Chicken Piccata
Chicken Piccata is a classic Italian dish featuring chicken breasts coated in a mixture of flour, eggs, and seasoned breadcrumbs. Pan-fried until golden brown, the chicken is then topped with a tangy lemon-butter sauce. This dish is perfect for a special occasion or a weeknight meal, paired with pasta or vegetables to complete the plate.
Chicken Piccata is a classic Italian dish featuring chicken breasts coated in a mixture of flour, eggs, and seasoned breadcrumbs. Pan-fried until golden brown, the chicken is then topped with a tangy lemon-butter sauce. This dish is perfect for a special occasion or a weeknight meal, paired with pasta or vegetables to complete the plate.
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine
- 2 lemons - cut into wedges for garnish
- Carbohydrate 48.5413308645798 g
- Cholesterol 882.28625 mg
- Fat 62.8621191758173 g
- Fiber 2.60600834896786 g
- Protein 334.469380004013 g
- Saturated Fat 21.1526245423735 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (1608g)
- Sodium 6166.36487175939 mg
- Sugar 45.9353225156119 g
- Trans Fat 6.92978054190074 g
- Calories 2185 calories
Step-by-step
- Flatten chicken to 1/4 inch thickness between plastic wrap or waxed paper. Mix egg and water. Mix bread crumbs, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Coat chicken with flour, dip into egg mixture and coat with bread crumb mixture.
- Heat butter or margarine and oil in 12 inch skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken for 8 to 10 minutes, turning once, until juice is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut. Remove chicken from skillet using tongs; keep warm.
- Stir lemon juice and wine into drippings in skillet. Heat to boiling; pour over chicken. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley, and serve with lemon wedges for garnish.
Most home cooks make the mistake of crowding the skillet, which traps steam and turns the breaded chicken coating soggy instead of crisp. Searing cutlets pounded uniformly to one-quarter inch ensures the meat cooks in precisely eight to ten minutes over medium heat without burning the exterior crumbs. While Italian-American in its modern iteration, the preparation borrows from continental techniques of pan-frying and pan-deglazing.
Freezing and Make-Ahead Mechanics
Uncooked, breaded cutlets can be frozen on a parchment-lined sheet pan for up to one month before transferring to a sealed bag, though they must go into the hot oil straight from the freezer to prevent the moisture barrier from failing. Fully cooked chicken piccata resists freezing poorly because the crisp coating degrades in moisture, meaning you should freeze only the unbreaded meat if meal-prepping ahead.Reheating Without Drying
Reheat leftover cutlets in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for twelve minutes on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet to restore the crunch of the breadcrumbs. Never use a microwave for reheating breaded proteins, as the rapid excitation of water molecules softens the crust irrevocably.
