Chicken Recipes · Italian-American
Chicken Piccata
The chicken takes six minutes. Everything that makes this dish worth cooking happens in the pan afterwards.
Total: 40 minYield: 4 servingsMethod: Pan Searing
In this recipe
Getting the cutlets right
The sauce is forgiving. The chicken is not, and all of its problems are solved before the pan.
- Halve the breasts horizontally with a long, sharp, non-serrated knife, palm flat on top to hold them.
- Pound to an even 1/4-inch between plastic sheets, working from the center outwards with the smooth side of the mallet.
- Trim any ragged fat — it will not render in six minutes and reads as gristle.
- Season before flouring, not after. Salt on top of flour sits on the surface and tastes harsh.
- Flour at the last moment, and shake hard. A heavy coat gums up and slides off in the sauce.
Building the sauce in four moves
Each stage does one thing, and the order is not interchangeable.
- Pour off the fatLeave about a tablespoon. Sauce built on the full amount of frying fat will not emulsify later — it is already oily before the butter arrives.
- Deglaze with wineOff the heat first so it does not flash, then back on to scrape the fond loose. Reduced by half, the alcohol has cooked off and the acidity is concentrated.
- Reduce with broth and lemonThree to four minutes takes it from thin liquid to something that lightly coats a spoon. Under-reducing here is the most common reason piccata sauce runs off the chicken.
- Mount with cold butterHeat at its lowest, butter in cubes, swirling rather than stirring. This is the step that turns a reduction into a sauce with body and shine.
Cues worth watching
- The foam subsidingButter foams while its water boils off. Adding chicken before the foam settles means putting it into a pan that is not yet hot enough to brown.
- Two at a timeFour cutlets in one skillet drop the temperature and steam. Two batches takes three extra minutes and is the difference between golden and gray.
- The sauce coating the spoonDraw a finger through sauce on the back of a spoon. If the line holds for a second, it is reduced enough for the butter.
- Lemon rounds lateThey go in with the capers, near the end. Simmered long they turn bitter as the pith breaks down.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The sauce broke into oil and liquid | It boiled after the butter went in, or the butter was warm. | Use cold cubed butter on the lowest heat. A splash of cold broth whisked in can sometimes bring a broken sauce back. |
| The coating fell off in the pan | The chicken was floured too early, or the pan was not hot enough. | Flour immediately before frying and wait for the butter foam to subside. |
| The sauce is thin and runs off the plate | It was not reduced enough before the butter. | Reduce until it coats a spoon. Adding more butter to a thin sauce makes it greasy, not thicker. |
| It tastes harshly sour | Bottled lemon juice, or too little reduction to balance it. | Use fresh juice and let the broth reduce properly. A pinch of sugar rescues a batch that has gone too far. |
| The chicken is dry | The cutlets were uneven, or held in the pan too long. | Pound to a consistent thickness and pull at 165°F. Six minutes total is the whole cooking time. |
Storage and reheating
Refrigerate up to 3 days with the sauce spooned over the chicken, which keeps it from drying out.
Reheat gently in a covered skillet over low heat to 165°F (74°C), the USDA safe temperature for leftovers. The sauce may look separated when cold; it usually comes back together as it warms if it is not allowed to boil.
It does not freeze well. A butter-mounted sauce splits on thawing and the coating on the chicken goes soft.
Tasty RecipesThe Reliable Comfort Kitchen
Chicken Piccata
Pounded chicken cutlets floured and browned, then a pan sauce built from wine, broth and lemon and finished off the heat with cold butter. Twenty minutes of cooking, most of it in the sauce.
- Chicken
- Main Dish
- Pan Searing
Servings4 servings
Cook’s checkpoint
- Frying oil
- 350°F / 175°C
- Chicken, thickest part
- 165°F / 74°C
Use a food thermometer. Color and time alone don’t confirm poultry is done.
Ingredients
For the chicken
For the pan sauce
Instructions
Notes
- Cold butter, added off a rolling heat, is what emulsifies the sauce. Melted or warm butter stirred in will separate.
- Chopped green olives or artichoke hearts stand in for capers if you dislike them, though they are milder and less salty — taste before adding more salt.
Cooking Mode
Questions
- Can this be made without wine?
- Yes. Replace it with an equal amount of chicken broth plus a teaspoon of white wine vinegar, and reduce it the same way. The acidity is what the wine is contributing more than the alcohol.
- Do chicken thighs work?
- Boneless thighs work well and are harder to overcook. They will not pound as thin, so expect an extra minute or two a side, still to 165°F.
- What should this be served with?
- Something that will take the sauce — angel hair or linguine, mashed potato, or plain rice. A crisp green vegetable balances the butter.
- Can the cutlets be pounded ahead?
- Yes, up to a day ahead, kept covered in the refrigerator. Season and flour them only when the pan is heating.
