This easy Chicken Piccata Recipe is WW friendly, unbelievably delicious, and way simpler to make than I even expected.
And because this is one of my new WW recipes for dinner that only has 4 SmartPoints {Purple & Blue Plans} & 5 WW Points {Green Plan}, it makes me super happy to keep in my recipe binder.
Now that I know how awesome this simple recipe is, it will be a regular on my list of dinners to make, along with my WW Crockpot Buffalo Chicken & Rice, my WW Shredded Chicken Tacos, & my Zero Point White Chicken Chili.
Easy Chicken Piccata Recipe Without Flour – 4 WW SmartPoints
So, our recipe is very close to the traditional Chicken Piccata recipe except that we’ve substituted bread crumbs for white flour.
In addition, we’ve reduced the amount of fats used in the classic version.
Making these small, truly unnoticeable changes can make a huge difference in your overall WW SmartPoints.
What is the difference between chicken francese and chicken piccata?
Naturally, because I recently discovered through Ancestry that I’m 1/4 Italian, I’m working on getting more in touch with my Italian heritage.
So, for Christmas I got a few Italian cookbooks!
They’re awesome because they’re showing me a whole new perspective on cooking Italian meals.
Anyway, while I was flipping through my The Sopranos Family Cookbook I found a recipe for Chicken Francese and it looked almost identical to Chicken Piccata.
Clearly, I needed to know what the differences were.
Well, it’s not that exciting but for the Chicken Francese, you dip the chicken into the flour first and then the egg.
Whereas, with Chicken Piccata, you dip the chicken into the egg first and then the flour (or bread crumbs in this case).
Also, and what is super important with Chicken Piccata, is the additional key ingredient of capers!
Needless to say, the capers make this dish!
Chicken Piccata Recipe Ingredients
The ingredients in our Chicken Piccata recipe are very straightforward and easy to find:
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
- Whole Lemon for fresh lemon juice
- Chicken Broth or Boullion
- Regular Butter or Light Butter
- Egg Whites
- Olive Oil
- White Wine (dry)
- Bread Crumbs
- Fresh parsley
- Capers
- Salt
- Black Pepper
Steps for Making Chicken Piccata
So now I’m going to take you through the easy steps for making Chicken Piccata.
Step 1: Cut Breasts in half and pound To a 1/4 inch thickness
You’ll need one of those kitchen mallets and some parchment paper.
When I made this recipe, I didn’t cut each chicken breast in half, which would make it a cutlet.
However, I wish that I had because it would have been easier to pound the cutlets into 1/4 inch thickness.
To pound the chicken flat, just place one piece of chicken on top of a sheet of parchment paper, fold the parchment paper over the chicken breast, and then pound it.
This is great for getting your frustrations out while making a delicious meal all at the same time!
Step 2: Place beaten egg whites in a long shallow bowl & bread crumbs on a dinner plate
After pounding your chicken cutlets to the desired thickness (the thinner the better), sprinkle salt & pepper on both sides of each cutlet and set aside.
Then beat your egg whites in a long shallow bowl and spread out your bread crumbs onto a dinner plate.
Line everything up in the order you’ll be dipping the chicken:
- First the chicken
- Then the beaten egg whites
- After that, the bread crumbs
Dip each cutlet into the beaten egg whites on both sides.
Then do the same in the bread crumbs and add each cutlet to the heated skillet with olive oil added to it.
Step 3: Cook each chicken cutlet approximately 3 minutes per side
This is where the pounding of the chicken into thin slices (1/4 inch thickness) comes in really handy.
Since you want to cook the chicken breasts approximately 3 minutes per side (any more than that and the outside of the chicken will burn), the thickness of the chicken needs to be thin enough to cook through.
Each side of your chicken breasts should be a nice golden brown color.
Also, side note, I totally need a larger saute pan!
The pictured frying pan is 10″, so I had to cook the chicken in batches of 2 breasts (4 cutlets) at a time.
I more than doubled the recipe by using 5 chicken breasts, so it took me 3 times as long as it would have if I had a larger saute pan.
Step 4: Set Aside Cooked Chicken & Prepare Piccata Sauce
This part is super easy.
Just combine the piccata sauce ingredients and boil on the stove until it is reduced in half.
This should take around 2-3 minutes.
What is Piccata Sauce Made of?
I’ve always wondered how to make chicken piccata sauce.
I knew this delicious sauce had lemon and capers in it, but didn’t know the other ingredients.
Here is how to make piccata sauce:
- The juice of an entire lemon with the slices reserved
- Dry White Wine
- Chicken Broth
- Capers
Combine broth, lemon juice, wine and capers and blend well.
Yup! That’s it!
Once the sauce is ready, just drizzle equal amounts on top of each of your cutlets of chicken add some fresh parsley & lemon slices.
I’ve seen pictures of other chicken piccata recipes where there’s a lot more sauce on top of the chicken.
And because I doubled the chicken, but not the sauce, that’s why my pictures don’t look like there’s much sauce.
So if your preference is to include more sauce, make sure you double the sauce if you’re cooking more chicken.
Because for Chicken Piccata, it’s gotta be perfect, right?
How To Reheat Chicken Piccata
If you’re like us, you’re most likely going to have leftovers.
OR, you might want to prep this Chicken Piccata recipe earlier in the day and then reheat it when it’s time for dinner!
So the big question is: How can you reheat Chicken Piccata?
And the answer is: Just put the Chicken Piccata with lemon sauce, capers, lemon slices & fresh parsley in a nice baking dish.
Cover your shallow dish with tin foil and place in a 350 degree F oven for approximately 15 to 20 minutes so it will heat through.
Don’t cook it any longer because it can dry out the chicken.
Then uncover it and put the oven on broil for about 4 minutes {stay by the oven to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn!}
This will get the tops nice and crispy!
How it turned out
You guys, how did I not know all my life that I wasn’t part Italian??
I’ve LOVED Chicken Piccata for so many years but was intimidated to make it at home.
But I’m so glad that I finally tried it because it turned out amazing!!
Actually, better than in most restaurants where I’ve ordered it over the years. Go figure!
My husband and son were really impressed with it too!
And the beauty is that we have leftovers, so I can continue to enjoy it for lunches this week!
Or I might cut it up into bite size pieces and serve it over pasta or with some brown rice (healthier) and green beans for dinner.
Easy Chicken Piccata Recipe Without Flour – 4 WW SmartPoints
Easy Chicken Piccata Recipe Without Flour – 4 WW SmartPoints
Ingredients
- 2 Chicken Breasts, skinless & boneless
- Salt & Pepper
- 2 Egg Whites, Large
- 1 tsp Water
- ⅔ cup Bread Crumbs
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 2 Lemons, 1 juiced with slices reserved & 1 sliced for garnish
- ¼ cup White Wine, Dry
- ½ cup Chicken Broth
- 1 tbsp Capers
- Fresh Parsley, Chopped for garnish
Instructions
- Cut chicken breasts into 4 cutlets.
- Then place each cutlet (one at a time) on top of a piece of parchment paper and fold over top of the cutlet. Then pound it with a kitchen mallet until the cutlet is around 1/4 inch thick. Do this for each cutlet and sprinkle both sides with salt & pepper.
- In a shallow wide bowl, beat the egg whites with 1 teaspoon water.
- Spread out your bread crumbs onto a dinner plate.
- Then, dip each chicken cutlet (both sides) into the eggs first and then the bread crumbs.
- Place the breaded chicken cutlets into a heated (medium to medium-low) saute pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Note: as you continue cooking all of your chicken, you may need to add the 2nd tablespoon of olive oil.
- Cook each side of the chicken cutlets for approximately 3 minutes, keeping an eye on the heat so as not to burn them.
- Once all of the chicken cutlets are cooked on both sides, set the chicken aside on a plate.
- For the piccata sauce, melt butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Then add the lemon juice, wine, chicken broth, reserved lemon slices & salt & pepper.
- Then boil over high heat for approximately 2 minutes until sauce is reduced to half.
- Remove the sliced lemon from the sauce and add the capers.
- To reheat: Place cooked chicken cutlets into a baking dish and pour the sauce over top of the chicken. Add sliced lemons & fresh parsley. Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 15 minutes to heat through. Then uncover and set the oven to broil for approximately 2 to 3 minutes or until the tops of the chicken are bubbling.
- Serve chicken with sauce, fresh lemon slices & fresh parsley on top.
Notes
4 SP {Purple & Blue Plans}
5 SP {Green Plan}
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