Easy Chicken Piccata

Easy Chicken Piccata recipe – no one will ever guess how easy this is! With a few simple ingredients, you can make a restaurant-worthy meal! Chicken, parmesan cheese, flour, salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, butter, lemon, white wine, and capers. Ready in under 20 minutes! Serve over pasta, polenta, or creamy mashed potatoes. This is a keeper!

chicken piccata over pasta

Remember this recipe.

Pin this recipe to your favorite board now to remember it later!

Pin This Recipe

Best Chicken Piccata Recipe

Chicken Piccata is a classic Italian dish. It sounds fancy and complicated but it isn’t. It is actually a very simple dish for home cooks to make with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry right now! Pan-fried chicken cutlets served in a quick lemon butter caper sauce. SO much great flavor! The best part about this recipe is that it is ready to eat in about 20 minutes. Perfect for a busy weeknight! This tastes better than any Italian restaurant. So, run to the grocery store and make this for dinner tonight! It is sure to be a hit!

chicken piccata over pasta

How to Make Lemon Chicken Piccata

As I said, this chicken is super easy to make with only a few simple ingredients. Place flour and grated parmesan cheese in a shallow bowl. Stir to combine. Season chicken cutlets with kosher salt and black pepper. Dredge chicken pieces in the flour mixture. Shake off the excess flour. 

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Pan-fry the chicken in the skillet until golden brown. Remove the chicken from the pan and reserve it on a clean plate. Repeat with remaining pieces of chicken. Cover the plate with aluminum foil and keep warm in the oven while you prepare the piccata sauce.

Add chicken stock or white wine, minced garlic, lemon juice, and capers to the pan. Scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Simmer over medium-high heat until the liquid is reduced by half. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of butter. Plate the chicken on top of your favorite pasta, spoon sauce over it, and enjoy. Garnish the dish with fresh parsley fresh lemon slices, and more grated parmesan cheese, if desired.

Tips & Frequently Asked Questions

  • I used chicken cutlets, but this would also be good with chicken thighs. Make sure to cook the chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF. 
  • To make cutlets with boneless chicken breasts, cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise with a sharp knife. Place chicken pieces in a large plastic freezer bag. Pound the chicken with the flat side of a meat mallet or rolling pin, starting in the center and working your way to the edges, until the chicken is an even thickness.
  • You can use fresh lemon juice or bottled lemon juice.
  • Add lemon zest to the sauce for extra lemon flavor.
  • This recipe uses grated parmesan cheese, not shredded. You can freshly grate the cheese or use the cheese in the can.
  • Feel free to toss in some mushrooms and artichokes to the sauce. YUM!
chicken piccata over pasta

What to Serve with Chicken in Lemon Butter Sauce

This is a restaurant-worthy meal! It would be a great dish for a dinner party. It is super easy to put together and tastes great. I serve the chicken and sauce over angel hair pasta. It is equally delicious over polenta or creamy mashed potatoes. Sometimes I double the chicken piccata sauce recipe because we like a lot of sauce with our pasta. This has quickly become one of our favorite chicken recipes. One bite and you will know why!

We serve the chicken with some bread and a salad. Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this easy chicken dinner:

Carbone’s Garlic Bread

Carbone’s Garlic Bread – the recipe for the garlic bread from the famous NYC and Las Vegas restaurant. This is…

Creamy Italian Dressing

Creamy Italian Dressing Recipe – our favorite salad!!! Romaine, tomatoes, thinly sliced seedless cucumbers, sliced banana peppers, croutons, parmesan cheese,…

Feta Skillet Bread

Feta Skillet Bread – only 4 ingredients and ready in 15 minutes. No yeast and no kneading! Simply toss together…

Village Tavern House Salad

Village Tavern House Salad Recipe – easy and delicious house salad recipe. Salad mix topped with mushrooms, red onion, blue…

chicken piccata over pasta

Chicken Piccata

Yield: 3 people
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Easy Chicken Piccata recipe – no one will ever guess how easy this is! With a few simple ingredients, you can make a restaurant-worthy meal! Chicken, parmesan cheese, flour, salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, butter, lemon, white wine, and capers. Ready in under 20 minutes! Serve over pasta, polenta, or creamy mashed potatoes. This is a keeper!

Equipment:

Ingredients:

Instructions:

  • Mix together the flour, salt, pepper, and grated Parmesan. Rinse the chicken pieces in water. Dredge them thoroughly in the flour mixture.
  • Heat olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add half of the chicken pieces to the skillet. Brown well on each side, about 3 minutes per side.
  • Remove the chicken from the pan and reserve on a plate. Repeat with remaining chicken. Cover plate with aluminum foil and keep warm in the oven while you prepare the sauce.
  • Add the chicken stock (or white wine), garlic, lemon juice, and capers to the pan. Reduce the sauce by half.
  • Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Plate the chicken and serve with the sauce poured over the chicken. Serve over cooked pasta or mashed potatoes, if desired.

Notes:

I used chicken cutlets, but this would also be good with chicken thighs. Make sure to cook the chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF.
Feel free to toss in some mushrooms and artichokes to the sauce. 

Steph

Remember this recipe.

Pin this recipe to your favorite board now to remember it later!

Pin This Recipe

Categories:

Tags:

You Might Also Like

See All Chicken

Hot Honey Chicken

Baked Hot Honey Chicken Recipe – spice up your weeknight meals with this delicious dish!  Juicy chicken marinated in a flavorful…

Baked Buttermilk Chicken

Baked Buttermilk Chicken Recipe –  This easy-to-make recipe delivers tender, flavorful chicken marinated in a luscious buttermilk blend and coated in…

Cheez-It Chicken

Cheez-It Chicken Tenders – Tender chicken tenderloins dipped in a delightful mix of flour, eggs, and honey mustard, then coated in…

Comments

  1. I saw the garlic listed in the ingredients, but never saw it used in the actual recipe. Did I miss something?

  2. This dish is absolutely delicious!! But, one question…how do I keep the chicken from turning dark brown when the oil is cooking? I used canola oil, instead of olive oil. Would that have made the difference?

  3. I made this tonight for Pete and I and it was spectacular!! This will become a regular in our house. It was so simple to make!

    Ashley

Leave a Comment

Recipe Rating