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Entrees
Lemon Chicken Piccata
Wonderful® Seedless Lemons make the sauce shine, no seeds required.
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Wonderful® Seedless Lemons make the sauce shine, no seeds required.
Lemon chicken piccata is the 30-minute dinner that tastes like it took all afternoon. This version finishes the sauce with heavy cream and tosses the linguine right in the pan. Wonderful Seedless Lemons squeeze straight into the skillet, so there’s no seeds and no straining.
Pound the chicken evenly. Uneven thickness is the most common reason piccata comes out dry at the edges and undercooked in the center. Two extra minutes of pounding produces chicken that cooks in four minutes flat and stays uniformly tender.
Pat the chicken dry before dredging. Surface moisture turns the flour into paste instead of a crust. A quick press with paper towels before dredging is the difference between a deep golden sear and grey, steamed chicken.
Always zest before you juice. Zesting a whole, round lemon is effortless, but zesting a squeezed, collapsed one is not. With Wonderful Seedless Lemons, the process is even faster, since the lemons are naturally seedless and there are no seeds to avoid as you drag the zester across the skin.
Do not skip the fond. The caramelized bits stuck to the bottom of the pan after searing are concentrated flavor. Use the broth and a firm wooden spoon to get every bit into the sauce before adding the remaining ingredients.
Add lemon juice near the end. Adding it too early cooks off the bright, volatile citrus oils that make piccata sing. Add the juice in the final two minutes of simmering.
Use cold butter to finish. Room-temperature or melted butter will not emulsify. Cold butter added off the heat creates the silky, glossy restaurant-quality sauce. If the sauce breaks at any point, add a tablespoon of warm water and whisk vigorously to bring it back together.
Serve immediately. Piccata sauce loses its emulsification as it sits. If you need to hold the dish, keep the sauce and chicken separate and combine just before serving.
Make ahead note: The sauce can be prepared up to two days ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Reheat gently over low heat, whisking in a small knob of cold butter to re-emulsify before adding freshly seared chicken.
Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata. Whisk 3 tablespoons of heavy cream into the sauce just before finishing with butter. The cream adds richness and softens the lemon’s brightness slightly, making a more indulgent weeknight version without losing the piccata character.
Gluten-Free Piccata. Swap the all-purpose flour for a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend or fine almond flour. A 1:1 blend behaves most like all-purpose and gives the cleanest sear. Almond flour produces a nuttier crust that pairs well with the lemon. Either way, handle the chicken carefully when flipping, since the crust will be more delicate. The sauce needs no modification, as it is naturally gluten-free.
Piccata with Artichoke Hearts. Add one 14 oz. can of quartered artichoke hearts (drained and rinsed) to the sauce with the capers. The artichokes add an earthy, meaty note that pairs well with the brine.
Piccata with Baby Spinach. Add two large handfuls of baby spinach to the pan in the final 30 seconds of sauce building, tossing until just wilted. The lemon juice and baby spinach are a good match here, and the vitamin C in Wonderful Seedless Lemons supports iron absorption from the spinach.
Veal or Pork Piccata. The technique works equally well with thin veal scallopini or pork cutlets pounded to the same ¼-inch thickness. Reduce the cook time to two to three minutes per side for veal; pork works best at the same timing as chicken.
If you share pics of this recipe on Instagram, be sure to tag @WonderfulSeedlessLemons for a shoutout!
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