A Healthy Chicken Piccata that is so easy to make! Done in under an hour, this chicken piccata is lemony and delicious!
Healthy chicken piccata is our quick and easy recipe for a lightened up version a classic Italian dinner.
With lean protein from chicken breasts and a creamy lemon piccata sauce with salty capers, this meal is a family favorite!
I love this because it tastes just like a restaurant dish, but it’s so much lower in calories, carbs, and fat!
It’s one of our favorite things to make on a Friday night for a date night in!
If you are looking for more Italian dishes, try our Italian Wedding Soup, Chicken Scarpariello, Chicken Cacciatore, Ricotta Cavatelli, Pasta Fagioli, and of course Chicken Marsala.
why we love our healthy chicken piccata recipe
- The perfect 30-minute dinner recipe for busy families. From start to finish, our recipe will only take you 35 minutes to make!
- Nutritious and filling! One serving delivers a whopping 39 grams of protein, and it’s a heart-healthy and low-fat chicken dish. Best of all, there are just 313 calories per serving!.
- Packed with authentic Italian flavors, but it’s still a light meal.
ingredients in our chicken piccata recipe
For this lemon piccata you’ll need:
- chicken breasts – Choose chicken breasts hat are small and light pink in color. These will be the most tender. Avoid buying any that are very large and/or pale in color. Also, avoid chicken breasts with a wood grain appearance – they will be tough and rubbery.
- all purpose flour – We use all-purpose flour to keep things simple, but there are a couple of healthier options. They are listed below, in the ingredient substitutions section.
- salt, pepper
- olive oil is the perfect
- shallot, garlic
- white wine
- chicken broth – you can make your own, or look for a low or no salt
- capers
- lemon
SUBSTITUTIONS
Olive Oil: Our favorite substitutes for olive oil in Italian dishes are avocado oil, ghee or butter.
Chicken Breasts: You can substitute with boneless chicken thighs. Choose chicken breasts that are small and pink in color. These will be the most tender. Avoid chicken breasts that are very large, and pale in color with a wood grain appearance, these will be tough and rubbery.
All Purpose Flour: All purpose flour can be substituted with white whole wheat, whole wheat flour or 1:1 gluten free flour. All purpose flour will have the best flavor for this dish. You can omit the flour completely, but your sauce will not thicken. If you omit flour, use only ½ cup broth. (We really don’t recommend skipping flour!)
Shallot: ¼ cup finely minced yellow onion can be substituted for the shallot.
Broth: Broth and stock are the same thing! You can use any broth or stock interchangeably. Beef Broth, Chicken Broth, or vegetable broth all work interchangeably. We recommend always using low or no salt broth. (You can always add more salt to taste, but you can’t take it away!)
Capers: are salty, be sure to taste the sauce before seasoning with salt.
For an extra rich sauce: Add a tablespoon of butter to the pan before sautéing the shallot and garlic instead of olive oil.
Dry White Wine: Sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay or Riesling work well in this recipe but any white wine will work! If you want to make lemon chicken piccata without alcohol, you can substitute the wine with an equal amount of chicken or vegetable broth
How to make Chicken Piccata
- Slice the chicken breast in half horizontally to create two filets. (You can pound with a meat mallet to make more tender!)
- Lightly dredge the chicken in the flour, tapping off excess.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add olive oil. Sauté the chicken on the first side until golden brown, about 3 minute. Flip, adding more oil if needed, about 2 minutes. Remove chicken.
- Add another drizzle of oil, along with the shallots and garlic. Saute for 1-2 minutes. Add reserved flour, and cook for about 2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with wine, scraping up any brown bits.
- Add the broth, capers, lemon juice, and zest, whisk vigorously, and bring to a simmer.
- Add the chicken, baste the filets with the sauce, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened slightly about 2 minutes.
healthy side dishes for chicken piccata
Most of our healthy chicken recipes pair well with any type of steamed or roasted veggie, or a garden salad. Our favorite healthy sides for piccata are honey roasted carrots and Brussel sprouts with Parmesan. (We also love these Sauteed Green Beans and Parmesan Crusted Zucchini!)
When it comes to healthy starches, we think that the lemon piccata sauce tastes fantastic over any whole grain pasta or brown rice. You could even serve it with another Italian dish, like lemon basil risotto.
Liz’s Tips
- For even cooking, be sure the breasts are the same thickness throughout.
If necessary, cover each breast with plastic wrap and use a rolling pin or the flat side of a meat mallet to gently pound them down so they have an even thickness. - Avoid crowding the pan.
Crowding pieces promotes steaming instead of searing. Leave at least 1 inch of space between each filet, and work in batches if needed. - Taste as you cook.
It’s important to taste the lemon sauce to prevent it from becoming too salty. Capers are salty, so you may not even need to use additional salt.
storing and reheating leftovers
Storing: After cooking, your chicken piccata with lemon sauce will last in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Just be sure to store it in an airtight container.
Reheating: Place the leftover lemon piccata in a cold skillet, add a few tablespoons of broth or water, and cook over medium low heat.
Pro Tips: To prevent the chicken from drying out, keep a lid on the skillet. Also, use an instant-read cooking thermometer to check for doneness. Leftover poultry should always be reheated to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Other healthy dinner recipes:
Looking for other easy meals? Check out these 40+ Healthy Dinner Recipes. Click here to grab our free healthy 30 minute dinners cookbook.
Healthy Chicken Piccata
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts 4 small chicken breasts
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup all purpose flour divided *see notes for substitutions
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ cup finely minced shallot 2-3 large shallots
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic minced
- ¼ cup dry white wine optional
- ¾ cup low sodium chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons capers chopped if desired
- 1 large lemon zested, then juiced
For serving
- Cooked orzo, angel hair pasta or cauliflower rice
- Minced fresh parsley for garnish
- Lemon slices
Instructions
- Trim chicken breast of excess fat. Slice the chicken breast in half horizontally to create two filets, or pound chicken breast between two sheets of plastic wrap until ¼” thick. Season with salt and pepper.
- Place all but 1 tablespoon of flour in a shallow dish or disposable plastic bag. Lightly dredge the chicken in the flour, tapping off excess. Discard leftover flour.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Once heated, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan, about 2 tablespoons.
- Working in batches so the pan is not crowded, sauté the chicken on the first side until golden brown, about 3 minute. Flip and sauté the other side, adding more oil if needed, about 2 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate. Repeat with remaining chicken.
- Lower heat to medium. If the pan is dry, add another drizzle of oil, along with the shallots and garlic. Saute for 1-2 minutes, until shallot is translucent. Add reserved 1 TBSP flour, cook about 2 minutes.
- Add the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up any brown bits with a wooden spoon. Add the chicken broth, capers, lemon juice, and zest, whisk vigorously, bring to a simmer.
- Add the chicken, basting the filets with the sauce, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened slightly, about 2 minutes.
- Add in another splash of broth if the sauce gets too thick. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning with salt & pepper. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley and lemon wedges.
Notes
- Healthy substitutes for all-purpose flour in this recipe include whole wheat flour and finely ground almond flour. If using almond flour, keep in mind that because it contains more moisture than all-purpose flour, you may need to use 1-2 Tablespoons more to help thicken the lemon piccata sauce.
- Avoid crowding the pan – make sure you leave a bit of space between each piece of chicken
- Pound your chicken breasts to get them extra tender!
Margaret Byl says
One of my favorite waystoeat chickens! So easy, fast & tasty. Definitely a keeper.