Chicken piccata
30 min · 42 g protein · 350 cals / serving
Thin chicken cutlets dusted in flour and pan-fried until golden, then bathed in the classic Italian-American pan sauce: white wine and broth reduced with garlic, a lot of lemon, salty little capers and a knob of butter swirled in at the end until it turns silky. Served with blistered lemony green beans that catch the extra sauce. Bright, buttery and briny.
Ingredients
Green beans
- 1 lb green beans, trimmed
- zest of 1/2 lemon lemon zest
- 2 large breasts (1 1/2 lb) chicken breast, halved horizontally and pounded 1 cm (1/2 inch) thin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour, for dusting
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup white wine, dry, or more broth
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 3 tbsp lemon juice, about 1 1/2 lemons
- 2 1/2 tbsp capers, drained
- 1 tbsp butter, cold
To serve
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Steps
- Cook the green beans in a large pan of boiling salted water for 3–4 minutes, until bright green and crisp-tender. Drain, then toss them in the hot, dry pan over high heat for 2 minutes until they blister in spots. Toss with the lemon zest and a pinch of salt and keep them warm.
- Season the cutlets with the salt and pepper, then dust them lightly in the flour, shaking off the excess.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Fry the cutlets, in two batches if needed, 2–3 minutes a side, until golden and cooked through (165°F). Move them to a plate.
- Lower the heat to medium, add the garlic for 30 seconds, then pour in the wine and let it bubble for 1 minute, scraping up the browned bits. Add the broth, lemon juice and capers and simmer briskly 4–5 minutes, until reduced by about half; the flour left in the pan thickens it slightly.
- Turn off the heat and swirl in the butter until the sauce turns glossy. Return the chicken and any juices to the pan and spoon the sauce over. Scatter with parsley and serve with the green beans.
Good to know
No wine?
Use 1/3 cup more chicken broth plus 1 tsp white wine vinegar for the acidity. The sauce will be a little less complex but still very good, and it's about the same score.
Can I serve it with pasta?
Angel hair or a little orzo is the classic; toss it with the extra sauce. Spinach, zucchini or asparagus are good in place of the green beans.
Why pound the chicken?
Even, thin cutlets cook in a few minutes and stay juicy, instead of drying at the edges while the thick end catches up. A rolling pin or the bottom of a heavy pan works fine.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 115
- Protein
- (52%)
- 14 g
- Fat
- (32%)
- 4 g
- Carbohydrates
- (16%)
- 5 g
- of which sugar
- 1 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 256 mg
About 65% of the alcohol remains after cooking; the label counts only that.
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1401 kcal goes into the pot and 1593 g of ingredients comes out as about 1215 g of food: 115 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.