Looking for a family-friendly chicken dinner for an easy weeknight meal? Look no further! This Lemon Chicken Piccata recipe is a light yet satisfying recipe that comes together with just a handful of ingredient staples. Serve it warm over mashed potatoes or your favorite pasta with a side of veggies!
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What is Chicken Piccata?
Chicken piccata is an Italian-American dish made with pan-fried chicken cutlets and a lemon butter sauce. Some recipes call for dry white wine or shallots to create its notable savory, citrus flavor. However, what truly sets chicken piccata apart from other crispy pan-fried chicken recipes is the addition of capers. They add a briny taste that makes the dish truly unique.
Recipe Highlights
One of our favorite weeknight recipes, this recipe is:
- Made with minimal prep time, a cook time of 20 minutes, and a total time of just 30 minutes
- An excellent source of protein
- Great to make ahead of time in batches and enjoy throughout the week
- Perfect for pairing with a variety of healthful side dishes
Ingredients to Make Easy Chicken Piccata
Here are the ingredients you need to make lemon chicken piccata:
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts – may sub chicken cutlets or boneless skinless chicken thighs
- All-purpose flour – we like Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour or King Arthur Measure-for-Measure Gluten-Free Flour. You can also use regular all-purpose flour if you don’t need your chicken piccata to be gluten-free
- Seasonings – garlic powder, fine salt, and black pepper
- Olive oil – may sub avocado oil
- Garlic cloves
- Dijon mustard
- Chicken broth – use store-bought chicken stock or homemade chicken broth
- Capers – you’ll need 4 tablespoons capers
- Butter – unsalted butter or a plant-based butter of your choice
- Fresh lemon juice
- Fresh parsley
Find the ingredient list with exact measurements in the recipe card below.
How to Make the Best Chicken Piccata
Follow the steps below to make this easy chicken piccata recipe today:
- Prepare the chicken: Slice the chicken breasts in half crosswise, creating 4 cutlets. Lightly pound each cutlet until they’re about 1/2 inch thick.
- Bread the chicken: Stir the flour, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl. Working one at a time, place the pieces of chicken in the bowl, and dredge it through the mixture to coat. Then, transfer the chicken to a plate or cutting board.
- Sear the chicken cutlets: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the cutlets to the pan. Cook, moving them around until they’re golden brown on the bottom. Turn each cutlet over, and cook on the other side until nearly cooked through.
- Sauté the garlic: Reduce the heat to low, and add the remaining oil and garlic to the skillet. Stir continuously to keep the garlic from scorching.
- Create the caper sauce: Increase the heat to medium-high, and add the broth, mustard, and capers to the skillet. Cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the butter, stirring vigorously until the sauce starts to look glossy.
- Combine: Return the chicken to the skillet, and spoon the chicken piccata sauce on top. Simmer vigorously until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce lightly coats the back of a spoon.
- Season: Remove the skillet from the heat, and stir in the lemon juice. Adjust the seasonings to taste.
- Serve: Transfer the chicken to a platter, spooning the lemon sauce over the top. Garnish the dish with fresh parsley, and serve over mashed potatoes with lemon slices or preserved lemons for a bolder lemony flavor.
For serving size and the complete directions and ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card below. All of our recipes include the nutrition information, listing calories (kcals), protein, carbohydrates, fiber, sugar, sodium, cholesterol, and more per serving.
Dietitian Jess developed this recipe and has these recipe tips to share:
- To round out this dish, I like to serve it over mashed potatoes with a side of grilled asparagus, sauteed asparagus, or green beans.
- This dish is also delicious served over angel hair pasta or with our Asparagus Risotto.
- If doubling the recipe, I suggest using two skillets for best results.
- Save time by using chicken cutlets instead of chicken breasts.
Variations
Feel free to mix, match, and add different ingredients to suit your flavor preferences and dietary needs.
- Add sautéed shallots, mushrooms, or onions
- Substitute half of the chicken stock with dry white wine
- Add Romano, Asiago, or Parmesan cheese
- For gluten free, use a gluten-free flour blend, such as Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour or King Arthur Measure-for-Measure Gluten-Free Flour instead of all-purpose flour
- For dairy free, use a plant-based stick butter or choice instead of dairy butter
How to Store and Reheat
Leftover lemon chicken piccata will stay fresh in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. For the best results, reheat your chicken and sauce in a skillet over medium heat. If you’re in a hurry, you can also microwave individual servings.
Frequently Asked Questions
The key to achieving a crispy golden exterior is to sear the chicken over high heat without moving the pieces.
Cook the chicken until it’s no longer pink and the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you prefer a thicker sauce, try simmering it a little longer. Or, stir in a tablespoon or two of extra flour or cornstarch.
Lemon Chicken Piccata
A true 30-minute dinner, this chicken piccata recipe is simple and so delicious. The chicken cooks perfectly tender and moist and gets topped with a slightly thickened lemony caper sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 4 chicken cutlets (~1 to 1 ¼ lbs)
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (use gluten-free, if needed)*
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth, homemade or store-bought
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon butter**
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (juice of ½ lemon)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- Mashed potatoes and lemon wedges or slices, optional for serving
Instructions
- To make the chicken cutlets, slice the chicken breasts in half crosswise to create 4 cutlets. Lightly pound each cutlet between sheets of parchment paper until they’re about ½” thick.
- In a shallow bowl, place the flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper; stir to combine.
- Working one at a time, place the cutlets in the bowl and toss until coat in flour on all sides. Transfer the floured cutlets to a plate or cutting board. Discard any unused flour mixture.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the cutlets to the pan.
- Cook the cutlets, without moving them, until golden brown underneath, about 2 minutes. Then, turn each cutlet over and cook on the other side, without moving, just until the chicken is nearly cooked through (about 1-2 minutes). Transfer the chicken to a clean plate.
- Reduce the heat to low. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and the garlic to the skillet. Stir continuously to keep the garlic from scorching, about 30 seconds.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and add the broth, capers, and mustard to the skillet. Cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet, until the liquid is reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
- Add the butter. Stir vigorously until melted (about 1 minute) and the sauce starts to look glossy.
- Return the chicken to the skillet. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and continue to simmer vigorously until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce lightly coats the spoon, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir the lemon juice into the sauce. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, as desired.
- Transfer the chicken to a serving plate or platter. Spoon the sauce over the top of the cutlets and sprinkle with parsley. Note: The sauce will thicken more as it cools.
- If desired, serve chicken and sauce over mashed potatoes. Garnish with lemon wedges.
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Notes
*For gluten-free flours, we like Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour or King Arthur Measure-for-Measure Gluten-Free Flour.
**To make this dairy-free: Use a favorite plant-based butter instead of dairy butter
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1/4 of the recipe (without mashed potatoes)
- Calories: 232
- Fat: 13 g
- (Sat Fat: 3 g)
- Sodium: 542 mg
- Carbohydrate: 3 g
- (Fiber: 0 g
- Sugar: 0 g)
- Protein: 28 g
- Cholesterol: 78 mg
Dietary
For ultimate success, we highly recommend reading the tips in the full blog post above. All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish a recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words. Link back to the source recipe here on The Real Food Dietitians. Thank you!
Emmy says
This is delicious. Really appreciate replacing traditional white wine with chicken broth. This one is going into the rotation and your directions are spot on.
Jessica Beacom says
Thank you, Emily! I’m so glad you enjoyed this and thank you for your kind words about the directions. Writing recipe directions can be so challenging for recipes like these.
Kristen says
when I click on the link for the skillet it sends me to amazon for the flour. Can you add link for skillet?
Jessica Beacom says
The link in the post has been updated and you can also find the skillet here: https://rstyle.me/+1UuU3lCkkawKZuhTLZsizA
Tina says
Even better then some restaurant versions I’ve had. Super easy and simple.
Jessie Shafer says
Now that’s a compliment we don’t take lightly. Thank you, Tina!
DJames says
Making this for the second time. Flavorful, juicy chicken and incredibly easy.
Jessica Beacom says
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy this easy, flavorful dish.