Easy Chicken Piccata

Total Time

Prep/Total Time: 30 min.

Makes

4 servings

Updated: Jul. 25, 2023
Easy chicken recipes are my go-to dinner choice. My chicken piccata pasta dish is ready to serve in a half hour. It takes just a few minutes in the oven to bake to tender perfection. —Hannah Williams, Malibu, California

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 ounces each)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons capers, drained
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons butter

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Cut chicken breasts in half crosswise. Pound with a meat mallet to 1/2-in. thickness; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow bowl. Dip chicken in flour to coat both sides; shake off excess.
  2. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Brown chicken in batches, adding additional oil as needed. Transfer chicken to an ungreased 13x9-in. baking dish.
  3. Add stock, capers and lemon juice to pan, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Whisk in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until creamy. Pour sauce over chicken. Bake 5-10 minutes or until no longer pink.
Test Kitchen Tips
  • Capers are the flower buds of a small bush from the Mediterranean and Middle East. The smallest capers, French nonpareils, are considered the finest. Caper berries, from Spain, are the olive-size fruit of the caper shrub. Rinse capers well before using to remove excess salt and brine.
  • Go for freshly squeezed lemon juice when preparing this dish. Bottled lemon juice, which is from concentrate, won’t provide the same bright, fresh flavor. Buy four lemons to get the job done.
  • Check out our 30 minute chicken recipes.
  • Nutrition Facts

    5 ounces cooked chicken with about 2 tablespoons sauce: 382 calories, 23g fat (8g saturated fat), 117mg cholesterol, 725mg sodium, 6g carbohydrate (0 sugars, 0 fiber), 36g protein.