Giada Chicken Piccata Recipe (30-Minute Dinner)

Name: Lemon Caper Chicken Piccata (Giada's Recipe)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 Chicken Breasts (skinless, boneless); ½ Cup Flour, All Purpose; ¼ Cup capers; ½ Cup Chicken Stock (low sodium); 2 Tablespoon Olive Oil; 4 Tablespoon Butter (divided); ½ Teaspoon Salt; ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper; 2 Tablespoon Lemon Juice (fresh); 3 Tablespoon Chopped parsley

Chicken piccata is a bright, lemony pan sauce dish that comes together in under 30 minutes; this is my take on Giada De Laurentiis's version, which I've been making and teaching for years. Her method is sound and the technique is classic; what I'm adding here is the why behind each step so you can nail it on the first try.

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Chicken Piccata {Giada Recipe} on a plate with a gold colored fork cutting a cutlet.

Serve with pasta, spaghetti, sautéed veggies, or mashed potatoes, and enjoy a simple homemade dinner with your friends and family. Wouldn't marinated mozzarella balls pair so beautifully with this recipe?

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Sarah's Culinary Insight

The butter and oil combination is intentional; butter alone burns at high heat, oil alone doesn't give you the flavor. Together they give you a golden sear without scorching.
Do not skip deglazing. Those browned bits stuck to the pan after the chicken comes out are where most of the flavor lives. The stock lifts them; the lemon brightens them
When you whisk in the final butter, work quickly and keep the heat on medium-low. Too hot and the sauce breaks; too cold and the butter pools instead of emulsifying into a silky finish.
Reduce the sauce to half before adding that final butter. If you rush it, the sauce will be thin and watery instead of glossy and coating.
Capers are salty! Taste your sauce before adding any extra salt.

Ingredients needed:

Chicken piccata has a short ingredient list; every one of them is doing specific work in the dish.

ingredients for giadas chicken piccata, flour, chicken breast, capers, olive oil, lemon juice, etc. in bowls with text overlay describing.

Recipe Card?

To find the full printable recipe with specific measurements and directions CLICK HERE to go to the recipe card.

Loved it! Did add some artichoke hearts. Will make this again. Thanks. ★★★★★ Sara

The chicken tasted fabulous! Would not change anything in the recipe. Thank you!

- ★★★★★ H. Tsai

Thank you so much for this recipe!! It was the best chicken piccata I've ever had either at home or out at a restaurant. The lemon was not overpowering, and the ingredients were spot on to make a fabulous meal. I served it with mashed potatoes and green beans

- ★★★★★ Janet T.

Make Chicken Piccata Like Giada

Butterfly and pound the chicken.

Cut each breast in half horizontally so you have two thin cutlets per breast. They should be around ¼ inch thick. Thin and even is the goal; thick spots take longer to cook and the edges dry out before the center is done.

Four raw, thinly pounded pieces of meat, prepared for Chicken Piccata, are coated in flour and arranged side by side on a metal baking tray.

Season and dredge.

Season both sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then press each cutlet into flour until well coated on all sides. Shake off the excess; you want a thin, even coating, not a thick crust.

Heat the pan.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and melt 2 tablespoons of butter with the olive oil. Watch for the foam on the butter to subside; that's your signal the pan is ready. If the butter browns immediately, your heat is too high, start again.

Two floured beef steaks frying in bubbling butter in a stainless steel pan, reminiscent of the technique used in Chicken Piccata, viewed from above.

Sear the chicken.

Add the cutlets without crowding the pan; if they're touching, they'll steam instead of sear. Cook 3 to 4 minutes per side until light golden brown. You're not cooking them through entirely here; they'll finish in the sauce.

Four cooked, breaded fish fillets are arranged on a white plate with a blue floral pattern.

Remove chicken to a plate.

A metal pan filled with creamy Chicken Piccata sauce and capers sits on a cooling rack over a white textured surface.

Build the sauce.

In the same pan, add chicken stock, lemon juice, and capers. As the liquid hits the pan, use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up every browned bit from the bottom. Those bits are flavor; don't leave them behind. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let it cook until reduced by half; about 3 to 4 minutes.

A stainless steel pan on a cooling rack contains a rich brown Chicken Piccata sauce with capers and a dollop of butter in the center.

Add Butter.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and whisk constantly until it's fully incorporated and the sauce looks glossy and slightly thickened. This technique is called mounting butter; it creates an emulsion that gives the sauce its silky texture. Stop whisking too soon and the butter will separate into greasy pools.

Chicken Piccata {Giada Recipe} on a white plate with a light pink charger under the plate.

Plate and serve.

Return the chicken to the pan for 1 to 2 minutes to warm through, or plate the cutlets and spoon the sauce generously over the top. Finish with chopped fresh parsley.

Now that you have mastered this technique, you can apply it to smothered chicken with a pan gravy. Same method, similar ingredients.

Did you make this recipe?

Do you have feedback that would be helpful to others? If so can help this small business owner by leaving a rating and a review in the comments section? Thank you for being part of the Savoring The Good Community. ~ Sarah

Substitutions

Lemon juice: Fresh is worth it here. Bottled lemon juice is more acidic and less bright; the sauce will taste sharp instead of clean. If you're out of fresh lemons, you can use bottled in a pinch, but reduce the amount by about a third and taste as you go.
Capers: Green olives, finely chopped, work as a substitute. You gain a similar briny hit but lose the distinctive pop of a caper. I've made it both ways; the olive version is good, the caper version is classic.
Chicken stock: White wine is Giada's original and it's excellent; it adds acidity and depth. I use chicken stock in this version because it's what most home cooks have open. If you use wine, go with something dry that you'd actually drink; cooking wine is not worth it.
Chicken breasts: Chicken thighs work but they need longer to cook and the texture is different; denser, more forgiving. The sauce pairs well with both. Thin-cut pork chops also work beautifully with this exact sauce. I have a pork tenderloin piccata you might like to try too.

Storage Tips

Leftovers keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Store the chicken and sauce together in an airtight container; the sauce keeps the chicken from drying out.

To reheat: warm in a covered skillet over medium-low heat with a splash of chicken stock to loosen the sauce. Do not microwave; the sauce will break and the chicken coating gets rubbery.
Freeze: I don't recommend freezing this one. The lemon butter sauce does not hold up after freezing and thawing; it separates and the texture suffers significantly.

Make-Ahead

This one is best fresh, but you can get ahead of the work without sacrificing quality.

Butterfly and dredge the chicken up to 4 hours ahead; place the coated cutlets on a rack over a sheet pan and refrigerate uncovered. The flour coating will set and the sear will be better for it.
Make the sauce ahead and refrigerate separately for up to 2 days.
Sear the chicken to order (takes 8 minutes), reheat the sauce in the same pan, mount the butter fresh, and plate.

BIG NOTE: Do not assemble and reheat the finished dish; the flour coating on the chicken will turn soft and the sauce will lose its emulsion.

Frequently asked questions, answers and tips:

While I try to share all the information you need to make this recipe in your home with restaurant-quality results, there still may be a question or two. Or these are questions I have received from the community about this recipe. I do my best to answer them as clearly as I can. I hope this helps.

Why did my sauce break and turn greasy?

Two likely reasons: the heat was too high when you added the final butter, or you stopped whisking too soon. Mounting butter requires constant motion and a controlled temperature. If it breaks, remove the pan from heat, add a tablespoon of cold water, and whisk vigorously; it sometimes comes back together.

Can I use chicken thighs instead of breasts?

Yes, but pound them thinner and add 2 to 3 minutes per side. The sauce works beautifully with thighs; the texture is just denser and more forgiving if you overcook slightly.

My chicken coating fell off in the pan. What happened?

The pan wasn't hot enough before the chicken went in, or the chicken was wet before dredging. Pat the cutlets completely dry before seasoning, and wait for the butter foam to subside before adding the chicken.

Can I make this dairy-free?

The butter is structural here, not just flavoring; it's what creates the emulsion. You can use a plant-based butter, but the sauce will be thinner and less glossy. It will still taste good, just different. If you are looking for a vegan and dairy free piccata, I will highly recommend Make It Dairy Free's Cauliflower Piccata!

How do I know when the sauce has reduced enough?

Run a spoon through it; the line should hold for a second before the sauce flows back in. It should look slightly syrupy, not watery. Thin sauce means it needs more time; don't rush it.

I am Sarah Mock. Welcome!

Sarah Mock is a classically trained Chef and a graduate of Johnson & Wales University. A culinary blogger for 17 years, Sarah helps the home cook prepare her recipes with professional results.

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