Quick Chicken Piccata Pasta (Printable)

Tender chicken with lemon-caper sauce tossed with pasta for a bright, tangy, and quick meal.

# Components:

→ Chicken

01 - 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
02 - ½ teaspoon salt
03 - ¼ teaspoon black pepper
04 - ½ cup all-purpose flour
05 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
06 - 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

→ Sauce

07 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
08 - ½ cup dry white wine or chicken broth
09 - ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
10 - ¼ cup capers, drained and rinsed
11 - ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
12 - 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
13 - 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped

→ Pasta

14 - 12 ounces spaghetti or linguine
15 - Salt, for pasta water

→ Garnish (optional)

16 - Lemon slices
17 - Extra chopped parsley

# Directions:

01 - Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti or linguine until al dente according to package instructions. Drain and reserve ½ cup of pasta water.
02 - Slice each chicken breast horizontally to create 4 thin cutlets. Season both sides with salt and pepper, then dredge lightly in flour, shaking off excess.
03 - Heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken cutlets 3–4 minutes per side until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil.
04 - In the same skillet, sauté garlic for 30 seconds. Deglaze with white wine, scraping up browned bits. Add lemon juice, capers, and chicken broth, then simmer 2–3 minutes until slightly reduced.
05 - Reduce heat and whisk in 2 tablespoons butter until sauce is glossy. Return chicken to skillet, spoon sauce over cutlets, then add pasta and toss gently to coat, adding reserved pasta water if needed.
06 - Plate pasta with chicken on top. Spoon extra sauce over and garnish with parsley and lemon slices.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It feels like you've spent all day cooking when you've really only spent thirty minutes.
  • The sauce is tangy and rich at once, with those salty capers adding a surprising pop.
  • It's the kind of dish that makes people ask for the recipe, then seem shocked you didn't have to start with a roux.
02 -
  • Don't skip deglazing the pan after you remove the chicken; those stuck-on bits are pure flavor and worth the thirty seconds it takes to scrape them up.
  • If your sauce looks split or greasy instead of glossy, you likely added the butter too fast or the heat was too high; reduce the heat and whisk slowly and it will come back together.
03 -
  • The pasta water is your friend; that starchy liquid is what helps the sauce cling instead of pooling, so don't waste it down the drain.
  • If you're cooking for more than four people, make the recipe twice rather than doubling it, because crowding the pan means the chicken steams instead of searing.
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