Lemon Chicken Piccata made with pan fried chicken breasts in a tangy creamy sauce with capers is a quick and easy dinner you can make at home in minutes!
Why go out to eat when you can make this restaurant quality chicken piccata recipe at home? No joke. This chicken dinner is super easy and takes less than 30 minutes to make!
I used to make this simple chicken recipe way back when, before the kiddos came along. It's definitely on the tangy side, and I didn't think my picky eaters would go for it.
Now that they're older, I decided to try it on them. Guess what? They loved it, and we've had it twice in the last week!
Here's what you'll need to make it:
- Small, thin chicken breasts or larger ones cut in half
- Salt, pepper and garlic
- Flour
- Butter
- Olive oil
- White wine or chicken broth
- Lemons
- Cream
- Capers
How to Make Chicken Piccata in Cream Sauce
First, you'll need to pound the chicken breasts until they're about ¼ inch thick. Just put them between wax paper or into large freezer bags and use the flat side of a mallet or a rolling pin.
Then, season the chicken, and dredge it with flour. Pan fry the chicken breasts on both sides until they're golden brown, and remove from the pan while you make the sauce.
Next, deglaze the pan with white wine, or use chicken broth if you don't want to use wine. Add lemon juice, cream and capers and put the chicken back into the sauce.
The chicken will finish cooking in the sauce and should be 165 degrees internally for safety. You can spoon the tangy, creamy sauce over the chicken before serving or let people add their own sauce.
I highly recommend tasting the sauce before serving. You can add more cream or use chicken broth to help balance the flavors if you think it's too tangy.
What to Serve with the Chicken
We like to serve chicken piccata over egg noodles or pasta. I usually make pasta in my Instant Pot since my pan takes up a lot of space on the stove.
If you don't want pasta, you can serve the chicken over rice or mashed potatoes. All equally good!
Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata Recipe
Lemon Chicken Piccata
Ingredients
- 4 small chicken breasts about 2 pounds total
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup white wine I used Pino Grigio
- 1 small lemon juice of, about ¼ cup
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons capers drained
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts between 2 sheets of wax paper or into a gallon size freezer bag, and pound with the flat side of a mallet or rolling pin until they're about ¼ inch thick
- Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder
- Dredge chicken in flour, and shake off excess flour.
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet, and add chicken breasts
- Cook until brown on one side, then flip over and cook until brown on both sides. About 8 minutes, total. You may have to reduce heat or add more oil or butter if it starts to get too brown or dry.
- Remove chicken to a platter and cover to keep warm
- Pour wine or broth in the pan, and deglaze and scrape up browned bits with a flat spatula or wooden spoon
- Add lemon juice, allow to simmer slightly, then stir in heavy cream, and mix until blended.
- Lower heat, add capers, then add chicken back to sauce and cook until sauce is thick and chicken is 165, according to meat thermometer
Notes
Nutrition
More Easy Chicken Recipes to Try
James says
Made this twice since this came out! A new family favorite.
Dee says
Thanks, James! I'm glad you liked the chicken piccata!
Beti says
My family would really enjoy this!! It looks SO GOOD!
katerina says
YUM! This looks incredibly delicious!!
Toni says
Love this for weeknights! Such a delicious and easy to make meal!
Dee says
It really is easy. Thanks so much, Toni!
Erin says
This Lemon Chicken Piccata looks incredibly delicious!
Dorothy Reinhold says
We LOVED this recipe. This will be going in our regular rotation.
Dee says
Thank you so much, Dorothy! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Allyson Zea says
Oh this turned out so fabulous! Thank you for the easy recipe!
Dee says
Awesome, Allyson! Thank you so much!
Beth says
This looks so delicious! My family is going to love this recipe! Can't wait to make this!
Dee says
Thanks so much, Beth. I hope you enjoy it!