Chicken piccata is a fifteen minute dish that eats like it took an hour. Thin cutlets, floured and browned, then a fast pan sauce of lemon, capers, white wine, and butter poured back over the top. It is bright, salty, and a little rich, and it lands on the table before the water for the pasta has fully cooled.
As a main course it is a study in restraint. A lean protein, a soft starch under it, a green vegetable for bite, and a sauce that carries all of the flavor and most of the drama. Nothing on the plate is complicated. The whole thing rests on one technique: mounting a pan sauce with cold butter so it turns glossy instead of greasy.
A Short History
The word piccata comes from Italian, most often traced to piccato, meaning pounded or pricked, a nod to the thin scallop of meat at the center of the dish. In Italy the ancestor is piccata di vitello al limone, thin veal cooked fast in butter and lemon, a preparation documented in Italian home cooking well back into the 1800s.
Chicken piccata as most people know it is Italian American. It grew up in the mid twentieth century, in the same restaurants that gave the United States veal parmesan and shrimp scampi, when veal was getting expensive and chicken breast was cheap, mild, and everywhere. The capers and the heavier hit of lemon are American refinements. It is a good example of a dish that emigrated, adapted to what the new country had in the walk in, and became a classic on its own terms.
The Four Components
- Protein. Chicken breast cutlets, pounded thin so they cook in three minutes and stay tender.
- Starch. Buttered orzo, small enough to catch the sauce in every forkful.
- Vegetable. Green beans blistered hard in a dry pan, for contrast against the soft chicken.
- Sauce. Lemon, capers, and wine, reduced and then mounted with cold butter into a sauce that clings.
Choosing the Chicken
Buy whole boneless skinless breasts and cut your own cutlets rather than buying pre sliced. You want two even pieces from each breast: lay your hand flat on top and slice horizontally through the middle, then pound each half between plastic wrap to an even quarter inch. Even thickness is the whole game here; a cutlet that is thick at one end and thin at the other will overcook before it is done. If you'd rather start from a whole bird instead of pre-cut breasts, the chicken butchery guide walks through the full breakdown, including this exact cutlet cut, step by step.
Air chilled chicken browns better than water chilled, because it carries less surface moisture. If your market sells it, it is worth the small premium for a dish where the crust on the cutlet thickens the sauce. Boneless thighs, pounded flat, are the move if you want more forgiveness and more flavor; they take about a minute longer per side.
The Technique That Makes It: The Butter Emulsion
A piccata sauce is a warm emulsion. The lemon juice and wine provide water and acid, and cold butter whisked in at the end provides fat. Done right, the butter does not melt into a slick; it breaks into microscopic droplets held in suspension by the milk solids and the reduced liquid, and that is what gives the sauce its body and shine and its ability to coat the chicken.
Two things break it. Heat and speed. If the pan is over direct flame when the butter goes in, the emulsion overheats and the fat separates out. If you dump the butter in all at once, there is not enough agitation to disperse it. So: pull the pan off the heat, add the butter a tablespoon at a time, and swirl or whisk constantly. If it does break, a splash of cold water and hard whisking will usually bring it back.
Chicken Piccata
Serves 4. Prep 15 minutes, cook 20 minutes, total about 35 minutes.
Ingredients
Protein
- 2 large chicken breasts, halved horizontally and pounded to 1/4 inch
- 1/2 cup flour
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and black pepper
Starch
- 1 1/2 cups orzo
- 1 tablespoon butter
Vegetable
- 1 lb green beans, trimmed
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Sauce
- 5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup lemon juice, plus 1 lemon, sliced thin
- 3 tablespoons capers, drained
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
Method
Mise en place
- Cook the orzo in well salted water until just tender. Drain, toss with 1 tablespoon butter, and cover to keep warm.
- Season the cutlets with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour and shake off the excess. Do this just before cooking so the coating stays dry.
The chicken and the beans
- Heat the 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium high. Brown the cutlets in batches, about 3 minutes per side, until golden and just cooked through. Move to a plate.
- Wipe the skillet, return it to high heat with 1 teaspoon oil, and add the green beans. Leave them undisturbed for 2 minutes to blister, then toss and cook 3 minutes more until charred in spots and crisp tender. Season and set aside.
The sauce
- Lower the heat to medium. Add the wine and lemon slices and reduce by half, scraping up any browned bits.
- Add the stock and lemon juice and simmer 3 minutes, until slightly reduced and a touch syrupy.
- Off the heat, whisk in the 5 tablespoons cold butter one piece at a time until the sauce is glossy and thickened. Stir in the capers and parsley.
Plate
- Return the cutlets to the pan for 30 seconds to warm through and coat.
- Spoon the orzo onto warm plates, lay the chicken over, pour the sauce across, and set the green beans alongside.
Doneness
A quarter inch cutlet is cooked through at 160F, which it will hit in the pan and carry to 165F off the heat. If you are unsure, cut into the thickest piece; the juices should run clear and the flesh should be opaque with no pink at the center.
Nutrition (per serving, estimated)
- Calories 650
- Fat 25 g
- Saturated fat 12 g
- Cholesterol 130 mg
- Sodium 530 mg
- Carbohydrates 66 g
- Fiber 6 g
- Sugar 7 g
- Protein 38 g
Get Ahead: A Timing Plan
- Up to a day ahead: cut and pound the cutlets, keep covered in the fridge. Trim the beans.
- A few hours ahead: brown the cutlets and blister the beans. Hold both at room temperature.
- Last 10 minutes: cook the orzo, build the sauce, reheat the chicken in it, and plate.
Wine Pairing
Match the lemon and capers with a white that has its own bright acidity and no oak to get in the way.
- Vermentino from the Italian coast, saline and citrusy, is the natural partner.
- Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi for a little more weight and an almond note that likes the butter.
- Soave or a real Alto Adige Pinot Grigio if you want something softer and rounder.
Building the Meal Around It
Piccata is light, so you have room on either side. Open with a few spanakopita or a plate of marinated olives and good bread, or a crisp Caesar salad. It needs no extra side beyond the beans already on the plate. Finish with something creamy and cold, a panna cotta or lemon sorbet, to stay in the same bright register. More options in the appetizer collection.
Cooking for a Crowd
Cutlets are easy to scale but slow to brown in volume, so use two pans or work in three or four batches, wiping between them. Brown everything first, then build one large sauce and slide the cutlets back in to reheat together. Keep browned cutlets in a single layer on a sheet pan in a 200F oven so they do not steam and go soft. The orzo can be cooked ahead, spread on a tray to stop it clumping, and revived with a splash of hot water.
Troubleshooting
- Thin, watery sauce. It did not reduce enough before the butter went in, or the butter went in over direct heat and broke. Reduce until slightly syrupy, then finish off the heat.
- Greasy sauce. The emulsion broke. Take it off the heat, add a tablespoon of cold water, and whisk hard to bring it back together.
- Dry chicken. The cutlets were uneven or overcooked. Pound to a consistent quarter inch and pull them at 160F.
- Gummy coating. The chicken was floured too far ahead and the coating turned pasty. Dredge right before it hits the pan.
Variations
- Veal piccata. The original. Use thin veal scallopini and cut the cook time to about 90 seconds per side.
- Pork. Thin cut pork loin behaves exactly like chicken here.
- Add mushrooms. Brown sliced cremini after the chicken and before the wine for an earthier version.
- Piccata over mashed potato or crusty bread instead of orzo, when you want the sauce to have somewhere softer to land.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my piccata sauce thin?
Either it did not reduce enough before the butter went in, or the butter was added over direct heat and broke. Reduce the wine and stock until slightly syrupy, then finish off the heat, whisking the cold butter in a piece at a time.
Can I use chicken thighs?
Yes. Boneless thighs pounded to an even thickness stay juicier than breast and have more flavor. Give them an extra minute per side.
Is piccata Italian or American?
Both, depending on the meat. Veal piccata al limone is a genuine Italian preparation. The chicken version with capers is Italian American, from the mid twentieth century when veal grew costly and chicken breast was cheap.
Do I rinse the capers?
Drain them, and rinse only if they are packed in salt rather than brine. A little of their liquid in the sauce is a good thing.
Can I make it ahead?
Brown the cutlets and blister the beans a few hours ahead. Make the sauce and reheat the chicken in it just before serving; the sauce does not hold well once emulsified.
What makes this an entree?
It is the main course, built around a substantial protein and served with a starch and vegetable. In North American usage that is exactly what entree means.
More Entrees
Salmon Teriyaki, Chicken Souvlaki, Steak Frites, and the full entree recipe collection.
Who Is Writing This
Chef Alan Guerin spent 35 years in professional kitchens, from fine dining rooms to hotels and catering, and earned the Four Diamond distinction six times. He built Wine Drop Cookery to put that experience into plain guides anyone can cook from. More about Chef Alan.