Chicken Piccata
I get asked all the time to choose my favorite restaurant in LA. Well...that is a hard question. To be honest we haven't tried too many so I am not ready to officially nominate a favorite restaurant, but if I had to stay one of my favorite ones so far, it would be John and Vinny's. Mostly because they serve this amazing chicken cutlet for lunch which is out of this world delicious. It literally is just a chicken cutlet, deep fried, served with a lemony salad dressing - so basically it is fried chicken.
Since I live a long way awhile from John and Vinny’s (and LA traffic is no joke) here is my version. And it is perfect for weeknight cooking! I turned it into a piccata of sorts with a yummy lemony butter sauce but feel free to skip that part and just serve the tasty pan fried chicken breast with a big ol' salad.
Couple notes on the recipe.
First off this recipe is super adaptable to food restrictions. If you are GF use GF breadcrumbs instead of the panko. If you are paleo, use almond flour instead of the panko. (If I want a lighter version I will use the almond flour - I love it and you barely miss the panko.)
Depending on the size of your chicken breast this meal can serve 2 to 4. Given how ginormous chicken breasts are these days, you can easily serve 4 people with this recipe. If you do want to serve four people, consider doubling the pan sauce.
Lastly, if capers are not your thing, feel free to skip or swap out with thinly sliced green olives.
Enjoy!
Chicken Piccata
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup corn starch
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 1/2 panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp. ground thyme
- 4 to 6 Tbs. olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, diced
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/2 lemon thinly sliced
- 1 Tbs. capers
- 1 Tbs. butter
Serve with arugula or green salad of your choice.
Add 1 chicken breast to a sheet of parchment or wax paper. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with another sheet of parchment paper. Using a roling pin or meat tenderizer, gently pound the meat until 1/2 " thick. Repeat with remaining chicken breast.
Add corn starch to a medium sized shallow bowl, set aside. Add eggs to a medium sized shallow bowl, set aside. Add panko, thyme and big pinch of salt and pepper to a medium shallow bowl, mix well and set aside.
Heat 2 Tbs. olive oil in a large saute pan or cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
While oil is heating, dip the chicken breast, one at a time into the corn starch, then egg mixture then panko mixture. Place the coated chicken breast in the pre-heated pan and cook 2 to 3 minutes per side or until golden brown and chicken is cooked through. Set chicken breast aside and keep warm.
Repeat with remaining chicken breast, adding more oil to the pan if necessary.
Carefully clean out pan with a paper towel (this step is optional but sometimes the panko burns when you are cooking the chicken). Add remaining oil to the pan. Add garlic and shallots and cook for about 1 minutes or until shallot is translucent. Deglaze the pan with white wine. Add lemon slices and cook pan sauce for about 1 to 2 minutes or until reduced by half. Add the capers, big pinch of salt and butter and cook until butter is melted. Remove from heat.
Serve the chicken breast topped with lemon pan sauce and arugula.
Serves 2 to 4 (depending on the size of your chicken breasts. If you are serving 4 you may want to double the pan sauce recipe, just sayin')