Quick Chicken Piccata Pasta (Print Version)

Tender chicken sautéed with lemon and capers, served over al dente pasta in under 30 minutes.

# 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 according to package instructions until al dente. Drain, reserving ½ cup pasta water.
02 - Slice each chicken breast in half horizontally to create 4 thin cutlets. Season both sides with salt and black pepper. Lightly dredge in all-purpose flour, shaking off excess.
03 - In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm olive oil and 1 tablespoon unsalted butter. Add chicken cutlets and cook 3–4 minutes per side or until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil.
04 - In the same skillet, sauté minced garlic for 30 seconds. Deglaze with white wine, scraping up browned bits. Add lemon juice, capers, and chicken broth; simmer 2–3 minutes until slightly reduced.
05 - Reduce heat and whisk in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter until melted and glossy. Return chicken to the skillet and spoon sauce over the cutlets.
06 - Add drained pasta to the skillet and toss gently to coat with sauce. Add reserved pasta water as needed to achieve a silky consistency.
07 - Plate pasta with chicken on top, spoon additional sauce over, and garnish with chopped parsley and lemon slices.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It tastes like restaurant-quality food but lives on your weeknight dinner rotation.
  • The sauce does the heavy lifting while you're just standing there, and somehow that feels like a small victory.
  • Lemon and capers have this way of making everything feel bright, even on days when nothing else does.
02 -
  • Don't skip slicing the chicken horizontally—thick cutlets stay rubbery no matter how careful you are, but thin ones get tender and cook through in minutes.
  • That pasta water isn't an afterthought; it's the reason the sauce clings to the noodles instead of pooling at the bottom of the bowl.
03 -
  • Mise en place matters here—have everything chopped and measured before you start cooking, because once the chicken hits the pan, there's no time to scramble.
  • Cold butter whisked in at the end emulsifies the sauce and makes it cling to the pasta instead of sliding off; warm butter does the opposite.
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