and add a stick of butter over medium heat. Then, gradually pour in the wine while constantly whisking. After that, lower the heat to medium-low and squeeze in the lemon juice. Reduce the sauce by half by simmering it for approximately 10 minutes.
Once the sauce has reduced, mix the capers and the round halves of lemon. Lastly, return the cooked chicken to the skillet and drizzle the sauce over each piece. Simmer the chicken piccata for three to five minutes. Spoon additional sauce over the top and serve over pasta noodles or rice. To complete the meal, serve roasted asparagus on the side and a basket of dinner buns.
How to Keep Piccata Chicken in Storage
If you store this dish in an airtight container, it may be kept in the fridge for up to three days. To reheat leftovers, just use the microwave. Freeze the chicken and sauce separately in freezer-safe containers. Thaw each one overnight in the fridge and reheat in the microwave when ready to eat.