Mom’s Best Chicken Piccata
Mom’s Best Chicken Piccata is made with tender pieces of chicken dipped in flour and seared until golden. Then they are simmered in a lemon-butter and wine sauce until it’s juicy, tender, and melt in your mouth! Cooked in ONE skillet, and it’s ready in 30 minutes makes this the BEST Chicken Piccata ever!
Our Mom’s Best Chicken Piccata is sure to please a crowd! With its zesty lemon flavors and tender, juicy chicken, it becomes addicting!
A classic chicken dish, mom’s recipe for the best chicken piccata definitely transforms everyday chicken cutlets into something spectacular!
Easy enough for a weeknight dinner.
Chicken cutlets are quickly seared and simmered in a sauce made with wine, lemon juice, butter, capers, and chicken broth.
Healthy and tasty, combining fresh lemon juice with a few staple ingredients creates a rich and flavorful sauce with NO fuss!
Best of all, this meal is not expensive either.
Why is this the best chicken piccata?
- it’s made with thin chicken cutlets.
- the sauce is made with 4 ingredients.
- it’s budget-friendly.
- this is a one-skillet meal, for easy cleanup.
- it’s ready in under 30 minutes.
- will feed a family of 4.
- extremely flavorful, and chicken practically melts in your mouth!
A delicious dish to serve with your favorite sides.
But we love it best with a side of our Angel Hair Pasta with Lemon Sauce. The more lemon … the tastier this meal turns out!!
Perfect to serve with a side of linguine, to soak up some of that delicious piccata sauce.
What kind of chicken is best to buy for this recipe?
- First, it’s best to buy chicken cutlets from your local butcher. Simply because they’re already cleaned, pounded, and thinly sliced for you.
- You may pay a little more, but it’s definitely worth it and shopping local supports your local butchers.
- Keep in mind, most (but not all) packages of chicken cutlets you pick up from the supermarkets do not come thoroughly cleaned. So you may have to do some of the work yourself: including removing excess fat, pounding them, and even may slice them thinner yourself. (…more prep work)
How to Make Our Mom’s Best Chicken Piccata?
With 3 easy steps, you’ll have our mom’s best chicken piccata ready for dinner in no time!
- First, lightly dust the chicken with some flour. Then sear the chicken in the skillet with some olive oil and butter until golden and fully cooked. Then transfer to a nearby plate.
- Next, make the lemon and wine sauce in the same skillet, adding in the butter, wine, and lemon juice, scraping and stirring the bottom of the tib-bits with a wooden spoon (full recipe in our recipe card below). Simmer the sauce for about 1 minute.
- Transfer the seared chicken back into the skillet with the sauce, and pour in the chicken broth. Toss in fresh parsley and capers, and COVER with a lid. Simmer for a few minutes more with a few slices of lemon on top, and the chicken is done!
WATCH VIDEO: How to Make Mom’s Best Chicken Piccata? (1-minute)
Q & A…
1. Can We Use Chicken Breasts?
- Yes, but you will need to slice them horizontally into thinner cutlets and then pound them before cooking.
2. Can We Make Chicken Piccata Ahead?
- Yes, you can. You can make the entire dish early in the day, and leave it covered on the stove. Keep in mind, the sauce will get absorbed the longer it sits while cooling down.
3. How to Reheat?
- When you’re ready to reheat it for dinner, turn on the low heat, and bring it to a low simmer.
- If you prefer more sauce? Here is where you can add additional chicken broth, about 1/4 cup or more, to increase the amount of the sauce.
Tips for Success…
A few things make this our Mom’s BEST chicken piccata.
- First, dusting the chicken cutlets with flour gives them some added texture. The chicken retains its moisture while cooking, making them very tender and juicy. If you make chicken piccata without flour, the chicken will turn out tough and even dry.
- Second, simmering the chicken with capers gives the sauce more flavor. There’s no need to add any additional salt to this recipe, at least I didn’t think so. The capers are salty enough to give this chicken piccata and its sauce a lot of depth in flavor.
- Also, our mom prefers to use a lot of fresh lemon juice with this recipe. The more lemon flavor the more we love it! So I used two large lemons, rather than small ones.
Additional Options for Sides with Chicken Piccata…
- Angel Hair Pasta with Lemon Sauce
- Oven Steak Fries – Restaurant Style!
- Best Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- Oven-Fried Sweet Potatoes
To Store, Reheat, and Freeze…
- To STORE: Allow the piccata to cool before storing it in a sealed container. Then store it in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh for up to 3 days.
- To REHEAT: Place leftovers on a microwave-safe plate, and reheat it for about 1 minute or more until it starts to sizzle. Then remove and enjoy! Or you can reheat it in a skillet, on low heat on the stovetop.
- To FREEZE: Allow the piccata to cool down before storing it. Then store in a sealed container and freeze. Best to freeze chicken piccata only for up to one month.
When you try our mom’s best chicken piccata, you will see for yourself how tender and juicy the chicken turns out.
It practically melts in your mouth!
Try our recipe. It won’t disappoint.
You may even enjoy our: Veal Piccata with Lemon. It’s made with thin slices of veal, loaded with lemon juice, wine, and capers, and it makes a wonderful meal!
Also, try our seafood recipe for Best Salmon Piccata!
ENJOY!!
Please don’t forget to Pin it!
Finally, additional recipes for Chicken…
- Chicken Pot Pie without Pie Crust
- Rice and Chicken Casserole
- Chicken Cacciatore Recipe
- Parmesan Crusted Chicken Cutlets
- Chicken with Dijon Wine Cream Sauce
Yield: 3 to 4 servings
Mom's Best Chicken Piccata
Mom's Best Chicken Piccata are made with boneless thinly sliced chicken cutlets sauteed for a few minutes and finished off with a lemon-butter sauce until the chicken cooks perfectly. Juicy and delicious, cooked all in one skillet and ready in 30 minutes makes this the BEST chicken piccata ever!
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Total Time
25 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 (16-ounces) package of thin boneless chicken cutlets
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, for dusting
- 1 garlic clove - thinly sliced
- 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus extra, if needed
- 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter - divided
- dash of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 + 1/2 Tbsp. capers
- 2 lemons -divided (1 lemon juiced, and 1 lemon cut 1/4-inch slices)
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- fresh chopped parsley, as garnish
- Himalayan salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- First, take chicken cutlets and cut each piece in half if they are too large. Then lightly sprinkle on top with some salt and black pepper.
- Take each piece of chicken (one at a time) and coat both sides with flour, and shake off excess flour. Set aside.
- In a large deep skillet, and on medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil with 1 tablespoon of butter. Add in the sliced garlic. When the oil is hot, add in the chicken pieces and saute the chicken for 1 to 2 minutes per side, or until golden. This takes about 5 minutes. The chicken will absorb some of the olive oil while cooking. Therefore, as you are sauteing the chicken, if you need to add more olive oil to the pan, then add an additional tablespoon while sauteing the chicken.
- Sprinkle additional salt and black pepper to season the chicken while sauteing.
- Then remove each chicken cutlet as they are cooked, and transfer it to a nearby plate.
- In the same skillet, pour in the wine, juice of one lemon, and a dash of crushed red pepper flakes. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to deglaze the lemon sauce, for about 30 seconds to one minute. Add in 2 tablespoons of butter.
- Transfer the chicken back into the skillet, pour in chicken broth, and toss in the capers and parsley. COVER with a lid. Allow the sauce to come to a low boil, for about 2 minutes. Lower the heat to the lowest. Then top each chicken with thin slices of lemon and COVER again.
- Allow the chicken piccata to simmer for 5 to 6 minutes more. Turn off the heat.
- Uncover and sprinkle with some freshly chopped parsley. And serve.
- Yields: 3 to 4 servings
Notes
Serve with a side of linguine with butter or olive oil or mashed potatoes to soak up some of that delicious lemon sauce.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
3 to 4 servingsServing Size:
1 servingAmount Per Serving: Calories: 398Total Fat: 24.3gCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: .03gSugar: .05gProtein: 34g
Just made this tonight, very tasty! I love the kick of the red pepper flakes. Thanks for sharing I will definitely make this again when my kids are back home from college!
Aw, thank you so much Julie!! So glad to hear you enjoyed our moms recipe! And welcome to our recipe blog, it’s nice to meet you!! looking forward to hearing from you again. 🙂
this sounds delightful. i must give it a go soon.
Thanks so much! 🙂
Ya know? I’ve never made chicken piccata! Probably because my husband won’t eat capers. I’ll keep this recipe for the next time my girlfriend spends the night. She’ll love it!
I bet she will too! Thanks so much Mimi for stopping by! 🙂 Have a great day!
HI Mimi! You may leave out the capers if you prefer. Capers have a flavor described as lemony, olivey, and salty, and much of the briny and vinegary taste comes from its packaging.
Just add a little more lemon.
Looks delicious and chicken piccata prepared like this is one of my favorites.
Ours too!! Thanks so much!
Your photos are so mouth-watering! I’ll be trying this soon. Chicken and lemon and capers, oh my 🙂
Thanks so much Susan! Looking forward to hearing from you again about this recipe!
Thanks Susan! Can’t wait to hear back from you! 🙂
I’m so glad you put up a recipe for Chicken Piccata. I love chicken prepared like this and will be trying it out over the weekend. Thank you! It sounds delicious, especially with the lemon flavour!
Thank you Sandra! This is one of my favorite meals and just love the ease of it! No stress!!
Let us know how it turns out for you!! Love to hear about…. have s great day!