You’ll love the simplicity of this Chicken Piccata recipe. Light and fresh flavours, gently cooked chicken and the perfect amount of briny sauce over thin delicate pasta. Based on a dish from a quaint Italian restaurant on a road trip, it’s a little different than typical piccata recipes but a winner for sure.
Piccata recipes are plentiful and are typically chicken, fish or veal. In fact, this recipe would be excellent with any of the above proteins. Some recipes have a thicker, crustier exterior on the chicken. But not this one. I’ve recreated it exactly as it was served to me. Since this Chicken Piccata is served over only a small portion of pasta and includes lots of artichokes, it’s more of a chicken dish than a pasta dish.
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How to make Chicken Piccata
This recipe is a quick one so assemble your ingredients, fill a pot with salted water for the pasta and get your burners going.
It’s hard to imagine making a chicken dish with less than one chicken breast per serving. But gently pounding slices of chicken into thin cutlets between plastic wrap or parchment gives the illusion of more meat. It doesn’t really matter in which direction you slice but if you’ve got good knife skills, try slicing horizontal layers. Larger breasts can be cut into 4 pieces or smaller ones into 3. You can certainly use chicken thighs but I prefer white meat for Chicken Piccata.
Don’t go crazy with your meat mallet like you would for Pork Schnitzel. Chicken can’t take that kind of a beating and it will break apart if you try to get it too thin. You can also use a heavy skillet to flatten the chicken. Some pieces will be smaller than others and that’s ok. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
Use a wide dish like a pie plate thats large enough to hold the size of your chicken cutlets. Add some flour and season with a little salt. Yes, you’ve already seasoned the chicken pieces but a good rule is to salt every layer. You don’t need much. Dredge each piece of chicken in the flour, then shake off any excess. You don’t want a thick coating, just a light dusting. This technique is called meunière which gives the chicken a golden colour and helps to make a quick pan sauce.
A large non stick skillet is the perfect pan in which to make Chicken Piccata. You make the entire dish in one pan and since you’re not using high heat, non stick is ok. A little butter added to the olive oil enhances the flavour and gives a velvety element to the sauce. Cook a few pieces at a time so you don’t over crowd the pan. You only need to cook the chicken long enough to get a very light browning. Very very light. Flip, cook the other side, then remove to a plate while you cook the rest. Don’t worry about the short cooking time, the chicken finishes cooking in the sauce.
Sauté the garlic and shallots gently in the pan once all the chicken is removed. Onions can be substituted for the shallots, but they have a little stronger flavour. You don’t want to overpower the light tasting sauce. Take your time with this step so you don’t burn the garlic.
Now add the lemon juice and most of the wine and allow to simmer and slightly reduce. Freshly squeezed lemon juice is always the best flavour. If you don’t wish to use wine you can use more chicken broth. But since the sauce simmers away, most of the alcohol will burn off. The rule of cooking with wine is always use a wine you’d like to drink. For Chicken Piccata, something not sweet like sauvignon blanc would be perfect. Save a little of the wine to add at the end if the sauce has reduced a bit too much.
Turn the heat up at first to get the sauce bubbling, then turn it back down to medium. Add all the chicken pieces to the pan along with any juices and spread them out as best as you can. Cover the pan and allow to simmer about 10 minutes to ensure the chicken is cooked through and to incorporate all the flavours. Turn any pieces that aren’t submerged in the sauce at the halfway point to make sure they all get a chance to soak up the wonderful flavours. A typical piccata sauce is generally white wine, lemon and butter but the addition of chicken broth ensures there’s enough liquid to coat the pasta so it’s not too dry.
The best pasta to serve with Chicken Piccata is a long thin type such as spaghettini or capellini. Either will work well with the light delicate sauce. Since they’re very fine noodles, they cook quite quickly. Add the pasta to the boiling water at the same time as you add the artichokes to the chicken and they’ll both be ready at the same time. Canned or jarred artichoke hearts are ready to eat so there’s no cooking involved. And choosing hearts instead of regular artichokes means you won’t find any woody bits. Cut them into halves or quarters depending on their size and your preference.
Add a generous spoonful of capers right before serving and mix into the sauce. If you love briny flavours like me, use lots of capers and even some of the brine from the jar. Fresh herbs turn dark if they’re cooked too long so wait till the end to add the parsley. As well, drop in a little more butter and the reserved wine and swirl around to incorporate into the sauce at the end. The butter will add just the right amount of richness for that perfect mouth feel. You can also garnish with some slices of lemon for a fresh element. Make sure to taste the sauce and add more salt if it needs some.
To serve, drain the pasta, divide between plates, top with pieces of chicken then pour the sauce evenly over top. You’ll notice there’s no parmesan cheese in this recipe. This is the way the Chicken Piccata was served to me. And I think it’s perfect just the way it is.
If you try this recipe and love it, consider leaving a rating below! Here’s the recipe:
Chicken Piccata
Ingredients
- 2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts 2 large or 3 regular sized pieces
- ¼ cup flour or less
- 4 Tbsp butter, divided 2 for pan frying chicken, 2 for sauce at end
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- ¼ cup minced shallots or onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 lemon, juiced about ¼ cup
- 1 cup white wine, divided ¾ for sauce, extra added at end
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- 1 can unseasoned artichoke hearts halved or quartered
- 1-2 Tbsp capers
- ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley plus more for garnish
- 1-2 tsp salt for seasoning chicken, flour dredge, pasta water and sauce, see note
- ½ tsp pepper for seasoning chicken and sauce
- 4 servings thin pasta like angel hair, spaghettini or vermicelli
Instructions
- Slice chicken breasts horizontally into 3 or 4 cutlets. Lay between parchment or plastic wrap and gently pound to thin and enlarge pieces. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add flour to wide shallow dish and season with flour. Dredge each piece of chicken on both sides, shaking off excess flour.
- Heat large wide non stick skillet to no higher than medium. Add olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. When melted and slightly foamy add pieces of chicken to pan without crowding. Fan fry on each side just until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Remove to a plate and continue cooking the rest of the chicken.
- Add shallots and garlic and sauté until soft without allowing to brown. Squeeze lemon juice into pan and add chicken broth and ¾ cup white wine, reserving the rest of the wine for the end. Increase heat and allow sauce to simmer a minute or so.
- Return chicken and any juices to the pan and spread out evenly, overlapping as little as possible. Cover and reduce heat for 10 minutes while sauce simmers, thickens and chicken finishes cooking. Turn pieces after 5 minutes to distribute evenly into sauce.
- Add artichokes to pan and cover for a minute to allow to heat through. Turn off heat and add reserved wine, capers and parsley. Add reserved butter and swirl pan to incorporate all ingredients while butter melts.
- While chicken is cooking bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to timing on package. Divide between 4 serving dishes.
- Top pasta with pieces of chicken. Pour sauce evenly over top and garnish with more fresh parsley if desired.
I’ll definitely try this one soon. I’ve got all those ingredients already. 👍
Oh good, I hope you like it!