Creamy Chicken Piccata is a delicious twist on the traditional Italian-American favorite, featuring tender, pan-seared chicken breasts smothered in a luscious lemon-garlic cream sauce with briny capers.
Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner or an elegant meal, this restaurant-quality recipe pairs beautifully with pasta, mashed potatoes, or any vegetable like delicious, crisp asparagus.
why you’ll love our creamy chicken piccata recipe
How do you make chicken piccata even better? Add a touch of cream, thicken the sauce a bit and you’ll have our mouth-watering Creamy Chicken Piccata.
- Easy To Make: This chicken recipe is made all in one pan, so clean up is a breeze. From start to finish, you can have this on the table in less than 30 minutes. Perfect for weeknight dinners or a special occasion.
- Comforting & Cozy Feel: Because we thickened the sauce and added heavy cream, this dinner recipe is one for the books. Tender chicken breasts that you can cut with a fork, swimming in the most delicious sauce, highlighted with a touch of white wine.
- Ours Is Saucy: We love the sauce so much in this creamy chicken piccata recipe that we doubled the sauce! There’s plenty to spoon over pasta or to dip vegetables or potatoes into.
ingredients you’ll need
A photo of the primary ingredients you’ll need, minus the basics like salt and pepper. For a complete list of ingredients with amounts needed, head to the recipe card below.
After the photo we’ll talk about the ingredients, why they work in this recipe and also substitutions if applicable.
- Chicken Breast: Boneless, skinless chicken breast. If the breasts are very thick we slice them in half horizontally so that we have two thinner chicken breasts.
- Butter: Used to add flavor when browning the chicken breasts, you can also use all oil if you like.
- Flour: A thin coating on the chicken breasts before browning, also helps to thicken the sauce.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic is best!
- White Wine: A dry white wine that you like drinking. If you don’t drink wine you can buy small, individual bottles at the liquor store for cooking, or omit the wine from the recipe.
- Chicken Stock: Or broth, just make sure whatever you’re using has good flavor and isn’t too watery, as it’s the base of the sauce.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is really the only option if you want a thick and creamy sauce. Half and half will work but it will be thinner.
- Cornstarch: Used to make a slurry and thicken the sauce.
- Parsley: Adds a punch of bright flavor to the dish.
- Capers: Capers have a briny flavor, similar to an olive but not as strong. Capers are traditional in chicken piccata but you can omit them if you don’t like the flavor.
how to make
Step by step photos here with brief instructions for a visual aid. For complete, detailed instructions, head to the recipe card at the end of the post.
- Pound the chicken breasts lightly with a meat mallet so that the chicken breast has an even thickness. Add the flour to a shallow bowl. Coat the chicken in the flour on both sides, tapping off the excess. Place into a large skillet with olive oil and butter.
- Cook the chicken breasts for 4-5 minutes on each side until nicely browned. Remove the chicken from the skillet to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
- Add another swirl of oil if the pan is dry, then add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, being careful not to burn the garlic. Carefully pour in the wine to deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up the bottom of the skillet.
- Add the chicken broth, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Let the broth simmer and reduce for 5-7 minutes. Mix the cornstarch together with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water until the cornstarch is dissolved. Slowly pour into the broth while whisking.
- Bring the sauce back to a simmer and let thicken for 1 minute. Pour in the heavy cream, whisking to combine. Add the chicken breasts back into the skillet, coating with the sauce.
- Simmer for 7-8 minutes in the sauce until the chicken is cooked through. Add the capers and chopped parsley then serve
tips for best results
This creamy chicken piccata is really easy to make, but we do have a few tips to ensure that it comes out tasting like it came right from a restaurant.
- Size of chicken breasts: Make sure to cut the breast in half horizontally if they are very thick. We like to pound the chicken out lightly to make sure that it’s even all the way through.
- Reduce the broth: Take the time to reduce the broth (you’ll want it at a good simmer, not boiling) for a full 5-7 minutes. This will reduce the liquid and concentrate the flavor.
- Use quality ingredients: Fresh lemon juice is really recommended for the best flavor. Also, don’t use “cooking wine” that you find at the grocery store. You can buy a very affordable wine for about 10 dollars to use for cooking. If you don’t want to drink the rest, save it for making another dish.
how to serve creamy chicken piccata
We like to serve this chicken dish over spaghetti or really any type of pasta so that we can toss it in the lemon-garlic cream sauce. Other options could include mashed or roasted potatoes and definitely a rice dish that will also help to soak up the sauce.
You’re getting the point here that we don’t want to leave any of this delicious creamy sauce behind??? And yes, throw in a crisp salad or a vegetable side dish and you’ve got a complete meal.
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Creamy Chicken Piccata
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeCreamy Chicken Piccata is a delicious and cozy twist on the classic recipe. Tender chicken in a garlic and lemon cream sauce that’s easy to make on weeknights yet special enough for a date night in!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup flour
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast (sliced in half horizontally if thick)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
Instructions
- Pound the chicken breasts lightly with a meat mallet so that the chicken breast has an even thickness. Add the flour to a shallow bowl. Coat the chicken in the flour on both sides, tapping off the excess.
- Once the chicken is all coated in the flour, add the butter and oil to a large (13-14 inch) skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken breasts for 4-5 minutes on each side until nicely browned. Remove the chicken from the skillet to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
- Add another swirl of oil if the pan is dry, then add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, being careful not to burn the garlic. Carefully pour in the wine to deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up the bottom of the skillet. Add the chicken broth, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Let the broth simmer and reduce for 5-7 minutes.
- Mix the cornstarch together with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water until the cornstarch is dissolved. Slowly pour the slurry into the broth while whisking. Bring the sauce back to a simmer and let thicken for 1 minute.
- Pour in the heavy cream, whisking to combine. Add the chicken breasts back into the skillet, coating with the sauce. Simmer for 7-8 minutes in the sauce until the chicken is cooked through.
- Add the capers and chopped parsley then serve. We like to serve the chicken over pasta with the sauce spooned over, or with roasted or mashed potatoes on the side.
Recipe Notes
Make sure to cut the chicken breasts in half horizontally if they are very large/thick. Lightly pounding the chicken to create an even thickness helps the chicken cook more evenly and results in a super tender chicken breast.
Take the time to reduce the chicken stock before adding the cornstarch slurry and cream. This will make the sauce more flavorful and result in the right thickness.
Store: Store the chicken and sauce in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The sauce will get very thick as it’s chilled, but it will loosen up again upon reheating. You can add a splash of chicken broth to help loosen the sauce again.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
