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Chicken Piccata

Chicken piccata with golden, crispy-edged cutlets in a bright lemon-butter-caper pan sauce. This easy chicken piccata recipe makes a silky sauce by reducing white wine and chicken broth until it pools around the chicken.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian-American
Calories: 520
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Chicken Piccata
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts Halved horizontally to make 8 thin cutlets.
  • Salt and pepper To taste.
  • 0.5 cup all-purpose flour For dredging.
  • 3 tbsp olive oil For pan-frying.
  • 4 tbsp butter Divided; 2 tbsp with oil and 2 tbsp for finishing.
  • 4 garlic cloves Minced.
  • 0.5 cup dry white wine For deglazing and simmering.
  • 0.75 cup chicken broth For the lemon-caper pan sauce.
  • 0.25 cup fresh lemon juice About 2 lemons.
  • 3 tbsp capers Drained.
  • 1 lemon Thinly sliced.
  • fresh parsley Chopped, for garnish.

Equipment

  • 1 cast iron skillet

Method
 

Dredge and cook the chicken
  1. Season the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper and dredge lightly in flour, shaking off the excess so the surface is thinly coated (visual cue: flour clings but doesn’t form a thick layer).
  2. Heat olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the butter foams; cook the chicken in batches for 3-4 minutes per side until golden and cooked through (visual cue: cutlets turn deep golden with crisp edges).
  3. Remove the cooked cutlets and set aside while you make the sauce (visual cue: chicken rests off the heat without losing their golden color).
Make the lemon-butter-caper pan sauce
  1. Add the minced garlic to the skillet and cook for 30 seconds, stirring until fragrant (visual cue: garlic darkens slightly but doesn’t burn).
  2. Pour in the dry white wine and scrape up the browned bits from the pan, then simmer for 2 minutes (visual cue: liquid reduces and looks slightly syrupy).
  3. Add chicken broth, lemon juice, capers, and lemon slices, then simmer for 4-5 minutes until the sauce reduces by about a third (visual cue: sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon).
  4. Remove the skillet from the heat and swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons cold butter until the sauce turns glossy (visual cue: the sauce shines and looks smooth).
  5. Return the chicken cutlets to the skillet, spoon sauce over each, and garnish with chopped fresh parsley (visual cue: sauce pools around the fillets and parsley stays bright green).

Notes

For extra-glossy sauce, swirl in the cold butter off the heat so it emulsifies smoothly. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days; reheat gently in a skillet with a splash of broth or wine. Freezing is not ideal for the cutlets’ crispness, but you can freeze the sauce separately. For a lower-fat swap, use a reduced amount of butter (e.g., 2 tbsp total) and add 1-2 tbsp olive oil at the finishing stage to keep the sauce silky.