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    Chicken Piccata

    Updated February 22, 2025 / By Holly Erickson & Natalie Mortimer

    Lemony, caper-topped, and just buttery enough, chicken piccata is an easy weeknight supper that’s easy to love, and so very fast—just ten minutes from sauté pan to table.

    Chicken Piccata with lemon and capers in a cast iron skillet

    What Is Chicken Piccata?

    If you grew up with parents that cooked often—like we did—or grew up eating out at Italian restaurants basically anywhere in America (hello, Olive Garden) you’re probably kind of familiar with “chicken piccata” as we mean it—a pan-fried chicken cutlet, topped with a lemon-butter piccata sauce. BUT! Chicken piccata as we know it doesn’t actually seem to have origins in Italy.

    It’s likely an Italian-American invention, a derivative of a couple of different classic Italian cooking techniques, like scaloppine which means “thin slices of meat (such as veal) sautéed or coated with flour and fried”. A lemon and butter pan sauce is a classic way of dressing pan-fried meat, and is common throughout Italy, but the (brilliant) addition of capers can’t be attributed to any one place or time. However and whenever it came into being, chicken piccata is—as far as we’re concerned—a very welcome addition to any home cook’s repertoire, right alongside classics like Coq Au Vin and Beef Bourguinon. 

    Chicken Piccatta in a skillet with lemon sauce and capers

    When in Doubt, Turn to Italy.

    Or at least, Italian-American cuisine. Lemony, caper-topped, and just buttery enough, our easy chicken piccata recipe makes for an easy weeknight supper that’s easy to love, and so very fast—just ten minutes from sauté pan to table after all, it’s basically thin scaloppine—or “thin pieces”—of chicken, fried in butter and drizzled a tangy lemon-butter pan sauce that’s studded with briny capers. What’s not to love!?

    ingredients laid out for Chicken Piccata thinly cut chicken breast, flour, capers, lemon juice, olive oil, shallots

    What you'll need

    Sure, chicken breast isn’t the most exciting thing ever. But, it doesn’t take much to perk it WAY up. Just a few, easy-to-find ingredients—ones that you might even have around already—and you’ll be amazed how delicious that humble chicken breast can be. Here’s what you’ll need to make chicken piccata:

    • Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
    • Salt & pepper
    • Flour for dredging
    • Butter
    • Olive oil
    • Chicken stock
    • Shallots
    • Garlic
    • Lemons, they brighten everything, including our Lemon Butter Chicken.
    • Capers
    chicken breast cutlet dredged in flour and placed on a baking sheet
    chicken breast dredged in flour and cooked in butter and olive oil in a cast iron skillet
    shallot, garlic and chicken stock simmering in chicken pan drippings in a cast iron skillet
    Chicken Piccata sauce in a cast iron skillet with capers, butter and lemon

    How to Make Chicken Piccata Part 1: The Pan-Fry

    1. Slice the chicken breasts horizontally—you’ll need a sharp knife for this, obviously! The reason you cut the chicken breast into thin pieces is so that they can cook evenly during the pan-frying process. Thin pieces of chicken mean that when the outside is crispy and perfectly brown, the chicken will be cooked through. Magic!
    2. Dredge! Season the chicken breast pieces, and then give them a nice coating of flour. For whatever reason, kids really love to help out with this step. If they’re old enough to know to be careful with raw poultry, go ahead and outsource this step to them!
    3. Fry! Fry the chicken cutlets in a combination of olive oil and butter. The oil helps prevent the butter from burning, plus, we love the flavor of both!
    lemon Chicken Picatta recipe finished in a cast iron skillet

    How to Make Chicken Piccata Part 2: The Piccata Sauce

    Our piccata sauce is simply a pan sauce, which means that we use the good crispy, chicken-tinged buttery bits that are left in the skillet after frying the chicken cutlets to make a sauce. Here’s how to make this lemony piccata sauce:

    1. Sauté shallots and garlic in the pan drippings—i.e. the leftover oil and butter.
    2. Add stock! This is your chance to scrape up those tasty brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
    3. Stir in more butter, plus the requisite capers and lemon juice.
    4. Season with a little salt and pepper.
    5. That's it! You made a pan sauce!
    easy chicken piccata recipe with lemon and capers

    Tools You’ll Need

    Four Easy Chicken Recipes To Perk Up Your Weeknight Dinners

    Chicken doesn’t have to be bland. Healthy and quick, think of it as the ultimate blank slate. Here are five of our favorite fast chicken recipes to add some flavor to your weeknight routine:

    Piccata is the Difference Between “Chicken Again??” and “Chicken Again, YAY!!”

    We’re crazy about this simple chicken piccata recipe, and hope you love it, too! Snap a photo of your gorgeous finished dish, and maybe even a video of the beautiful people you feed it to. Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!

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    Chicken Piccata Recipe

    Updated February 22, 2025

    By Holly Erickson & Natalie Mortimer

    • Serves:  6
    • Prep Time:  10 min
    • Cook Time:  30 min
    • Calories:  457
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    Description

    Lemony, caper-topped, and just buttery enough, chicken piccata is an easy weeknight supper that’s easy to love, and so very fast—just ten minutes from sauté pan to table.

    Video

    Ingredients

    • 2 pounds chicken cutlets or breasts, boneless, skinless, butterflied to create thinner pieces
    • ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
    • 1 ¾ teaspoons sea salt
    • 1 cup flour
    • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
    • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1 shallot, finely chopped
    • 1 tablespoon minced garlic (from 4-6 cloves)
    • 1 ½ cups chicken stock
    • 1 teaspoons lemon zest (from 1 lemon), plus more to taste
    • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
    • 2 tablespoons capers, drained
    • Fresh parsley, chopped, optional

    Method

    1. Season the chicken all over with the pepper and 1½ teaspoons of the salt. Place the flour in a shallow bowl. Dip each piece of the chicken in the flour, turning to coat and shake off any excess. Discard the flour when finished dredging.

      chicken breast cutlet dredged in flour and placed on a baking sheet

    2. Heat 3 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet set over medium-high until the butter has melted. Add half of the chicken and cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining chicken, adding more butter and oil to the skillet as needed. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter.

      chicken breast dredged in flour and cooked in butter and olive oil in a cast iron skillet

    3. Add the shallot to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 minute more. Stir in the stock and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, 4-5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, then stir in 4 tablespoons of the butter, capers, lemon zest, lemon juice and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt.

      Chicken Piccata sauce in a cast iron skillet with capers, butter and lemon

    4. Pour the sauce over the chicken and garnish with parsley before serving.

      lemon Chicken Picatta recipe finished in a cast iron skillet

    Nutrition Info

    • Per Serving
    • Amount
    • Calories 457
    • Protein 27 g
    • Carbohydrates 19 g
    • Total Fat 30 g
    • Dietary Fiber 2 g
    • Cholesterol 109 mg
    • Sodium 536 mg
    • Total Sugars 2 g

    Chicken Piccata

    Questions & Reviews

    Join the discussion below.

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    • Susan

      Does this freeze well?

      Yep, freezes great!

    • Veronica

      This recipe was delicious! My only complaint was I felt the amount of capers overpowered the dishI had to double the lemon juice and add a splash of wine before the flavors mellowed enough. But the chicken was delicious and, if I had added half the amount of capers, I am sure it would have been a huge hit following the recipe exactly.

      Thanks Veronica, glad you enjoyed it and of course feel free to use less capers if that is your preference. Thanks for the feedback!

    • Marvin

      Is there a way to fix it if I accidentally added too much lemon? I added two tablespoons on accident

      Hope it was ok Marvin. Don't think it should be too bad with a little extra lemon.

    • Carla

      I had 2 issues that I would love to have you help me fix. In step one when I use the flour to dust the chicken and I cook it on one side then turn it the curst comes off. I did use oil and butter but it woudl stick or just fall off. The second issue is the time you said to cook the chicken. It was not long enough for my chicken to cook throughly so I had to place it into the oven for a few minutes. Should I pound the chicken breasts so it cooks evenly and quicker? Thank you for this reciepe it was delicous!

      The flour isn't necessarily a breading. It is more to help brow the chicken and help thicken the sauce. We call for chicken cutlets or to cut the breasts into cutlets. Did you do that? Depending on how thick the breasts were, you could pound them to make them a little thinner, but typically the cutlets should cook in the amount of time listed. Glad you liked the flavor!

    • Donna

      What should I serve with this chicken

      Mashed potatoes, simple italian salad, garlic bread or broccolini would all be yummy options. hope you enjoy!

    • Momo

      Awesome recipe my family loves it and I have made it so many times thank you!

      Thanks Momo, we are so happy your family loves it!

    • Peggy

      Delicious! I wouldn't change a thing.

      Thanks Peggy, glad you loved it!

    • Fanar

      yum, quick, big hit!

      THANK! Glad you loved it!

    • Anna

      So delicious and easy!

      Thanks Anna, so happy you loved it!

    • Maggie

      I agree with others. The broth reduced the flavor of the lemon and the capers.
      White wine subbed for the broth would suit me better. It's a good recipe, but I would cut out the broth, next time I make it, and add white wine.