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This Lemon Chicken Piccata recipe makes pan fried chicken cutlets in a creamy lemon butter sauce with white wine and capers. Serve with your favorite pasta for a special weeknight dinner or Sunday supper!
Why go out to eat when you can make this easy chicken piccata recipe at home? You can find this classic Italian dish at most Italian restaurants, but it’s cheaper to make this restaurant quality dinner yourself.
I used to make this simple chicken recipe way back when, before the kiddos came along. It’s definitely on the tangy side, and I didn’t think my picky eaters would go for it. Now that they’re older, I make this easy chicken dinner for a special weeknight dinner or Sunday dinner. It’s a great recipe for birthdays, Valentine’s Day or date night! I even included this family favorite in my cookbook!
Even though there is some prep work, this easy recipe for chicken picatta takes about 30 minutes to make! If you like easy chicken recipes, try my Ritz cracker chicken or Mayo Parmesan chicken next!
Table of Contents
Ingredient Notes
Here’s what you need for this delicious dinner. Full amounts are in the printable recipe card below. They should be easy to find in your grocery store.
- Boneless skinless chicken breast halves — you can also use chicken cutlets
- Seasonings — salt, black pepper and garlic powder
- Flour — all purpose flour for dredging the chicken
- Butter and olive oil — for frying the chicken
- White wine — or chicken broth to deglaze the pan
- Lemon — about 1 medium lemon for the fresh lemon juice
- Heavy cream — makes the sauce nice and creamy
- Capers — usually found by the jarred peppers and olives
How to Make Chicken Piccata
First, you’ll need to pound the chicken breast halves until they’re about 1/4 inch thick. The easy way to pound chicken is to put them between pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap or into large freezer bags. Then, use the flat side of a meat mallet or a rolling pin to gently pound them.
Then, season the chicken, and dredge it with flour. Alternately, you can just add the spices to the flour. I like to put the flour in a shallow dish and use kitchen tongs to hold the chicken. After the chicken is well coated, be sure to shake off the excess flour.
Heat the 2 tablespoons of butter and the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat to medium high heat. When the butter melts, add the chicken cutlets to the skillet,
Pan fry the chicken breasts on both sides until they’re golden brown, about 3-4 minutes per side.
Next, remove chicken from the pan while you make the sauce. Place the chicken on a large plate, and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
Pour the white wine into the skillet. Then, deglaze the pan with white wine, or use chicken broth if you don’t want to use wine. Scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Then, add lemon juice, cream and capers. Put the chicken back into the sauce. Pour in the chicken juices, as well. Add some chopped fresh parsley for flavor and presentation. I also like to add lemon slices for another pop of color.
The chicken will finish cooking in the sauce and should be 165 degrees internally for safety. You can spoon the tangy creamy sauce over the chicken before serving or let people add their own sauce.
I highly recommend tasting the sauce before serving. You can add more cream or use chicken broth to help balance the flavors if you think it’s too tangy.
Serving Suggestions
We like to serve chicken piccata over a bed of pasta or egg noodles. The pasta helps absorb the creamy lemon sauce. I usually make pasta in my Instant Pot since my pan takes up a lot of space on the stove.
Sprinkle a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese on the chicken for extra flavor.
If you don’t want pasta, you can serve the chicken over rice or mashed potatoes. or roasted potatoes. We love steamed broccoli or asparagus with this creamy lemon chicken dinner. A simple green salad works, too!
How to Store and Reheat
Store leftovers in your refrigerator in an airtight container. It will keep fresh for 3-4 days. The sauce does reduce down, so you may want to add more cream or broth when reheating. You can freeze leftover chicken for up to 3 months for best flavor. Reheat the chicken on the stove top or in your microwave.
Helpful Tips
I recommend having all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go before starting. It makes the cooking process much smoother.
If the chicken is very thick, butterfly the chicken by slicing it in half lengthwise with a sharp knife. Then, pound the chicken pieces until they are even.
Capers have a strong flavor. You can rinse the capers before adding to the sauce to reduce the saltiness.
To make chicken piccata without wine, chicken broth is a great substitute. You can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs in this creamy chicken piccata recipe.
Lighten up the recipe by leaving out the heavy cream or use half and half.
Lemon Chicken Piccata
Ingredients
- 4 small chicken breast halves about 2 pounds total
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup white wine I used Pino Grigio
- 1 small lemon juice of, about 1/4 cup
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon capers drained
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts between 2 sheets of wax paper or into a gallon size freezer bag, and pound with the flat side of a mallet or rolling pin until they're about 1/4 inch thick
- Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder
- Dredge chicken in flour, and shake off excess flour.
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and add chicken breasts
- Cook on until brown on one side, then flip over and cook until brown on both sides. About 8 minutes, total. You may have to reduce heat or add more oil or butter if it starts to get too brown or dry.
- Remove chicken to a platter and cover to keep warm
- Pour wine or broth in the pan, and deglaze and scrape up browned bits with a flat spatula or wooden spoon
- Add lemon juice, allow to simmer slightly, then stir in heavy cream, and mix until blended.
- Lower heat, add capers, then add chicken back to sauce and cook until sauce is thick and chicken is 165, according to meat thermometer
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This was the best. Very easy too! A new family favorite.
Yea! So glad you enjoyed the chicken!
Made this last night and what a huge hit! Didn’t take that long to make but it was sure worth it!
Made this twice since this came out! A new family favorite.
Thanks, James! I’m glad you liked the chicken piccata!
My family would really enjoy this!! It looks SO GOOD!
YUM! This looks incredibly delicious!!
Love this for weeknights! Such a delicious and easy to make meal!
It really is easy. Thanks so much, Toni!
This Lemon Chicken Piccata looks incredibly delicious!
We LOVED this recipe. This will be going in our regular rotation.
Thank you so much, Dorothy! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Oh this turned out so fabulous! Thank you for the easy recipe!
Awesome, Allyson! Thank you so much!
This looks so delicious! My family is going to love this recipe! Can’t wait to make this!
Thanks so much, Beth. I hope you enjoy it!