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This easy Chicken Piccata recipe is a weeknight win! Juicy, pan-seared chicken gets smothered in a bright, buttery lemon caper sauce that’s packed with flavor.
Chicken piccata may sound fancy, but it’s actually a really simple recipe. If you’re tired of the same old ways of cooking chicken, try this one out! It’s just as easy as your favorite sauteed chicken, but the burst of wine, capers, garlic, and onion is totally irresistible. You could even try it with salmon!
Why You’ll Love This Chicken Piccata Recipe
- Classic, no-fuss comfort food. Juicy, pan-seared chicken in a rich, buttery lemon sauce — what’s not to love?
- Big flavor, simple ingredients. A little white wine, fresh lemon, and briny capers come together for a sauce that’s hard to resist.
- Quick and easy. This recipe is ready in about 30 minutes, making it perfect for busy weeknights.
- Restaurant quality at home. Fancy enough for date night, but easy enough for a casual dinner.
What Is Chicken Piccata?
If you’ve never had chicken piccata, you’re in for a flavor revelation! It’s a traditional Italian-American dish with thin slices of chicken breast cooked in a savory pan sauce. The sauce gets some tangy, bright flavor from lemon and capers, while garlic, chicken broth, and butter help balance it out.
In restaurants, you will often find that chicken piccata includes a breading on the chicken pieces, but for our healthy version, we’ll just pan-fry them without. That saves calories and results in a lighter dish overall. It also makes the cooking process more streamlined and easy to do on a busy weeknight!
What You’ll Need
This chicken piccata recipe calls for boneless chicken breasts, wine, capers, and a few pantry staples like chicken broth and onions. It’s easy and good! Be sure to check out the recipe card below for specific amounts.
- Chicken Breasts: Take 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and pound them to ¼-inch thickness. You can also use two large breasts and cut them in half longwise, to produce two pieces out of one.
- White Wine: You’ll need 1/3 cup total; some for the sauce and some for the chicken. Use your favorite white wine. I almost always use Chardonnay because that is what I like to drink.
- Cornstarch: As with the wine, you’ll divide the cornstarch between the sauce and the chicken.
- Salt & Black Pepper: I use table salt and freshly ground pepper to enhance all the flavors of this chicken piccata.
- Chicken Broth: For this recipe, I used half a cup of low sodium chicken broth; you can substitute vegetable broth, or just use water.
- Lemon Juice: Adds acidity and tanginess to the sauce.
- Oil & Butter: To pan-fry the chicken, you’ll need some butter and your choice of cooking oil. Avocado oil or vegetable oil are good options.
- Onion: I generally use yellow onions, but any kind will do.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic is always best but garlic powder will also work.
- Green Beans: Wash two cups of fresh green beans and trim the tips. You can also snap them into 1-inch pieces.
- Capers: You’ll need 2 tablespoons of capers, rinsed. They’re usually sold in jars, near the pickles and olives.
- Parsley: Chopped fresh parsley is perfect for garnishing your chicken!
- Lemon Wedges: For serving.
How to Make Chicken Piccata
This recipe is simple and quick, but it really helps to have all of your ingredients measured and laid out before cooking. Then, you just cook the various ingredients in a skillet until done.
- Prep: Pound the chicken breasts to an even ¼-inch thickness. You can use thicker chicken breasts, but keep in mind that those will need longer to cook through.
- Marinate: In a mixing bowl, combine half of the wine with a teaspoon of cornstarch, half a teaspoon of salt, and a fourth of a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Add the chicken to the sauce, and toss to evenly coat. Set aside.
- Prep Sauce: In a separate bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, lemon juice, remaining wine, and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. Set aside for later.
- Cook Chicken: Heat 1 ½ tablespoons of oil in a large, 12-inch skillet set over medium-high heat. Arrange the chicken breasts in the skillet and cook for 5 minutes; flip, add 1 tablespoon of butter, and cook for 4 more minutes, or until just cooked through.
- Cook Veggies: Remove the chicken breasts from the skillet. Add half a tablespoon of oil to the skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the diced onions to the heated oil, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic and add the green beans and capers to the skillet; season with ¼ teaspoon salt and cook for 5 minutes, or until the green beans are crisp-tender.
- Finish the Dish: Stir in the previously prepared sauce, then return the chicken to the skillet, turning it to coat. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened. Remove from the heat and garnish with parsley.
- Enjoy! Serve the chicken piccata with lemon wedges, if desired.
Helpful Tips
- Cut the Chicken into Cutlets: To get the chicken nice and thin, it can be helpful to cut the chicken breasts in half, starting at the thicker edge and cutting through the middle. Then, pound as needed to make ¼-inch thin pieces.
- Substitute Asparagus: If fresh asparagus is in season, you can substitute washed and trimmed asparagus for the green beans. The flavor goes perfectly with the buttery lemon sauce and pan-fried chicken.
- Cook in Batches: Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to cook the chicken in batches to get it all nicely cooked and avoid crowding.
Serving Suggestions
When serving chicken piccata, you can’t go wrong with mashed potatoes or pasta. Some more favorites include creamy Parmesan baked zucchini or these crispy Parmesan air fryer Brussels sprouts.
And for a special touch, a loaf of easy slow cooker bread adds homespun flavor and warmth to any meal, while popovers would be perfect for sopping up the extra sauce.
How To Store & Reheat Extras
- Store in the fridge: Store leftovers in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 4 days.
- To reheat: When you are ready to reheat the extras, place the amount you want to eat on a microwave-safe plate and zap it until heated through. I recommend covering the chicken with a microwave safe bowl to prevent splattering.
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Chicken Piccata
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to ¼-inch thickness
- ⅓ cup white wine, divided (you can also use chicken broth instead of wine)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
- ¾ teaspoon salt, divided
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- ½ cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or vegetable oil, divided
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups trimmed fresh green beans
- ¼ cup capers, rinsed
- chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
- lemon wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Using a meat mallet, pound chicken breasts to an even ¼-inch thickness.
- In a large mixing bowl combine half of the wine with 1 teaspoon cornstarch, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper; whisk to combine.
- Add chicken breasts to the wine mixture and toss to evenly coat. Set aside for 20 minutes.
- In a separate smaller mixing bowl whisk together the chicken broth, lemon juice, remaining wine, and 1 teaspoon cornstarch. Set aside for later.
- Heat 1-½ tablespoons oil in a large 12-inch skillet set over medium-high heat
- Add chicken breasts to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes; flip, add 1 tablespoon of butter, and cook for 4 more minutes or until just cooked through. The thicker the chicken breasts, the longer they'll have to cook. Use an instant read food thermometer to check for doneness. Chicken breasts are cooked through when internal temperature registers at 165˚F.
- Remove chicken breasts from the skillet and set aside on a plate.
- Add ½ tablespoon some oil to the skillet if needed, and heat over medium-high heat.
- Add diced onions to the heated oil and cook for 1 minute, or just until starting to soften.
- Stir in garlic and cook for 10 seconds.
- Add green beans and capers to the skillet; season with ¼ teaspoon salt and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until green beans are crisp tender. Stir occasionally.
- Stir the previously prepared wine sauce and add it to the skillet. Cook for 10 seconds.
- Return chicken and its juices back to the skillet; turn chicken to coat with the sauce.
- Cook for a minute or two, or until sauce is a little thickened.
- Remove from heat.
- Garnish with parsley. Serve.
Notes
- Chicken Cutlets: To cut chicken breasts into cutlets, start at the thicker edge and slice each chicken breast in half. Then, give them a good pound until they’re thin and even. You can also save time and grab chicken cutlets instead of chicken breasts.
- Cooking in Batches: Depending on your pan size, you might need to cook the chicken in batches. It helps everything cook evenly and keeps the pan from getting too crowded.
- Cooking Chicken On The Stovetop: To get that perfect golden-brown crust on your chicken without overcooking it, keep an eye on your heat. Start on medium-high heat for browning, then lower the heat as needed so your chicken doesn’t dry out. This also ensures your lovely buttery lemon sauce doesn’t burn.
- Flavor Boost: For an extra flavor boost, add a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese on top of the chicken piccata right before serving. The cheese melts into the sauce, adding a layer of richness to the dish.
- Try Asparagus: Got some fresh asparagus around? Feel free to sub it in for the green beans. The combo of asparagus with that rich, citrusy butter sauce and crispy chicken is just dynamite.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Medium high heat burns the sauce and the chicken breasts and their marinade… and the capers will be destroyed if you put them in at the same time as the green beans … the green beans will burn too if all they are cooked in is oil. Did they actually try this recipe?
The better question is, did you even make the recipe? You are rating something without even giving it a try. There are comments before yours that did make it and gave it 5 stars.
I, of course, did make it; otherwise, it wouldn’t be on my website. It’s made by me, photographed by me, written by me.
I’ve made this recipe twice now – a hit in my family! I had never used capers in cooking before, but was willing to try something new. Sauce was yummy!
I made this using broccoli because I needed to use it up. My husband has already requested it again, this time with asparagus. It was especially good as leftovers. We had buttered lemon noodles the first night and mashed potatoes the second and both go well with it. I see you have other chicken piccata recipes, but this one will be hard to beat. Thanks!
I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂