Chicken Francese

We’ve made this Chicken Francese recipe so many times we’ve perfected it! Tender chicken breasts simmered in an easy, addicting lemon sauce!

Serve this easy chicken dish with Creamy Mashed Potatoes or these Crispy Homemade French Fries on the side! If you like rice as a side dish, try our Spicy Mushroom Rice instead. Just make sure there’s something to soak up all the sauce!

chicken breast cooked with lemon sauce and a lemon slice on top

Why This Is The BEST Chicken Francese Recipe

We’re pretty much experts on easy chicken dinners around here. Our boys love chicken and so do we, so we find ourselves making it ALL the time. Not just for dinner but for lunch and even snacking on. There’s usually a plate of marinated grilled chicken in our refrigerator at all times for lunches, fast dinners and to add to salads. 

So, this Chicken Francese recipe is one that we’ve been making for a long, long time. It’s a super easy chicken recipe that can be on the table in just about 20 minutes. The other bonus is that we always seem to have the ingredients on hand, so there’s never a need to run to the store.

Now, why do we think our Chicken Francese recipe is the best? It all comes down to the sauce. Yes you have to make sure that you coat the chicken properly and simmer it in the sauce until it’s almost fork tender. BUT the sauce is what it’s all about.

One of our friends kids calls this “that delicious brown sauce” and there’s really no other way to describe it. Delicious sauce with the perfect amount of lemon and white wine and just the right thickness to coat the chicken. Simple ingredients with just the right ratio.

Chicken Francese is an easy chicken recipe made with chicken breasts

Tips For Making The Best Chicken Francese

Just a few ingredients go into this classic dish, so make sure each one is the best you can find. For instance, use fresh lemon juice, not the stuff from the bottle. Find the best store bought chicken stock you can find, or make your own and freeze it for recipes like this. And as far as the wine goes, it doesn’t have to be really expensive wine, just a good quality wine that you like drinking.

Don’t buy cooking wine from the grocery store! It’s really not even close to the same flavor as real wine and it will make this chicken recipe taste subpar at best.

Also try and grab the best quality chicken you can find. The actual chicken that you use makes a difference in the flavor, too! And in this case, bigger is not always better. Sometimes those crazy big chicken breasts you see at the grocery store all pumped up with growth hormone and when the chicken is cooked it’s has a rubbery texture.

You’ll notice this more if you’ve had a chance to buy quality, organic chicken from a farm or a good brand from the store. Unfortunately, once you go this route you really won’t be able to go back!

Ingredients

  • Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
  • Fresh lemon juice and lemon slices
  • White Wine
  • Butter
  • Chicken Stock
  • Cornstarch
  • Seasonings
This easy chicken recipe is simmered in a lemon sauce with wine

Can You Make This Chicken Dinner Ahead Of Time?

The answer is yes, but it’s better if you make it right before serving. The sauce is the most delicious when made fresh, when reheating the sauce can tend to “break” a little. That means that the butter can separate from the rest of the ingredients making it seem a little greasy.

Even reheated though, this chicken is absolutely delicious, so don’t be afraid to make it ahead of time if you need to. You can reheat these chicken breasts in the oven at about 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through. When you take the chicken out of the oven, just give the sauce a quick stir to mix it back together again and you’ll be good to go.

Microwaving is another option but the chicken breasts can get a tough in the microwave so if you’re going for this reheating method, cut the chicken up into pieces before you heat it up.

Chicken Francese recipe in a skillet with sauce

Can You Freeze This Chicken Recipe?

Definitely. Make this Chicken Francese recipe in larger batches if you’d like for meal prepping and freeze it. Defrost the chicken in your refrigerator and then reheat it in the oven following the instructions mentioned above.

This is a great dinner recipe to take to a friend’s house or to bring to a potluck, we even make it for dinner parties. Everyone seems to love it and it doesn’t keep you in the kitchen for hours making it!

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Chicken francese in a pan with a slice of lemon

Chicken Francese

  • Author: Dan
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 6 Servings 1x

Tender chicken breasts simmered in an addicting lemon sauce with a splash of white wine! This is going to be your new go to chicken recipe!

Scale

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • Garlic powder
  • Kosher salt
  • Fresh Black pepper
  • Flour (for dusting the chicken)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon whole milk or heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon of water
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • Lemon slices

Instructions

  1. Season the chicken breast generously, on both sides, with the garlic powder, salt and pepper. If your chicken breasts are very thick, slice them in half horizontally first.
  2. Add the flour to a shallow plate or bowl, then add the eggs to another bowl and beat them with the milk or cream.
  3. Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour, tapping off the excess and place on a plate. Once the chicken breasts have been coated in the flour, add 2 tablespoons of butter to a large skillet over medium heat.
  4. Dip the chicken into the egg mixture, letting the excess drip off and then place into the hot skillet. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts.
  5. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown and then remove the chicken from the skillet to a plate and cover with foil.
  6. Carefully pour in the wine to deglaze the skillet and let reduce for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, lemon juice and the remaining tablespoon of butter, stirring to combine. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, then add the cornstarch mixture and whisk to combine with the sauce.
  7. Bring the sauce back to a simmer, add the chicken breasts back to the skillet and top with the fresh lemon slices.
  8. Simmer the chicken for 8-10 minutes over low heat, spooning the sauce over the chicken as it cooks. Cover to keep warm or serve immediately.
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Stove Top
  • Cuisine: American

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43 Responses
  1. Kate

    Awesome, easy recipe that makes the most tender, flavorful chicken ever! New family favorite. Thanks for sharing!






  2. Stephanie

    I just made this last night and it was amazing. I’ve tried other recipes and they were ok, but this one was so flavorful. This will become my go to recipe for chicken francese. Thank you for a great, simple, and flavorful recipe.






  3. Dawn

    I have to admit to all readers…I licked out the drippings in the skillet before I did the dishes. Am I a bad person? 😇






    1. Dan

      Any type of vegetables, mashed potatoes, egg noodles or a rice dish! Also, Dan loves this chicken with crispy french fries soaked in all the sauce!

  4. Joyce

    Looks so good I am making this tonight. Don’t you usually dip chicken in egg mixture before you coat with flour? I wasn’t sure about that. Thanks!

    1. Dan

      So when you’re breading (mostly anything) you follow FEB (like the month February) so it’s flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. But for this recipe there’s no breacrumbs so it’s just flour, then egg. I hope you like it!

  5. Linda

    My most favorite dish ever & most requested! I’ve served it with rice or pasta. Either way, it’s always a hit.
    1 question…can you brown the chicken ahead of time & put in fridge even though it’s not fully cooked?






    1. Dan

      The only problem I see with doing that is that you aren’t going to get the best pan sauce. Since the brown bits from the bottom of the pan add so much flavor to the sauce, you wouldn’t want to skip that step. Unless you brown the chicken and put the whole skillet into the fridge?

    1. Dan

      Yes, and that also depends on if you’re using boneless chicken thighs or bone-in thighs. Chicken thighs will take much longer to cook than boneless, skinless chicken breasts and with a sauce that’s this light I’m not sure that would be a good substitution, unless you double the sauce.

    1. Dan

      If you can’t get a hold of any white wine (it does add a delicious flavor) you can swap out the same amount of chicken broth.

  6. Anne

    Recipe is great, but confused because it calls for 2 tablespoons of butter, divided and then 3 items down it says 2 tablespoons of butter. No where does it say what to do with the 2nd 2 tablespoons of butter.






  7. June

    Made for dinner last night. Did not have chicken breast so used the bone in thighs I had. Increased original cooking time, on low heat, until almost cooked thru. Finished cooking in the delicious sauce. Will definitely make again.






  8. Stephanie

    Looks fantastic! And your photos are gorgeous! Do you think a small splash of vinegar would be a good replacement for the white wine? Thanks!

      1. Jerri

        I plan on making this tomorrow for dinner. Just curious why white cooking wine is never suggested as a substitute for regular wine?

        1. Dan

          We don’t use cooking wine because it’s loaded with sugar and sodium. We prefer using good old fashioned white wine as it adds a much better flavor to the dish.

  9. Audrey

    Ok, I’m really strange! I can’t stand lemon in my food! This recipe sounds amazing! Do you think it would make a difference without it?

    1. Dan

      It’s not strange, I know a lot of people that don’t like citrus in their savory food. Just omit the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and see how it turns out!

  10. Audrey

    I have no clue how the beginning of my question disappeared? Anyway, does it make a huge difference if I use chicken broth instead of chicken stock? That’s what I have a lot of stored in my pantry?

  11. LynnO

    Sooooo easy and absolutely delicious! I made rice and skillet green beans to go with it tonight but tomorrow it’lll definitely be smashed potatoes and spinach! This is a keeper!






  12. Audrey

    I’m making this in the next few days and I’m wondering, if I should increase the sauce ingredients so I have plenty of extra to drown my mashed potatoes in? I’m a gravy nut! Also has anyone added garlic to this dish? I am thinking about adding some minced garlic. Can’t wait to try it out. Looks so darn good!

    1. Dan

      Garlic is always fine by me. I wouldn’t increase the sauce ingredients because the sauce probably won’t turn out as thick. I will say that there should be a good amount of sauce to this dish, plenty for the mashed potatoes!

  13. Diana

    One of my fav Italian dishes at a local Restaurant. The only difference was I didn’t make it with risotto as I did a chicken flavored rice. It was so tasty….Only deviation was I added much more lemon but that is certainly personal preference. Did a side of fresh zucchini’s with sautéed butter and onions.






  14. Wendy

    Delicious!! Made it for my husband and son and they devoured it!!! In fact, my son loved it so much, he messaged me the next day to tell me he couldn’t stop thinking about how amazing the chicken was! 😊. If that doesn’t tell you a dish is a hit, I don’t know what does! 😂. Thank you for sharing your recipe






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