Lemon Chicken Piccata

Learn how to make a bright, lemony, and flavorful chicken piccata! This Italian classic is made of juicy chicken breasts cut thin and cooked in a vibrant butter, lemon, and caper sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword easy chicken piccata, italian chicken piccata, lemon chicken piccata

Freezer Friendly Yes

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Total Time 35

Servings

Calories 313kcal

Author A Simple Palate

Ingredients

2 large boneless and skinless chicken breasts halved to make 4 cutlets
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoon olive oil
3 Tablespoon salted butter, divided
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1 lemon, juiced
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
2-3 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoon capers, drained and rinsed
salt & pepper
fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

Whisk sauce ingredients: In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk chicken broth, lemon juice & zest, garlic powder, minced garlic, and rinsed capers together with a small pinch of salt and pepper.
Tenderize the chicken: Then place chicken breasts into a ziplock bag or lay between two pieces of parchment paper. Use a smooth side of a meat hammer or a rolling pin to pound the meat until it's about 1/2 to 1/4 inch thick. Note: this tenderizes the chicken and also helps it to cook evenly.
Dredge in flour: Evenly sprinkle salt & pepper over both sides of chicken breasts. Add flour and a pinch of salt to a shallow bowl and dredge the chicken in flour on both sides. Shake off the excess flour from the breasts.
Brown chicken: Heat olive oil and 2 Tbsp butter in a large pan. Add floured chicken to pan and brown the chicken 2-3 minutes on each side. When both sides are brown, transfer the chicken breasts to a clean plate.
Add sauce and simmer: In the same pan the chicken was cooked in, add the prepared lemon caper sauce. Whisk it in the pan and scrape up the browned chicken bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the sauce cook for 2-3 minutes, then once it's slightly reduced, add 1 Tablespoon of butter and whisk it constantly until it's emulsified into the sauce.
Cook the chicken with the sauce, then serve. Add the chicken back to the pan with the sauce and let it cook for several more minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked (internal temperature should be 165F or more). Then serve with chopped fresh parsley and enjoy!

Video

Notes

Be cautious about reducing the sauce too much. If you like a lot of sauce, be mindful of simmering too long, or the sauce can evaporate quickly. You can also cover the dish while it cooks to trap moisture, which will help prevent the sauce from evaporating too much.

Salt the dish less because of the capers. Because piccata uses capers, which are naturally very salty, I find this dish doesn't need a ton of salting. I season the chicken and add a little salt to the flour, but only a little salt is needed for the lemon sauce because the capers add most of the salt.

Nutrition