Giada chicken piccata from Giada De Laurentiis sears flour-dredged chicken breasts and finishes them in a lemon caper butter sauce. And the whole dish serves 4 at approximately 420 calories per serving in about 20 minutes, since the pan sauce comes together while the chicken rests.
Most piccata recipes simmer the chicken in the sauce for a long stretch, but Giada pulls it out after browning and builds the sauce separately. So the browned bits deglaze cleanly into the broth, and the chicken goes back in only long enough to cook through without getting tough.
Scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan when the broth hits is where all the flavor lives. And if you skip that step, the fond stays stuck to the metal and the sauce tastes like plain lemon water instead of a rich, savory base.
Source: Giada De Laurentiis (Giadzy.com)
Giada Chicken Piccata
Course: Chicken, DinnerCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings5
minutes15
minutes420
kcalHalved chicken breasts get a light flour coat before searing in butter and olive oil until golden on both sides. Then chicken broth, fresh lemon juice, and drained capers deglaze the pan, and a final whisk of butter rounds the sauce into something silky.
Ingredients
- For the chicken:
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, halved crosswise
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
- For the sauce:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)
1/4 cup drained capers, rinsed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Directions
- Season the chicken: Sprinkle the halved breasts with sea salt and black pepper on both sides.
- Dredge in flour: Then coat each piece lightly in flour, shaking off the excess.
- Heat the pan: Once dredged, melt 2 tablespoons butter with the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.
- Sear the chicken: When the fat is hot, add the chicken and cook about 3 minutes per side until golden brown.
- Transfer to a plate: Then use tongs to move the browned chicken to a plate and set it aside.
- Deglaze the pan: Once the chicken is out, add the broth, lemon juice, and capers to the same pan.
- Build the sauce: Then bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat while scraping up the brown bits from the bottom.
- Simmer the chicken: Once boiling, return the chicken to the pan and simmer about 5 minutes until just cooked through.
- Remove the chicken: Then transfer the finished chicken to a platter with tongs.
- Finish the sauce: Once the chicken is plated, whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons butter into the sauce until smooth.
- Pour and serve: Then pour the sauce over the chicken, garnish with parsley, and serve.
FAQs
Why does the recipe halve the breasts crosswise?
Cutting each breast in half crosswise creates thinner, more even pieces that sear quickly at 3 minutes per side. And thick whole breasts take longer to cook through, so the flour coating burns before the center reaches a safe temperature.
If your breasts are very thick, you can also pound them to an even half-inch after halving. Since thinner pieces cook faster, you get a more consistent sear without the risk of a raw center.
Can I use salted butter instead of unsalted?
The recipe splits 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter between searing and finishing, and the capers already bring a salty punch to the sauce. So salted butter on top of that may push the dish too far, especially with the half teaspoon of sea salt on the chicken.
But if salted is all you have, skip the sea salt on the chicken and taste the sauce before the final butter whisk. Since you can always add salt at the end, starting lower gives you more control over the finished flavor.
What should I serve with chicken piccata?
Angel hair pasta or orzo catches the lemon caper sauce well, since the thin noodles soak up every drop on the plate. And a side of sautéed spinach or roasted asparagus adds color without competing with the bright, acidic sauce.
For a full Italian spread, start the meal with something like the giada cioppino as a first course and follow with the piccata as the main. But if you want a lighter pairing, a simple arugula salad with shaved parmesan balances the buttery sauce.
Can I make this ahead and reheat it?
The chicken reheats well in the sauce over low heat for about 5 minutes, and storing them together in an airtight container keeps the meat moist. But the flour coating softens overnight, so the golden crust you built during searing will not survive storage.
And make the sauce fresh if you can, because the lemon juice loses its brightness after a day in the fridge. Since the active cook time is only 15 minutes, making it from scratch each time is faster than most reheating methods anyway.
What can I substitute for capers?
Chopped green olives bring a similar briny punch and hold up well in the hot sauce without falling apart. And since olives are larger, dice them to roughly the same size as capers so they distribute evenly across the chicken.
But nothing replaces the exact pop of a caper, so if you enjoy this dish, pick up a jar to keep in the pantry. And that same jar works in the lemon-forward dressing on the giada chia seed pudding topping if you want a savory spin, or save it for any Giada recipe that calls for a salty, acidic bite.
