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Chicken Piccata

Chicken piccata is a fast Italian-American skillet dinner with thin golden chicken cutlets in a silky lemon-butter-caper pan sauce. The sauce glistens and pools around crispy-edged fillets for an easy weeknight Italian dinner.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Italian-American
Calories: 520
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Chicken cutlets
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts Halved horizontally to make 8 thin cutlets.
  • Salt and pepper To taste.
  • 0.5 cup all-purpose flour For light dredging.
Lemon-butter-caper sauce
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp butter Divided; use 2 tbsp with the olive oil.
  • 4 cloves garlic Minced (about 4 cloves).
  • 0.5 cup dry white wine
  • 0.75 cup chicken broth
  • 0.25 cup fresh lemon juice About 2 lemons.
  • 3 tbsp capers Drained.
  • 1 lemon Thinly sliced.
  • 2 tbsp butter Remaining 2 tbsp, swirled in cold for gloss.
  • 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, then dredge lightly in all-purpose flour and shake off excess.
  2. Heat olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; cook chicken in batches for 3-4 minutes per side until golden and cooked through, then remove and set aside.
Build the pan sauce
  1. Add minced garlic to the skillet and cook for 30 seconds, stirring until fragrant.
  2. Pour in dry white wine and scrape up the browned bits from the pan, then simmer for 2 minutes.
  3. Add chicken broth, fresh lemon juice, capers, and thin lemon slices, then simmer for 4-5 minutes until the sauce reduces by a third.
  4. Remove from heat and swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons cold butter until the sauce turns glossy.
Finish
  1. Return the chicken to the skillet, spoon the lemon-butter-caper sauce over each cutlet, and garnish with fresh parsley.

Notes

For best browning, dry the cutlets lightly after slicing and don’t crowd the skillet—cook in batches if needed. Store leftovers in the refrigerator up to 3 days; reheat gently in a skillet so the sauce stays glossy. Freezing is not recommended because the lemon-butter sauce can break upon thawing. Dietary swap: use gluten-free all-purpose flour for a gluten-free piccata.