Quick Chicken Piccata Pasta (Printable)

Tender chicken breasts cooked with lemon and capers, served over pasta for a bright, tangy meal under 30 minutes.

# What Goes In:

→ 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

# How to Make It:

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 horizontally to create 4 thin cutlets. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge in flour, shaking off excess.
03 - Heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken cutlets and cook 3 to 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; simmer 2 to 3 minutes until slightly reduced.
05 - Lower heat and whisk in 2 tablespoons butter until melted and sauce is glossy. Return chicken to 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 texture.
07 - Plate pasta topped with chicken cutlets. Spoon additional sauce over and garnish with chopped parsley and lemon slices.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • Dinner tastes impressive and restaurant-quality but actually fits into a busy weeknight.
  • The lemon and capers make it feel bright and sophisticated without requiring any fancy techniques.
  • Those thin chicken cutlets cook so fast that you'll never stand around waiting for the main event.
02 -
  • Pound those chicken breasts thin or slice them horizontally—uneven thickness means some parts dry out while others are still cooking.
  • Don't skip deglazing the pan; that's where you grab all the flavor that stuck to the bottom, and it's what makes the sauce taste deep instead of flat.
  • Keep the heat medium-high when cooking the chicken; too hot and the outside burns before the inside finishes, too low and you lose that golden crust entirely.
03 -
  • Reserve pasta water before draining—that starch is what transforms a thin sauce into something silky and cohesive.
  • Don't let the garlic sit in the hot pan; thirty seconds is enough, or it becomes bitter and ruins the whole balance.
  • If your sauce breaks or looks grainy, lower the heat and whisk in a splash of cold pasta water to bring it back together.
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