Chicken piccata is one of those recipes that you make thinking “I don’t know if my kids are going to eat this”. Mostly because of the capers on top which have a strong flavor and admittedly look a little suspicious. But my entire family gobbled this up and raved about the pan sauce that we drizzled over the chicken and pasta that we served with our dinner. And I was bummed that we didn’t have any leftovers for the next day. You might have seen this dish on the menu at The Cheesecake Factory, although they make it a little bit differently by adding mushrooms and making the sauce creamy with the addition of a little heavy cream right at the end. I’ll leave some instructions in the notes below for how I would make those two adjustments for a copycat version of Cheesecake Factory chicken piccata. Ina Garten, my favorite celebrity chef, and Giada De Laurentiis have both also shared chicken piccata recipes, as has America’s Test Kitchen, and I pulled from all three when developing my own recipe that would be weeknight and family friendly. Although white wine is often used to make chicken piccata (Ina Garten has it in her version), I followed ATK’s lead on this choice by opting to leave it out in place of humble chicken broth and honestly I think this dish is better for it. Stuck in a rut when it comes to frozen chicken breasts and weeknight dinners? Some of our other favorite options are Easy Creamy Chicken Marsala and Chicken Madeira!
What to Serve with Chicken Piccata
Serve the chicken piccata with al dente pasta like angel hair (the most traditional pairing) or spaghetti. But it is also delicious with some creamy mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower and crusty bread on the side for soaking up every last bit of that glorious lemon caper pan sauce. Or you can serve the chicken piccata all by itself with plenty of steamed or roasted veggies and a copycat Olive Garden Salad for a low-carb dinner that is 100% satisfying.
Recipe Ingredients
Chicken: Chicken breasts are something we always have on hand in the freezer. In this recipe, they are sliced in half horizontally, which is easier to do when they are still partially frozen. Flour: While some chicken piccata recipes call for breading the chicken in breadcrumbs, we prefer a simpler approach of just dusting the chicken in a little flour instead. Lemons: You will need both the zest and the juice from the lemons so be sure to zest first! Garlic: A couple cloves of garlic add flavor to any dish! Capers: Drain the capers from the juice they are packed in before adding them to your piccata. Chicken broth: For small amounts of chicken broth, I typically will just use a little Better-Than-Bouillon paste mixed with water. For 1 cup of broth it’s just 1 teaspoon of the paste with 1 cup of water. Salt & pepper: Seasoning the chicken before dredging it in flour gives the best results for a restaurant-quality meal. Olive oil & butter: The olive oil, which has a higher smoke point than butter and doesn’t burn as quickly, is used to cook the chicken. The butter is added at the very end to enrich the sauce with its flavor. Italian parsley: This is optional but makes a nice garnish to add a pop of color to the finished dish.
What are capers?
Capers are a type of juniper berry that you will find in small jars in the pickle aisle at the store. They are tangy, salty little flavor bombs the size of small peas and come in a brine solution that you will drain off before using them. Capers are actually the unripened buds of a bush known as a Finders Rose that grows in the Mediterranean. The buds are harvested, then dried and preserved in brine.
How to Make Chicken Piccata
Recipe Tips
Seasoning with salt and pepper: We like to use coarse kosher salt to season chicken and other proteins. You will get more even coverage if you sprinkle it from higher up – at least 6-8 inches above the meat, than if you are holding the salt really close over the meat while sprinkling it. Leftovers: This recipe makes fantastic leftovers which keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days. Just reheat in the microwave or in the oven before serving. Substitutions: You could easily swap out chicken breasts for other cuts of meat and make pork chop piccata or fish piccata, keeping everything else about this recipe exactly the same.
Cheesecake Factory Chicken Piccata
If you want to make a version that more closely resembles the version you would get at the Cheesecake Factory, I recommend using sliced baby portobello mushrooms and sautéing them in the pan used to cook the chicken before adding the garlic. Then add a splash of heavy cream right at the end of making the sauce just before pulling it off the heat.
More recipes that use capers
If you have leftover capers, they are excellent scrambled into some eggs or served with bagels, cream cheese, and lox for breakfast (so good – sign me up!). They can also be added to salads (especially potato salad), chopped and added to compound butters, sprinkled over roasted vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, or cauliflower, or added to pasta dishes. Basically, anything that calls for pickles would be great with the addition of these tasty little spheres. Here are some other recipes that use capers in them:
Balsamic Capers Pork Chops Black Olive Tapenade Creamy Goat Cheese Bruschetta with Roasted Red Peppers and Fried Capers Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs with Capers Tartar Sauce
More Weeknight Chicken Dinner Ideas
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo Chinese Chicken Salad Chicken Flautas Smoky Chicken Tinga Tacos White Chicken Chili Russian Chicken
Chicken Stroganoff
Creamy White Chicken Lasagna
Stove Top Chicken Thighs
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