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Chicken Piccata Recipe that’s lighter aka “skinny” and so easy to make!Perfect on a busy weeknight but also fancy enough to make when you have company over!
TGIF!!!!Is that enough exclamation points for you? 😉
I think I may be a little excited that it’s finally Friday. Woot woot! Every week I think to myself, “Okay, this week is going to be busy but that’s okay because next week will be better.” Every week I think that, guys. Every freaking week! But every week is ALWAYS busy!!
Yesterday I got up really early, skipped my workout and got ready to go. Rushed my boys out the door and carried a ton of food into my 6 year old’s elementary school for a parent meeting that I had to set up (never get stuck in a PTA job you hate, by the way. Take it from me). I carefully cut and placed fruit on a plate and cut pastries and bagels and set out neatly on a pretty plate. Everything looked perfect!
I won’t lie, my friends. I was pissed! All that work (and my own money spent on food because like two moms signed up to help bring food) and it was literally a shortened meeting with only four people who barely touched my beautiful plates of food. UGH!
Needless to say, the meeting put a little kink in my morning. But that’s okay. Because I made the best dinner EVER. Have you ever made Chicken Piccata before? It sounds super fancy, right?
But guess what? It’s reallyeasy to make! It’s so simple, you can make it on a busy weeknight but also fancy enough to make when you have company over. And it’s a skinny version, which makes it even better!
Chances are if you like Italian food, you’ve either had or heard of a Chicken Piccata recipe. Sometimes I tend to stay away from fancy sounding meals because I think they’re going to be difficult to make. LikeChicken CacciatoreorChili Rellenos. Sounds intimidating, right? But names can be deceiving!
Piccata is actually a method of preparing food. Basically meat is sliced (or pounded), coated, sautéed and served in a sauce. Veal piccata originated in Italy and when the Americans picked up on the dish, chickenwas used in place of the veal and thus the chicken piccata recipe was born.?
This is such an easy dinner. In fact, I’ve made it twice this week and my family devoured it! I made it one weeknight for a fancier meal for my husband and I and then during the week I made a bigger portion for my whole family. It’s made in one pan and is bursting with lemony, buttery, creamy flavor. So much flavor in every bite of tender chicken!
This "Skinny" Chicken Piccata is easy enough to make on a busy weeknight but also fancy enough to make when you have company over!
Pound chicken cutlets and season with salt and pepper. Roll in flour and shake off excess.
Heat oil in pan. Brown chicken on both sides over medium heat. Remove to a plate when brown, set aside.
Pull pan off the heat and add in minced garlic. Stir. Don't burn the garlic!
When fragrant, add chicken broth and place pan back on heat. Scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Heat to a light boil and let sauce cook until reduced a bit.
Add lemon juice and capers. Simmer again until sauce is reduced some and slightly thickened.
Add butter and melt. Add chicken and any liquid on plate. Simmer together over a medium-low heat until sauce is to thickness desired. Pull off heat. Lightly stir in yogurt (can also skip this step and eat without adding yogurt).
Serve chicken alone or with angel hair pasta (I used the whole wheat kind) with some lemon slices on the side and parsley sprinkled over the top. Enjoy!
Most chicken piccata sauces are made with a combination of white wine, butter, and lemon juice, but I have a pathological fear of cooking anything without adding heavy cream! So this one has some heavy cream to thicken it up, and some chicken broth to thin it out. It's light and zesty but still decadent.
I also found the whole lemon slices included in many traditional recipes left my sauce with a bitter aftertaste from the lemon's pith. To avoid this, but maintain the acidic brightness this dish depends on, I added a bit of white wine to the sauce instead of lemon slices.
How many calories are in Chicken Piccata? Typical chicken piccata dishes have around 500-600 calories. This lightened up version has just 290 calories. The main difference the calories and fat are lower is that there is significantly less butter and oil used.
Chicken piccata has capers. So for you caper haters out there, the Francaise version is for you. Chicken Francaise is dredged in flour and egg, whereas chicken piccata is dredged only in flour, so the Francaise has a bit more (delightfully) substantial coating.
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.
Lime juice wins the spot for best overall substitute for lemon juice because of its similar taste (just a little sweeter) and acidity level. You can use it in both savory and sweet dishes, as well as co*cktails.
Consider pairing it with side dishes like roasted asparagus, sautéed cauliflower and mushrooms, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, sautéed spinach or roasted Brussels sprouts, lemon garlic herb rice, and garlic butter bread. For a more satisfying dining experience, consider pairing it with white or light red wines.
Chicken piccata by Whitsons CUlinary Group contains 3 g of saturated fat and 101 mg of cholesterol per serving. 298 g of Chicken piccata by Whitsons CUlinary Group contains 11.9 mg vitamin C as well as 1.07 mg of iron, 38.74 mg of calcium.
(Learn all about capers here.) One of the most famous chicken recipes with roots in Italy, chicken piccata is especially associated with the city of Milan, which is why it's sometimes called piccata milanese or chicken milanese.
Piccata refers to a sauce (made with lemon, capers, broth, and butter) that's often partnered with chicken, while scallopini refers to the method for preparing the chicken. Chicken scallopini can be finished with piccata sauce, or another sauce.
What's the Difference Between Scallopini and Piccata? Scallopini is the name for a thin slice of meat, usually chicken or veal. When dredged in flour and pan-fried, it is called scaloppine. One type of scallopini dish is piccata, which includes a pan sauce of lemon, capers, white wine or sherry, and butter.
Chicken Piccata – An Italian dish where chicken is sautéed in lemon, butter and capers. It's lighter than chicken parmigiana. Order with a tomato-based pasta dish. Chicken Shawarma – A Mediterranean dish in which chicken is grilled on a rotating spit.
Scaloppine dishes are some of the most quintessential everyday secondi piatti in the Italian repertoire. Thin slices of meat are lightly floured then quickly sautéed in a skillet, which is deglazed with wine to form a quick and tasty sauce.
Broth. Chicken or vegetable broth can be a flavorful replacement for white wine. You can even swap it in equal amounts (go for low-sodium broth so your dish doesn't end up too salty). Just keep in mind that broth won't add any acidity, so you might want to add a touch of white vinegar to achieve a similar tang.
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.
Introduction: My name is Neely Ledner, I am a bright, determined, beautiful, adventurous, adventurous, spotless, calm person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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