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Original video by @BrianLagerstrom — all credit to the creator.

Brian Lagerstrom

Chicken Piccata

Golden, double-dredged chicken cutlets fried crisp and blanketed in a bright lemon-caper pan sauce finished with cold butter. It's a restaurant plate that comes together in under 30 minutes.

⏱ 30 minItalian-Americanchickenpiccatalemoncaperspan sauce

Ingredients

For the chicken

  • 2boneless, skinless chicken breasts · halved horizontally and pounded to ¼" cutlets
  • —salt
  • —pepper
  • —AP flour · for dredging
  • —olive oil · for frying

For the sauce

  • 25 ggarlic · 2½ tbsp, finely minced
  • 30 gcapers · 3 tbsp, drained
  • 3 gAP flour · 1 tsp
  • 200 gwhite wine · ¾ cup + 2 tbsp, preferably Chardonnay
  • 100 gchicken stock · 7 tbsp
  • 10 glemon juice · 2 tsp
  • 75 gunsalted butter · 5 tbsp, cold, cut into tablespoon-sized cubes
  • 5 gflat-leaf parsley · 2 tbsp, chopped
  • ½ lemonlemon zest
  • —salt · a pinch, to finish

Steps

  1. 1

    Slice each chicken breast in half horizontally, then pound each piece into a ¼"-thick cutlet.

  2. 2

    Season both sides with salt and pepper and rest 5–10 minutes.

  3. 3

    Dredge the cutlets in flour, rest 5 minutes, then dredge again right before cooking — the double coat gives a crispier crust that holds the sauce.

  4. 4

    Fry the cutlets in a 12" pan over medium-high heat in olive oil, about 3 minutes per side, pressing down with a spatula for the first 15–20 seconds. Pull and set aside, then wipe out excess oil and dark bits.

  5. 5

    Return the pan to medium-low. Add the capers and cook 1 minute, until they soften and take on a little color.

  6. 6

    Add the garlic with a touch more oil and cook 90 seconds on medium-low, keeping it moving — it can burn fast.

  7. 7

    Sprinkle in the 3g of flour and stir to combine.

  8. 8

    Add the white wine, scrape the pan, and reduce until nearly dry, about 90 seconds — it's ready when your spatula leaves a wide trail.

  9. 9

    Add the chicken stock and reduce by 50%, about 2–3 minutes.

  10. 10

    Off heat, add the lemon juice, then whisk in the cold butter a few pieces at a time until the sauce is glossy and smooth.

  11. 11

    Stir in the parsley and lemon zest. Taste for salt, spoon over the cutlets, and serve immediately.

Creator's notes

Dredge twice — flour, rest 5 minutes, flour again — for a crust that stays crisp under the sauce. The wine is reduced until a spatula leaves a wide trail, and the butter goes in off heat so the sauce emulsifies instead of breaking.

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