Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata - The Recipe Critic (2024)

FAQs

What does Giada chicken piccata serve? ›

Chicken piccata can be served with an array of side dishes. Popular choices include buttery mashed potatoes, angel hair pasta or crisp salad with Italian vinaigrette.

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.

The difference between the two is for Francese, the chicken breast is first dipped in flour, then into a beaten egg mixture, before being cooked. For piccata, the chicken is first dipped in egg and then in flour. Both are then simmered in a lemony butter sauce, but the piccata sauce includes capers.”

What Is Chicken Piccata? Chicken piccata is nothing more than chicken breast cutlets, dredged in flour, browned, and served with a sauce of butter, lemon juice, capers, and either stock or white wine.

For the sauce, use a dry Italian white wine such as Pinot Grigio or Vermentino and have it ready to pour into the pan the minute the garlic turns golden so that nothing burns.

In Italian cuisine piccata is prepared using veal (piccata di vitello al limone, lit. 'veal piccata with lemon'), whereas in Italian-American cuisine, chicken is more commonly used. A similar dish, pesce spada con capperi e limone, is made with swordfish.

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.

Chicken piccata as we know it doesn't actually seem to have origins in Italy. It's likely an Italian-American invention, a derivative of a couple of different classic Italian cooking techniques, like scaloppine which means “thin slices of meat (such as veal) sautéed or coated with flour and fried”.

The best thing to reach for is a dash of quality white wine vinegar mixed with chicken or vegetable stock. The rule of thumb is 1 tablespoon of vinegar per 1 cup of stock. For this chicken piccata, that would be 1/2 cup stock mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar.

How to cut chicken for chicken piccata? ›

Use sharp knife to slice into one side of breast, starting at thicker end and ending at thin point. Be careful not to cut all the way through to other side. Open breast so it looks like a butterfly. Cover breast with plastic wrap and pound with meat pounder or rolling pin to create even thickness.

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.

Giada De Laurentiis' Lemon Spaghetti is a dish that encapsulates summer freshness. It's light, zesty, and offers a refreshing alternative to heavier pasta dishes. Whether you're a seasoned chef or just getting started in the kitchen, this dish is sure to impress.

I love this dish served with bread, but you can also serve it over rice or pasta, or with creamy mashed potatoes. Whatever you do, I highly recommend serving this alongside something to sop up all of that incredible Tuscan sauce—let's be honest, it's the real star of the show here.