Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata has lightly breaded and fried chicken breasts smothered in a luscious lemon and caper sauce. Serve it over your favorite pasta.

What is Chicken Piccata?

Piccata is a method of preparing food whereby the meat is sliced, coated, sautéed and then served in a lemon caper sauce.  Originally prepared in Italy with veal, Chicken Piccata is now a very popular variation of the dish, served at Italian-American restaurants in the United States.

The word piccata is related to the Italian word picarre, which means to lard meat. Meanwhile, in the French language, the word piquant refers to a food having a pleasantly sharp taste – so it does seem like the name of this dish was inspired by the two words.

No matter the origin, our lemony Chicken Piccata is the perfect option for a deliciously light, zesty, and flavorful dinner.

• This dish is fancy enough for a special dinner party, but easy enough to serve any day of the week.
• The fresh lemon and briny capers in a luscious sauce are so delicious with the perfectly-tender chicken and pasta.
• It’s so good – it rivals the best Chicken Piccata served at your favorite Italian-American restaurant.

• Chicken – Buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts, then butterfly each breast so they are a more uniform thickness. Then we pound the breasts so they are flattened before cooking.
• All-Purpose Flour – Used as a dredge for the chicken before frying.
• Salt & Pepper
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Butter – We always suggest unsalted butter for cooking and baking.
• Fresh Garlic
• Lemons – You’ll use the juice from one lemon in the sauce and to deglaze the pan, plus slices from another half lemon.
• Vermouth – We choose a dry vermouth. When it is included as an ingredient in a savory dish, it adds a nice herbal undertone to the piccata. If you don’t have vermouth on hand, you can swap in any dry white.
• Chicken Stock – Make your own or use a canned or boxed stock in this recipe.
• Capers – A must-include ingredient in any Chicken Piccata recipe, capers add a distinctive, briny bite to this dish. Sorry – no substituting allowed! You can find small jars of capers in the Italian section of your supermarket, or order them online.
• Fresh Parsley
• Pasta – For serving. We chose spaghetti but any pasta will do.

1. Cook the pasta.
2. Butterfly the chicken breasts, then pound them to an even quarter-inch thickness. Cut each butterflied piece in half to make four uniform portions.
3. Dredge the chicken in seasoned flour. Set aside on a plate or platter.
4. Melt olive oil and butter in a skillet. Fry the chicken until golden brown – about two minutes on each side. Set aside on a platter.
5. Sauté garlic in the skillet, then add lemon juice to deglaze the pan.
6. Add lemon slices, vermouth, chicken stock, and capers to the pan. Simmer to reduce, then add butter and chopped parsley.
7. Nestle the chicken back into the sauce and finish cooking.
8. Serve immediately over the pasta.

• Can I make Chicken Piccata ahead of time? Yes – while this dish is best freshly-cooked, the chicken and sauce reheat nicely. Just be sure to avoid overheating so the chicken doesn’t over cook. Also, cook the pasta just before serving for best results.
• How do I reheat leftovers? In a skillet on the stove over gentle heat, or microwave individual servings. (Again, avoid overheating the chicken.)
• Can I add heavy cream to this recipe? Since this recipe has lemon juice as part of the sauce, heavy cream might curdle depending on how much cream you put in. (You can technically mix cream and lemon – it just has to be in the right proportions to avoid curdling.) You may prefer to follow our Creamy Lemon Chicken recipe instead and then add capers.

This Chicken Piccata recipe originally appeared on A Family Feast in April 2013. We’ve updated the photos and post, but the delicious recipe remains the same.

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