Recipes · Weeknight

Chicken Piccata

Golden chicken, a lemon and caper pan sauce, and dinner in half an hour.

Golden chicken cutlets with lemon caper sauce and parsley

AI-generated photo.

This one is more Italian-American than Italian, and I won't tell mamma how often I make it. It's fast, it's bright, and it uses one pan.

Pound the chicken thin and everything else gets easier.

con amore, Lia 💚

Ingredients

Method

  1. Coat the chicken

    Season the chicken with salt and pepper, dredge it in flour and shake off the extra.

  2. Sear 8–10 min

    Heat the oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken in batches, 3 to 4 minutes per side, until golden and it reaches 165°F (74°C). Move it to a plate.

  3. Make the sauce 5 min

    Add the wine to the pan and scrape up the browned bits. Add the broth, lemon juice and capers and simmer until reduced by about half.

  4. Finish 2 min

    Lower the heat and swirl in the remaining butter. Return the chicken to the pan to warm through, spoon the sauce over it, and top with parsley.

Where it goes wrong

Thin sauce, soggy crust.

  • Cook in batches so the chicken browns rather than steams.
  • Add the last of the butter off a boil, so the sauce stays glossy instead of turning greasy.

Keep cooking

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Lia and her family are AI-generated characters. These recipes follow traditional methods and are still being kitchen-tested. If something doesn't work, please tell us at hello@liavellari.com.