This traditional Italian-American Creamy Chicken Francaise is kicked up a notch with a creamy, garlic sauce! A one-pan gourmet style meal made right at home in less than 30 minutes!
Easy Chicken Francaise
I love lemon! Lemon anything, really. It just makes me think and feel – fresh. A little lemon on your plate can brighten up a whole meal! 🍋 I also love easy pan chicken recipes, and this easy creamy chicken francaise is the perfect intersection of both! It is impressive to look at, and your family will think you have become a gourmet chef! Don’t even get me started on the fragrant smell. With all of the lemon and garlic – I’m sure you can imagine!
What is Chicken Francaise?
Chicken Francaise is a super easy and flavorful Italian-American specialty. You may have seen it spelled Chicken Francese before, and you might get it confused with its slightly less breaded cousin, Chicken Piccata.
Francaise means “in the French style.” This refers to the fact that the chicken is breaded in what might seem a backward process. It first goes in the flour, then the egg mixture, and finally, into the pan.
Then, it’s topped with a creamy lemon garlic sauce. 😍
Ingredients
Whoa, check out all of these ingredients! Just kidding! Don’t get nervous. We’ll separate it into the breading station and the sauteing station.
First of all, you’ll need:
- Olive oil
- butter
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
For the breading station:
- Eggs
- Parmesan cheese
- Flour
- Salt and pepper
For the Sauce:
- garlic
- chicken broth
- heavy cream
- fresh chopped parsley
- lemon juice
How to Make Chicken Francaise
- Prep: Set a large 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat and add in olive oil and butter.
- Dredge: Add the eggs and Parmesan cheese to a shallow bowl and mix them together until they’re well combined. Add the flour, salt, and pepper in a separate shallow plate and stir to combine. IF counting carbs, use Keto approved/low carb flour; I use Coconut Flour and absolutely LOVE the added subtle taste of the coconut.
- Working with one chicken filet at a time, coat both sides of each chicken with flour; then dip in the egg mixture to coat on all sides. Allow the excess egg mixture to drip off.
- Pan fry: Add each filet to the heated oil and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes per side, or until cooked through and golden brown. Remove chicken filets from skillet and transfer to a paper towel lined plate and set them aside.
- Sauce: Add the garlic to the skillet and cook it until it’s fragrant. This should be about 20 seconds. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Continue to cook until it’s reduced. This should be about 4 minutes.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and whisk in the heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of parsley. Continue to cook until the sauce thickens. This will be about 2 minutes. Whisk in lemon juice until it’s completely incorporated and continue to cook for 2 more minutes.
- Serve: Remove from heat. Add chicken pieces back into the pan. Spoon sauce over the chicken and garnish it with your remaining parsley.
Tips for the Best Chicken Francaise
Traditional Chicken Francaise is excellent, but my special creamy style is even better. Here’s how I make it so good:
- The egg goes on the outside! First, dip your chicken in the flour, THEN the egg. For the best crunch, allow the excess egg to drip off.
- Set up your dredging station from left to right. Use one hand for dry ingredients and one hand for wet ingredients.
- Pan fry in a mixture of olive oil AND butter. This combo adds flavor and impacts the smoke point.
- Once you place the chicken in the pan, don’t move it around until you flip it. You don’t want the light breading falling off.
- Turn off the heat BEFORE you add the chicken back to the pan. If you continue to cook the chicken in the sauce, the breading will get soggy and pull away from the chicken. Instead, simply spoon the sauce over the chicken
Serving Ideas
- My favorite way to serve Creamy Chicken Francaise is with a side of mashed potatoes and green beans. Seriously, this creamy lemon garlic sauce is so good over mashed potatoes. Don’t believe me? You’ll have to try it yourself. Use cauliflower mashed potatoes if you’re hating on carbs, like me.
- You can also serve this chicken over your favorite noodle or pasta with steamed broccoli. Or, try it with orzo and roasted Brussels sprouts.
Are you noticing a trend here? Basically, serve your creamy Chicken Francaise with any starch and green veggie and you will be good to go.
How to Store Leftovers
- You can refrigerate your leftovers in an airtight container for 4 to 5 days.
- Or, freeze the leftovers in a freezer safe airtight container for about 3 months.
More Easy Chicken Dinner Ideas
- Lemon Pepper Chicken
- Creamy Garlic Sauce Chicken Breasts
- Easy Chicken Breasts Recipe with Creamed Spinach Sauce
ENJOY!
Creamy Chicken Francaise
Ingredients
- 2 (8-ounces each) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, Cut in half, lengthwise, to make four 1-inch thick filets
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour,
- salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream, you can also use half & half
- 3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley, divided
- 1 lemon, juiced
Instructions
- Set a large skillet over medium-high heat and add in olive oil and butter.
- Add eggs and Parmesan cheese to a shallow bowl and beat/mix until well combined.
- Add flour, salt, and pepper in a separate shallow plate and stir to combine.
- Working with one chicken filet at a time, coat both sides of each chicken filet with flour; then dip in the egg mixture to coat on all sides. Allow excess egg mixture to drip off.
- Add filets to the heated oil and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes per side, or until cooked through and golden brown. If chicken is browning too quickly, but not cooking through on the inside, lower the heat.
- Remove chicken filets from skillet and transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Cover with a paper towel and set aside.
- Set skillet back over medium-high heat. Add garlic to skillet and cook for 15 seconds, or until fragrant. Stir so it doesn't burn.
- Slowly whisk in chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
- Continue to cook for 4 minutes, or until liquid is reduced.
- Lower heat to medium-low and whisk in heavy cream and 2 tablespoons parsley.
- Continue to cook for 2 minutes, or until thickened.
- Whisk in lemon juice; whisk until completely incorporated and continue to cook for 2 minutes. It's important to whisk continuously so the cream does not curdle when you add in the lemon juice.
- Remove from heat.
- Add chicken pieces back into the pan; spoon sauce over chicken, garnish with parsley, and serve.
Notes
- To make this recipe Keto-Friendly, Low Carb, and Gluten Free, use an alternative flour. Coconut Flour works very well.
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.
This came out amazing!!!! I made it over angel hair pasta.
I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Just perfectly delicious- awesome sauce. Totally devoured by my family
I am very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Made this as a really special meal. Absolutely fabulous. My husband raved over it!! Thanks So Much!
I just made this very tasty I added capers will make again
I am very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Thank you for an awesome recipe! My family loved it. This is definitely one to make again!
Um, they asked for it again yesterday (so soon!) and were mad that I didn’t have chicken in the house. Needless to say, I went and got some chicken so we can have it tonight. So yummy!
I made this one time SO long ago and have been looking for a good recipe ever since!!
I hope you enjoy it! Thank YOU! 🙂
I love a delicious dish that can be made in 30 minutes. So much flavor!
Thank you so much, Tisha! 🙂
This chicken looks so inviting! I can’t say No to it!
How do I save your favourite recipes? I clicked on Save Favourites but nothing happens and when I click on View Favourites, it tells me no favourites have been saved.
This Creamy Chicken Francaise looks incredibly delicious!
Thank you, Erin! 🙂
I love a good one pan meal and this one delivered. It was so good and creamy and a big hit with my family.
I am very happy you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Wow! This looks crazy good! Definitely adding this to my weekly dinner rotation soon. 🙂
Thank you, Carrie! I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
I love that the ingredient list is simple and things that I already have on hand. We will be enjoying this tomorrow for dinner!
I hope you love it!! 🙂 Thank you, Dorothy!
We love the sauce in this recipe! Seriously GOOD! All the pis are awesome too!
I am very happy you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
YUMMM!! We made this for dinner last night and everyone was OBSESSED!! Thanks for sharing!
I am SO happy you enjoyed it!! Thank YOU!!! 🙂
The garlic sauce adds so much flavor! We love chicken dishes & these are all my favorite ingredients!
I hope you enjoy it! Thank you! 🙂
Your pictures look stunning! I need to make this Chicken Francaise asap!
Thank you SO much!! I hope you enjoy it! 🙂