Chicken Piccata is an easy family favourite recipe adding a garlic twist to an authentic Piccata!
Golden, crispy chicken breasts lightly dredged in flour and parmesan cheese, pan fried until a soft golden crust forms and finished off in a buttery, silky, lemon garlic sauce with capers and white wine or stock! It doesn’t get any better than this easy chicken piccata for dinner!
Chicken Piccata is such a popular American chicken dinner! Who doesn’t love soft, golden, juicy chicken swimming in a rich simple sauce?
Hello gorgeous…
How To Make Chicken Piccata
Chicken Piccata is normally dredged in plain flour, but like this Sheet Pan Lemon Parmesan Chicken recipe, I love dredging our chicken in a mixture of flour and parmesan cheese. Adding parmesan cheese to the flour adds an incredible flavour to the crust.
The chicken then gets fried in a butter/oil mixture. If you’ve never done this and only fried your chicken in oil, you don’t know what you’ve been missing! It creates the most beautiful, golden soft crust all over your chicken, you’ll be frying your chicken in butter/oil from now on! Guaranteed! The oil stops the butter from browning to quickly, while the butter prevents the oil from burning. It’s a win-win, really.
How To Make A Piccata Sauce
The sauce is so easy! All you need is:
- Garlic
- Lemon juice (freshly squeezed please)
- A good quality dry white wine (I normally cook with Pinot Grigio) — optional
- Chicken stock
- Butter
- Capers (also optional)
Once you’ve thrown all of those ingredients together in your pan, allow it all to boil for 6-8 minutes until it starts to reduce down. It WILL reduce down. If you’re anything like me and have the patience level of zero, you’ll be tempted to thicken the sauce with flour or cornstarch…but put down your flour! It will reduce and thicken slightly. Give it time. This step needs to happen to fuse all of those amazing flavours together.
The Best Chicken Piccata!
I have tried some recipes in the past and found them to be way too tart with too much lemon juice added in, or not enough sauce to drizzle over pasta. This recipe is one I’ve adjusted over time to make plenty of sauce to mop up with your pasta OR crusty garlic bread!
Serving Suggestions:
- Pasta
- Plain rice
- Mashed Potatoes!
Wine Suggestions:
- Pinot Grigio
- Reisling
- Rose
- Sav Blanc
Chicken Piccata Recipe Video!
Garlic Chicken Piccata
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless and skinless chicken breasts halved horizontally to make 4
- 2 tablespoons flour (all purpose or plain)
- 2 tablespoons fresh Parmesan cheese finely grated
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black cracked pepper
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 4 large cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup dry white wine (can be omitted)
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup brined capers rinsed
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
- Parmesan Cheese to serve
Instructions
- In a shallow bowl, combine the flour and parmesan cheese. Season the chicken with salt and pepper; dredge in the flour mixture; shake off excess and set aside.
- In a large pan or skillet heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. When hot, fry 2 pieces of chicken first until golden on each side and cooked through (about 3-4 minutes each side, depending on the thickness of your chicken). Transfer to a warm plate.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and another tablespoon of olive oil. When hot, fry the remaining chicken until browned on both sides. Transfer to plate.
- In the same pan, melt one more tablespoon of butter. Fry the garlic for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the wine and bring to a boil, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan for extra flavour. Cook until wine almost evaporates, stirring occasionally.
- Pour in the stock, lemon juice and capers and allow to boil until reduced slightly (about 6 minutes). Adjust salt and pepper if needed.
- Add remaining butter to the pan, allow to melt, then add chicken back into the pan along with all of the juices from the plate and simmer for 5 minutes to heat through.
- Garnish with parsley and serve immediately with parmesan cheese, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Beth says
Just found you on Instagram!! Yay! Can I make this piccata ahead? I read you said parts of it? I have a party of 8 coming. Do I double the recipe and how can I make ahead? Thanks
Lori says
I’ve made Chicken Piccatta a few times, but I liked the addition of garlic and parmesan. I made this last night and it was delicious. It will be my go to for chicken piccata, can also use this with flattened pork medallions, or veal too. thanks
Kerry Baidin says
Yes, I’ve tried this recipe and it is delicious but I need to fix this recipe for a man that has pancreatitis and cannot have oil or butter. So this now becomes a challenge and I see from all other websites no one has been able to produce almost the same results without frying or using butter or oil, and believe me I have searched. If you have any ideas I would greatly appreciate them!
Vincent says
This is exactly the recipe I’ve been looking for – one that uses both chicken stock and wine. I’ve winged piccata many times over the years, but now I have a solid reference point. Thank you so much!
Ivy says
I rarely comment on recipes that I have tried but this one was exceptional. I did use vermouth instead of wine since I had that already. And only 1/8 cup. That was the only change I made. I did make a double batch so I that could have leftovers and I am glad I did. It is delicious! Thanks
Jeff Winett says
At 63, and having created classic recipes for half a century, I am embarrassed to admit that I’ve yet to prepare Chicken Piccata. And I’m the guy who makes Puff pastry from scratch! I was spurred on from a recipe that emanated from Bon Appetit magazine, to have my way with Chicken Piccata. Yet, I felt that I could do better. So began my ridiculous searching all over the internet. I obsess way too much. When I saw Karina’s recipe, I truly took a deep breath, and knew in my gut (and 3rd. eye) that this would be the ultimate version. It was all that, and more. Thank you Karina. You do such a wonderful service for everyone, as you cultivate such amazing dishes….and SHARING!
Amber says
Great recipe, the entire family loved it! We served it with low carb angel hair pasta and zucchini noodles. ❤️?
Chris A says
So I am new to cooking and I have been trying out different ways to make my chicken breast to keep them juicy and tasty. I follow you on IG so that’s how I was able to find this recipe and it was Delicious. Mixing the oil and butter together was Genius. All the flavors complimented each other very well. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Bonnie says
Great Fiorme though Karina, I would add two large garlic cloves. I love garlic. Only problem I had was I was tasting more garlic than that beautiful sauce. I felt the garlic was over taking the dish. But, I would recommend this recipe. I will make this recipe again, for sure. In fact, your recipes are wonderful. I have made many. Thank you.
Katrina says
This was delicious. I used glute free all purpose flour blend instead of the regular flour. It came out great and even my picky 2 year old liked it.
Nickie says
I made it tonight for valentines day for my boyfriend for the first time! He loved it! He completely inhaled it and we had enough for delicious leftovers! Great recipe!
Chrysta says
This dish was absolutely amazing and pretty easy to cook! Ive ordered chicken piccata in some very nice restaurants and this recipe was right up there with them. Thank you for sharing. Also, I love the song you attached to the video. Can I get some info on it? 🙂
Dezi says
Great recipe, I live the parm added to the dredge. I like to replace the white wine with vermouth, yum!
Joni says
I made this tonight and my husband and I LOVED it! We omitted the wine, used jarred minced garlic (the horror, I know), and did everything else as it said. At the end, I threw in the “noodles” from half of a roasted spaghetti squash into the sauce and it. Was. So. Good. I WILL say that it fed my husband and I entirely with no leftovers (just the chicken and spaghetti squash), so I’m sure it COULD feed 4 ppl if you had salads and/or bread or more sides. We are 2 average sized adults, and we were perfectly stuffed on this amount.
All in all, this recipe alone will have me looking further into the recipes on this site! Thanks!
Emily says
Amazing recipe! Made it last weekend and my 5 year old loved it so much, he asked for it again this week. Love the addition of the parmagiana to the flour. This is a keeper!
Per Thoresson Lund says
Thank you! This came out sooo yummy. I made homemade chicken stock a couple of days ago, and it was a perfect use of it. The parmesan coating is everything. The crust gets so good. I could also be very gently when frying the chicken, so it stayed very moist and tender. We don’t have salmonella in Norwegian chicken (free ranged of course). We had lightly steamed broccoli with sea salt and a little butter as a side. I must also give you credits for those amazing images. The best I’ve seen on a blog. Again, thank you Karina. Love from Bergen/Norway.
Kathleen Buonanno says
can you leave out the parmesan in the breading? my family does not like parmesan.. replace with anything else?
Karina says
The Parmesan helps coat it. If you would like to leave it out that would be okay just would alter and change the way it cooks and tastes. Let me know how it turns out! XO
Matthew says
If you don’t use the wine should you replace that liquid with stock. I look forward to trying this. I LOVE Chicken Piccata!!!!
Karina says
You can or just leave it out. Either way is great! Thanks for choosing one of my recipes! XO
Paula says
Very easy and delicious!
Narda Escobedo says
Can I use almond flour for the flour mixture?
Karina says
Yes, of course! You are welcome to make the recipes your own. Let me know how it turns out! XO
Deborah says
This such a good recipe and my family loves it. In fact, every recipe I have tried from your site has been a hit. Thank you!
Renee says
This was amazing!! I have tried a few versions of Chicken Piccata and I must say this is now my favorite.
margaret says
Hi, sounds interesting. I have a dinner party coming up soon. May I use cornstarch instead of flour please as a couple of guests are gluten free. May I prepare a day ahead? Thank you.
Karina says
Yes, that sounds great! You can prepare most of it the night before! Enjoy!
Ivory says
I will be making this for dinner tomorrow. Thank you for sharing this amazing looking dish. Yum!
ElizaW says
I made this today. The chicken was spot on delicious! Love the flour & parmesan coating and frying it in both the butter and olive oil really gave it a wonderful crunch.
The reason for four stars is the sauce was a total bust for me. Far too much lemon and I didn’t use the full amount. It overpowered all other flavors. I tried adjusting by adding other things, herbs to be specific but, it just doesn’t par well with the chicken. Guess it’s just a matter of taste. I love lemon but it just didn’t work for me. I’ll use the chicken coating and frying method in the future.
Nicole Serrano says
This was absolutely delicious! Even my picky kids liked it. Only thing I didn’t do was add the capers, but I will next time! Wish I could add a picture of my finished product to show everyone. 🙂 Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Lorraine Sanchez says
Really good but I did change a few things. For the chicken I dipped it in flour then egg then in a tempura bread crumb mixed with parmesan. For the sauce we made it thicker by adding bechamel in place of the stock and instead of garlic, we used very thinly Sliced shallots and let it cook down.
Caitlen says
Absolutely amazing! The flavours complimented each other beautifully. Will definitely be making this again
Spencer Yebra says
Have not tried it yet but what is the best way to spice up this recipe. I cook for my father who does like spicier food. He very much liked the Napa Valley Chicken recipe I last made for him which had these ingredients in it: *
5 tablespoons oil divided
* 1 large sweet onion minced
* 4 cloves garlic minced
* 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
* 1 15 ounce can crushed tomatoes
* 1/2 cup white wine*
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 8 4 ounce boneless-skinless chicken breasts
* 1/3 cup flour
* Salt and pepper to taste.
I believe it was the wine and brown sugar that gave it all of its flavor that my dad enjoyed. Is there a way to add that spice to this recipe without ruining it?
Karina says
Yes, of course! You are welcome to try any of my recipes and make them your own. I hope that helps and that your father loves the chicken with a little spice!
Crissy says
This was delicious, a definite make again! We loved it with angel hair, broccoli, and ciabatta bread.
James Clarke says
I am becoming a fan of your recipe. I love your idea and presentation of every recipe , photo and video section
Karina says
You are such a doll! Thank you so much for following along with me! I am so grateful for all my followers. Thank you for your sweet compliments! I hope you can find lots of recipes that fit your liking!
Robin from TN says
I LOVE Chicken Picatta and your recipe sounds amazing! Like you, I add lots of garlic and I also sauté some fresh sliced mushrooms cause we love them! I really want to try adding heavy cream to the sauce this time! Plus I want to double it cause we love the sauce and serve it over angle hair pasta with the chicken. Do you think this would work with this recipe if I add cream at the end? And how much cream should I add? Thanks!
Karina says
Yes, of course! You are always welcome to try or add new ingredients to make them your own recipes. Let me know how it turns out and what you did! That sounds great! Thanks so much for sharing!
Pamela says
I love the recipes on the website, they are soooo DELICIOUS!!! Thank you so very much
Olga says
Hi Karina! Can skinless, boneless chicken thighs be substituted for the breasts? Thanks, Olga
Karina says
Yes, of course! Thanks so much for following along with me!
Michelle says
How would this be with bone/skin on chicken thighs?
Karina says
That sounds great! Great idea! I hope you enjoy it:)!!