Chicken Piccata Done Right - Cooks Illustrated

Published January 1, 2001.

For brightly flavored, fresh-tasting chicken piccata, use a whopping quarter cup of lemon juice, and don't use flour to thicken the sauce.

The Problem

Many recipes for chicken piccata are either bland or overcomplicated, with extra ingredients that ruin the dish's simplicity. Many recipes contain just a tablespoon of lemon juice and a teaspoon of capers, neither of which provides much flavor.

The Goal

Piccata is one of those appealing Italian recipes that tastes complex but is actually easy to prepare. Our goal was properly cooked chicken with a streamlined sauce that really tastes of lemons and capers.

The Solution

Skip the pounding and instead slice the cutlets in half horizontally. Rather than bread the cutlets simply dredge with seasoned flour. For the best lemon flavor, simmer thin slices of lemon in the sauce and also use a full 1/4 cup of lemon juice, added at the end of cooking to keep it tasting fresh. Use plenty of capers—2 tablespoons—and add them when the sauce is nearly done so they retain their flavor and structural integrity. Finish the sauce with fresh parsley and a swirl of butter.

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