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With a buttery lemon sauce and salty capers, this easy chicken piccata recipe is my go-to dish during a busy weeknight or just when I’m craving it.
So this is my last post of 2017! It’s been a very eventful year for me, from my wife and I moving into our first house, to starting a new job, to starting this blog! It’s crazy but this will be the 112th blog post since I started it back in May. If you follow it, I’ve been trying to find the right formula of how many posts a week vs how many food or DIY posts I should do. As I have a full-time job, I will admit there are times I really don’t feel like writing, but I’ve truly enjoy doing this and plan on continuing to post.
I’ve told a few people, but two of the main reasons I started this blog were #1 – it was a great way for me to keep track of recipes I’ve made and then since forgotten about and #2 – have a random person (someone I don’t know) make something from this blog! I’m still shooting for goal #2 but maybe someone has made something and I’m just not aware!
Just for fun I decided to look at what the most popular posts were and to my surprise the most visited post was my parmesan zucchini chips that I posted backed in June. Not surprisingly, a close second was the farmhouse bed I made from Ana White’s site.
So after looking in the past, I figured this was the time to share the 2nd part of my favorite dish to make – chicken piccata. It’s funny, I’m not a huge fan of lemon flavor in sweet dishes, but absolutely love lemon in savory, where Lauren is the opposite. This easy chicken piccata recipe is adapted from Giada De Laurentiis on the Food Network.
I’ve probably made this recipe more than anything else in my life as I just love the combination of butter, lemon and capers. One problem I’ve run into in the past few years is Lauren HATES capers. So when I make it, I have to make sure one caper doesn’t hit her plate. Although to me capers are what MAKE the dish!
Anyways I hope you give this easy chicken piccata recipe a try sometime. Oh and you have to make the goat cheese risotto with it! Enjoy!
What Ingredients are in this Lemon Chicken Piccata Recipe?
- Chicken breast cutlets
- Salt and black pepper
- All-purpose flour
- Unsalted butter
- Olive oil
- Chicken stock
- Lemons
- Capers
- Italian parsley
How to Make Chicken Piccata
- In shallow medium bowl, add flour and mix in salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.
- In large skillet, melt 3 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp butter over medium-high heat. Add 2 pieces of chicken or 4 if you can fit it and cook for 3 minutes.
- Flip and cook for another 3 minutes. Remove chicken and transfer to a place. Add 1 tbsp olive and 1 tbsp butter into sauce. If you still have 2 pieces of chicken, cook 3 minutes per side and transfer to plate.
- Add the lemon juice, chicken stock and capers to skillet. Bring to boil, scraping up brown bits.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add chicken back to skillet and simmer for 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from skillet. Add 2 tbsp butter to sauce. Pour sauce over chicken.
What is Chicken Piccata?
Chicken piccata is an Italian dish where the chicken is pounded thin and topped with a sauce that includes lemon juice, butter and capers. The sauce usually includes stock as well, but you can also use white wine. Some versions are coated in flour for a little added texture and some aren’t. Piccata can also be made with veal.
Make note that if you are using thick pieces of thicken, you’ll either need to slice in half or pound thin. To save time, I usually just buy the cutlets when making chicken piccata.
What to Serve with this Easy Chicken Piccata
I mentioned it earlier but chicken piccata compliments starchy carbs perfectly and to me the best match is goat cheese risotto. Don’t knock it until you try it. But you could also serve it over some pasta – any type you like. And if you’re low-carb, go with cauliflower rice or zoodles.
Other Chicken Recipes
- Chicken Saltimbocca
- Apple Cider Chicken
- Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken
- Chicken with Garlic Herb Butter Sauce
- Chicken Cordon Bleu
Lemon Chicken Piccata
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts cutlets (or 2 chicken breasts cut in half)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
- chopped fresh Italian parsley for garnish
Instructions
- In shallow medium bowl, add flour and mix in salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.
- In large skillet, melt 3 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp butter over medium-high heat. Add 2 pieces of chicken and cook for 3 minutes per side or when chicken is browned. Remove chicken and transfer to a place. Add 1 tbsp olive and 1 tbsp butter and repeat with remaining 2 pieces of chicken. Remove chicken to plate.
- Add the lemon juice, chicken stock and capers to skillet. Bring to boil, scraping up brown bits. Reduce heat to medium-low and add chicken back to skillet and simmer for 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from skillet. Add 2 tbsp butter to sauce. Pour sauce over chicken and enjoy!
Lemon in savory dishes is one of my favorites!
This is an easy, delicious recipe I’m grateful to have! Thank you.
Thanks. It’s one of my favorites.
Quick, simple, and very tasty. We like to substitute white wine for the chicken stock and let the chicken sit for a few more minutes in the sauce.
Thanks! I use wine every once in a while as well!