This easy chicken piccata recipe is a bright, savory dish with a touch of elegance!

This is a fast skillet meal that looks and tastes fancy! Tender chicken breasts are cooked in a buttery lemon-caper sauce.

This dish is easy enough for every day, yet elegant enough to serve to guests.

Overhead view of Chicken Piccata in the pan

Chicken Piccata Is Easy to Make!

This chicken piccata recipe is delightfully zesty and full of flavor! Pan-fried chicken breasts are simmered in a buttery lemon, wine, and capers sauce. It’s an easy-to-make dish that adds a touch of luxury to everyday cooking.

In addition to favorites like Carbonara and Alfredo, Italy has some beautiful savory and lemony sauce dishes, like piccata. In North America, we more often see chicken piccata although in Italy this dish is more frequently made with veal.

chicken , capers , parsley , lemon , oil, broth and seasonings to make Chicken Piccata with labels

Ingredients in Chicken Piccata

Chicken: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts or ½-inch thick chicken cutlets. If you’re using full chicken breasts, flatten them to ½ inch thick with a meat mallet.

Chicken Piccata Sauce – A fresh lemon is needed for the best flavor. For the wine, choose a dry white variety that you’d enjoy drinking; cooking wines aren’t recommended.

Extra Flavor: Capers add a pop of salty flavor and a liittle texture. If capers aren’t to your liking, feel free to substitute or add chopped olives, sun-dried tomatoes, or sautéed mushrooms.

Chicken Piccata with lemon & pasta

How to Make Chicken Piccata

The chicken will come out tender and delicious when you follow these steps.

  1. Dredge the pounded chicken breasts in flour and lemon zest mixture, lightly brown both sides, and set aside.
  2. In the same pan, add chicken broth, butter wine, lemon juice, and capers and cook until slightly thickened.
  3. Add the chicken back to the pan to finish cooking (as per the recipe below).

While it’s not traditional, a little heavy cream can be added at the end of cooking.

Chicken Piccata with lemon slices

What to Serve with Chicken Piccata?

More Chicken Skillet Recipes

These chicken recipes all skillet favorites!

Did you love this Chicken Piccata Recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and a rating below!

a skillet of chicken piccata garnished with lemon slices
4.98 from 324 votes↑ Click stars to rate now!
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Chicken Piccata Recipe

Chicken piccata features fork tender chicken breasts simmered in a lemony white wine sauce with capers.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients  

  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded to about ½ inch thick or cut in half crosswise
  • ½ cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil more as needed
  • salt & pepper to taste

Sauce

  • ¼ cup salted butter
  • 1 ½ tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • ½ lemon juiced (about 1 ½ tablespoons)
  • ½ cup white wine or chicken broth
  • 3 tablespoons capers drained
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped

Instructions 

  • Combine the all purpose flour, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl. Dredge each chicken breast in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess.
  • In a 10-inch skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Cook the chicken in two batches for 4 to 5 minutes per side, or until just cooked through. Cook in batches to avoid overcrowding the skillet. Remove from pan and place in a dish to keep warm.
  • Using the same skillet, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour until smooth and let cook for 1-2 minutes.
  • Gradually add the chicken broth, whisking until smooth after each addition.
  • Add lemon juice, white wine and capers. Simmer for 3 minutes, whisking occasionally. 
  • Add the chicken back into the skillet, letting it simmer in the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Stir in the chopped parsley and serve.

Notes

  • Use fresh lemon juice for the best flavor.
  • Chicken piccata pairs well with long pasta like linguini or angel hair pasta, but can also be served with mashed potatoes or rice pilaf.
  • Fresh minced garlic can be added to the butter in the skillet if desired.
  • Veal works wonderfully in this recipe.
  • Serve with roasted asparagus, steamed broccoli, or roasted cauliflower.
4.98 from 324 votes

Nutrition Information

Calories: 530 | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 51g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 176mg | Sodium: 741mg | Potassium: 961mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 609IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

Course Chicken, Dinner, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian, Mediterranean

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About the author

Holly is a wine and cheese lover, recipe creator, shopping enthusiast and self appointed foodie. Her greatest passion is creating in the kitchen and making deliciously comforting recipes for the everyday home cook!
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Comments

  1. Enjoyed this recipe very much. I didn’t have whole chicken breast on hand, rather I had a package of chicken tenders in the refrigerator.

    I guessed that I had something equivalent to “4 chicken breasts”, and it seemed that I did!

    To eliminate guess work, would you give us about the weight of meat you built this recipe on? Thank you so much. Ruth

    1. I use approximately 1.5 pounds of chicken breasts.

      I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Ruth!

  2. This is an amazing recipe! After browning chicken in the pan, I transferred chicken to the oven to finish cooking for 20 min while I made the sauce. I added lemon zest to the sauce as well for extra lemony flavor. Served in a bowl of uncooked baby spinach on the bottom, topped with angel hair. Placed the crispy cooked chicken on top of it all and poured the sauce over all of it! So delish-restaurant quality!! ♥️

  3. made this for dinner tonight with lemon fettuccine and roasted asparagus, it was delicious! this will definitely be part of our rotation of recipes!5 stars

  4. Holly,

    Every dish (recipe) I make of yours is outstanding. I love to cook and have many of my own recipes, but, I just love all of yours that I have tried. Believe me, there have been plenty. About 14
    recipes have caught my eye. Kudos Holly, great job on all. Continue to shine.

    1. Thank you so much for the kind words Patricia, you just made my day! I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes.

  5. Had ours over egg noodles, very good.. loved the lemon flavor and capers! when I make again, 1.5-2 lb chicken would be enough for us.. make sure to slice or pound thin! (Maybe 1/2″)5 stars