Chicken Piccata (Fried Chicken Cutlets With Lemon-Butter Pan Sauce) Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is chicken piccata sauce made of? ›

What Is Chicken Piccata? Chicken piccata is nothing more than chicken breast cutlets, dredged in flour, browned, and served with a sauce of butter, lemon juice, capers, and either stock or white wine.

The best way to keep the chicken crispy is to set a rack on top of a sheet pan and allow the cutlets to drain on that rather than paper towels. You can keep them in a 250 degree F oven for up to an hour before serving to keep them hot and crispy.

For Crispy Fried Chicken: Dutch Oven

And while we love the cast iron skillet for shallow frying things like cutlets, a wide, deep pot like a Dutch oven is an absolute must for deep-frying chicken, donuts, and more.

What's the best oil to fry chicken cutlets in? You can fry chicken cutlets in either high heat vegetable oil or olive oil. Just note that olive oil has a lower smoke point and is more likely to burn, so you need to keep a close eye on them as they cook and adjust the heat as needed.

Always dip your chicken in beaten egg before coating

Dipping your chicken in egg helps the breadcrumbs, or whatever coating you use, adhere evenly to the outside of the cutlet. You should start with a thin layer of flour, which gives the egg a better surface to cling to, then the egg, then the coating.

If the meat is wet, it will make the flour soggy. In that case, breading will not stick properly and may fall off when deep frying.

Can you cook chicken with butter instead of oil? You have to cook chicken at a lower temperature if you bake or pan-fry chicken using butter instead of oil. This is because butter has a lower scorching temperature. Your chicken will cook more slowly, but it's also likely to be juicier and full of more flavor.

You want to use an oil that is labeled “virgin” or simply “olive oil”. You do not want to be using extra virgin olive oil here. You can also use any other neutral flavored oil you like. Just make sure it is one that can take high heat since you're essentially frying in it.

Should chicken cutlets be room temp before frying? ›

Give the chicken time to reach room temperature before starting. Then, use paper towels to pat the cutlets dry before flouring them. Moisture is not your friend when frying. Dust the chicken in the flour and shake off any excess.

While olive oil has a lower smoke point, it can still be used for frying chicken if the temperature is properly controlled. Extra virgin olive oil, with its rich flavor and high-quality attributes, is not ideal for deep frying due to its lower smoke point.

All-purpose flour gives the buttermilk and seasonings something to stick to, while ensuring a wonderfully crispy crust. This crispy fried chicken recipe calls for paprika (which helps with browning), salt, and pepper. You can add more spices and seasonings to taste.

Capers are the unriped green buds of a prickly bush called capparis spinosa that grows wild across the Mediterranean and parts of Asia. Those briny globes we buy in jars at the grocery store start as flower buds, then get picked, dried and preserved.

You may be wondering what the difference is between this recipe and Chicken Francese. While they are somewhat similar, in Chicken Francese, the cutlets are dipped into flour and then eggs. Chicken Piccata cutlets are dipped in flour only and the recipe calls for capers and cream. They are both easy and good!

Piccata, though, is an Italian word meaning larded. It seems to be a translation of the French word pique (sharp, as in piquant). When used in a reference to a way of preparing food (particularly meat or fish) it means sliced and sauteed in a sauce containing lemon, butter, and spices.