Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata

  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 40 mins
  • Servings: 4

    • About This Recipe

    “Cook’s Illustrated has the best technique descriptions I’ve ever seen and this recipe, with a little tweaking, is the best piccata I’ve ever tried with an assertive lemon accent.”

    Ingredients

  • 2largelemons
  • 1 1/2 lbs chicken cutlets or 1 1/2 lbs turkey cutlets or 1 1/2 lbsveal cutlets
  • salt
  • fresh ground pepper
  • 1/2 cupflour
  • 4tablespoonsolive oil
  • 1largeshallot, minced( or 1 tsp minced garlic)
  • 1cupchicken stock
  • 2tablespoonsdrained small capers
  • 3tablespoonsunsalted butter, softened
  • 2tablespoonsminced fresh parsley leaves

    • Directions

  • Halve one lemon lengthwise and slice one half crosswise into 1/8-1/4 inch thick slices.
  • Juice the remaining 1 1/2 lemons to obtain 1/4 cup juice.
  • Salt & pepper each cutlet generously and coat each with flour.
  • Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until hot, add 2 tbsp oil, saute half of the cutlets until medium brown (2 minutes per side).
  • Transfer cutlets to warm plate.
  • Add remaining oil and repeat with remaining cutlets.
  • Add shallot or garlic to pan over medium heat — saute until fragrant (30 seconds).
  • Add stock and lemon slices, increase heat to high and deglaze pan; simmer until liquid reduces to about 1/3 cup.
  • Add lemon juice and capers and simmer until sauce reduces again to 1/3 cup.
  • Remove pan from heat, swirl in butter until it melts and thickens sauce; swirl in parsley.
  • Spoon sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

    • Reviews

  • “This recipe was easy to make and quite delicious, but very lemony!”

  • “Have been making this for years – a family favorite.I recently omitted the butter to reduce calories, and it was still great!”

  • “We love this piccata recipe.I really enjoy the flavor of lemon and chicken.I served this with buttered noodles and hominy.Thank you for sharing this with us.”

  • “I’ve been searchng for a chicken recipe that will rate 5 stars by my DH, and now I’ve found one! A few changes just to make it “ours” include adding some white wine, did not add the capers (didn’t have any), and made a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce a bit before putting the chicken back into the sauce for a few minutes. Did not use salt since I used a chicken Better than Boullion base with the water. Oh, and didn’t have any fresh lemon but used lots of lemon-pepper seasoning.Served with a lemon-pepper rice.Delish!Thanks for sharing a winner!”

  • “I used pork cutlets as the protein. I mixed chicken broth and white wine 50/50 to make up the liquid for the sauce, and left out the parsley. Delicious.”

  • “I made this for New Years Eve. It was a huge hit. I used garlic instead of shallots and used slightly less lemon juice and a bit more stock. It was a light and healthy dish. I served it with Trader Joe brown rice blend cooked in chicken stock with dried cherries and walnuts. The best rice product ever, salad and crusty bread”

  • “Even cutting out the lemon zest this recipe is WAY too lemony. I would cut the lemon juice down to a dash if I ever decided to try this recipe again.”

  • “I followed the recipe as written.The lemon overpowers the other flavors.”

  • “Turned out perfect! Brought it to a friend who is sick and they called immediately after to tell me they had seconds and wanted the recipe. It was a hit!!Delicious. I cut down the butter and tried to lower the fat content.”

  • “Delicious.I used salted butter, and found the sauce to be a bit on the salty side, so do watch for that.”

  • “Delish!Only one problem…2 minutes per side is not enough time to cook chicken breasts, even though I had pounded them thin.I missed that in the recipe, so when I came to the end and it said “Pour sauce over chicken” I thought, “Oh crap, my chicken’s still half raw!”I had to pop it back in the sauce and cook it longer, which soaked up a lot of the butter and oil that I’d hoped to spoon over pasta and veggies.Other than that, a great recipe.”

  • “This is the first time I have ever made this dish, so I don’t know how it compares to any other recipes, but I can say that this was delicious, and definitely worth making again.I made a few minor changes since I had five chicken pieces and wanted to use a little more butter and some wine.I used half a stick of butter and added a quarter cup of white wine to the pan to deglaze before adding the chicken broth and lemon slices, but other than that, the recipe was exactly as written.I made the mistake of adding an extra tablespoon of capers, so next time, I’ll start with just 1 tablespoon and see if that turns out better.Great recipe, but of course, I’d expect nothing less from Cook’s Illustrated.”

  • “Oh yes, this is the one!I did follow other reviewer’s suggestion of the addition of white wine, and added one clove of garlic, but otherwise made as written….so very good…”

  • “I use this same recipe and it is wonderful. I often serve with rice and broccoli or asparagus. Very easy.”

  • “This recipe was the best I have ever tried for Chicken Piccata.It is very easy and the taste was simply delicious.I did use half chicken broth and half white wine.My husband said this recipe is a keeper!”

  • “Unfortunately this recipe wasn’t for us at all.Maybe I messed the sauce up somehow.I actually had to end up making a red sauce for my pasta as plan B.But in all fairness I have to say it was really easy to prepare and I’m glad so many people love it.”

  • “Very easy and delicious!I used 1/2 cup chicken stock and 1/2 cup white wine.The flavor was amazing!Thanks for sharing.”

  • “Can’t go wrong with lemon and capers!I have made many different recipes for piccata…my Dh and I agree this is the easiest with best results.Out of preference, we used garlic and shallots, home made stock and pounded the chicken first.Followed evrything else.So wonderful – it’s a keeper.Thanks Sue”

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