On a busy weeknight, sometimes the hardest thing to plan out is what I’m making for dinner. Chicken piccata is a quick 30-minute dish that provides the comfort you’d expect from a classic Italian dish, and is so easy to throw together after a long day. It’s a favorite in our house, especially with our teenager who will often go back for second or third servings.

What do I serve it with?

Chicken piccata is a versatile dish that’s great served with a variety of sides, such as roasted vegetables, pasta, smashed potatoes, risotto, or a salad. I prepared a side of risotto made with Arborio rice, white cooking wine, chicken broth, and parmesan for this recipe.

Start by gathering the ingredients, as once the chicken starts cooking, the recipe will move along and be finished fairly quickly. Mince the garlic and thinly slice the fresh parsley on a small cutting board for garnish. The white cooking wine has a fairly high alcohol content, but this will cook off on the stove. If you prefer to do without the cooking wine, you can prepare this dish with double the chicken broth in the recipe below.

Combine the flour, italian seasoning, and garlic powder in a small bowl for the chicken coating. Once combined, transfer it to a gallon-sized zipped food storage bag. Pat dry three boneless, skinless chicken breasts and slice into halves, then sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Place these in the zipped food storage bag with the flour mixture and seal it shut, then shake it to coat.

Tip: (If you prefer to dip the chicken directly into the flour mixture in a mixing bowl you can definitely do so! However, I usually recommend using a zipped bag as not only does it allow all parts of the chicken to be thoroughly coated, but it greatly cuts down on the mess when cleaning up.)

Once the chicken has been coated in the flour mixture, heat a thin layer of oil in a nonstick skillet. I love my Granitestone 14″ skillet as it reduces the amount of oil needed for cooking, but you can use what skillet you prefer for this step. Place the chicken in the skillet on medium-high heat once the oil starts to shimmer. Cook on one side until browned, then flip over to finish cooking. (Be careful not to burn yourself from the oil splatter when turning the chicken.) Add the butter to the skillet halfway through the browning process and turn the chicken to coat it in butter for a fuller flavor, but also to prevent the chicken from burning due to butter’s lower smoke point.

Place the cooked chicken on a plate and set aside. Add the garlic and cook for one minute, then add in the chicken broth, wine, and lemon juice. Continuously stir to prevent the garlic from burning, but to allow the cooking process to release the full flavor of the garlic.

Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat to low and return the chicken to the pan. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes before adding the drained capers, and cook for two minutes before the garnish. Top the piccata with the sliced parsley and thinly sliced lemons if desired.

Lemon Chicken Piccata with Parsley

Course: DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

4 Tbsp. butter
olive oil
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 3 breasts)
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white cooking wine
6 Tbsp fresh Meyer lemon juice, or regular lemon juice
2 Tbsp capers, (drained, optional)
3 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley

Directions

Mince the garlic and thinly slice parsley. Cut chicken breasts in half to allow to cook more evenly. Sprinkle both sides of thinly sliced chicken with salt and pepper to taste.
Combine flour, garlic powder, and italian seasoning in small bowl. Pour into gallon-sized zipped bag. Add chicken breasts, seal shut and shake to coat.
Coat large skillet in thin layer of oil, turn heat to medium-high until oil starts to shimmer slightly. Place chicken in skillet and cook in batches, turning over until browned on both sides and cooked through. Add butter halfway through cooking, turning chicken to coat.
Transfer chicken to plate and set aside. Add garlic to pan and cook for one minute. Add in chicken broth, wine, and lemon juice and stir until boiling.
Return chicken to pan with broth mixture and reduce heat to low, cooking for 2-3 minutes. Add capers and cook for additional 2 minutes.
Garnish with parsley and additional lemon slices as desired. Serve.

Notes

Tip: Add the butter halfway through step 3 to prevent chicken from burning before fully cooked through. Butter adds flavor, but has a lower smoke point than oil and can burn at high heat.