Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata

35 min
4 servings

The best chicken piccata makes sure the classic Italian recipe for chicken cutlets gets an ample serving of lemony white wine and caper sauce.

Ingredients

  • 1 mediumlemon
  • ¾ cupall-purpose flour
  • 4 smallskinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 6-oz. each)
  • 1 tsp.diamond crystal or ½ tsp. morton kosher salt, plus more
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 5 tbsp.(or more) extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 6garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 3 tbsp.coarsely chopped drained capers
  • 1 cupdry white wine
  • 1 cuplow-sodium chicken broth or 1 cup water mixed with 1 tsp. chicken bouillon paste
  • 4 tbsp.unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • chopped parsley (for serving)

Directions

  1. 1

    Halve 1 medium lemon crosswise. Juice one half (you should have about 2 Tbsp. juice); thinly slice remaining half and remove seeds. Set juice and slices aside separately.

  2. 2

    Place ¾ cup (94 g) all-purpose flour in a shallow bowl. Working one at a time, place 4 small skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 6-oz. each) between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a rolling pin (this works faster than a meat mallet) to about ¼" thick. Season all over with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, then dredge in flour, shaking off excess; place on a plate.

  3. 3

    Heat 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Working in 2 batches and adding more oil between batches if needed, cook chicken breasts until golden underneath, about 4 minutes. Turn over and cook on other side until nearly cooked through, 1–2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

  4. 4

    Reduce heat to medium and add remaining 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil to same pan. Add 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, and 3 Tbsp. coarsely chopped drained capers and cook, stirring often, until slightly softened, 1–2 minutes. Add 1 cup dry white wine and simmer, stirring occasionally and scraping up any browned bits stuck to bottom of pan, until almost completely reduced, about 5 minutes.

  5. 5

    Increase heat to medium-high and add 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth or 1 cup water mixed with 1 tsp. chicken bouillon paste, 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, and 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt; season with more pepper. Cook, stirring often, until butter is melted and sauce is combined, about 3 minutes. Stir in reserved lemon juice, then return chicken to pan. Cook, spooning sauce over chicken, until completely cooked through, about 3 minutes. Add lemon slices to pan and remove pan from heat. Top with chopped parsley just before serving.