Hen Piccata – A Couple Cooks

This hen piccata recipe is an traditional Italian American dish that’s easy and bursting with taste! Tender hen cutlets are pan-fried to golden perfection, then bathed in a vibrant lemon butter sauce.

Right here’s a traditional dish that impresses each time: hen piccata! Tender, golden-brown hen cutlets are bathed in a vibrant lemon-butter sauce with pops of briny capers. This traditional Italian American dish has captured hearts and stomachs world wide, and it’s an enormous favourite over right here. Don’t be intimidated by its fancy title; this hen piccata recipe is surprisingly easy to make at house! On this submit, you’ll uncover:

• Ideas and methods: Learn to obtain completely cooked hen and a flavorful sauce with our easy-to-follow directions.
• Facet dish concepts: Discover the proper aspect dishes to enrich your hen piccata, from fluffy rice to flavorful pasta.
• Variations: Discover scrumptious twists on the traditional recipe, like utilizing various kinds of meat or including distinctive components to the sauce.
• Recipe: Or, bounce proper to the recipe to get began!

What’s hen piccata, anyway?

Hen piccata is a dish the place hen cutlets are pounded, dredged in flour, pan fried and served with a lemon butter sauce. You would possibly suppose the dish is Italian in origin, however it seems it’s not a well known conventional dish in Italy! It’s extra possible a creation by Italian immigrants that moved to America within the 1930’s and it was initially made with veal, a less expensive protein in these days.

Piccata is a go-to dinner as a result of it’s so versatile: it comes collectively in about 20 minutes and you may differ the protein based mostly on what you want or have available. It really works with many forms of meat and fish, like hen, veal, salmon, swordfish, scallops or shrimp.

Ideas for butterflying the hen

An important a part of hen piccata is utilizing hen cutlets, or you’ll be able to butterfly the breasts your self. Hen breasts are sometimes very thick, making them tough to cook dinner evenly. Slicing the hen breast in half horizontally (butterflying it) makes thinner items that cook dinner faster and extra evenly, are simpler to eat, and are higher seasoned.

You should purchase a hen breast already butterflied, which is marked on the package deal as butterflied or “cutlets”. In case you purchase common hen breasts, you’ll be able to butterfly them your self:

• Place your hand excessive of the hen breast. Use a pointy knife to rigorously slice the breast horizontally, leaving the sting intact so it could actually open up like a e-book.
• Unfold the hen breast, then lower alongside the fold to separate the 2 halves (every half is a cutlet).
• For hen piccata, cowl the hen with plastic wrap and evenly pound the hen with a mallet or heavy pan to make it an excellent 1/4-inch thickness.

The right way to make hen piccata: an outline

This hen piccata recipe is fast and easy to make. As a result of the hen is pounded to an excellent thickness, it cooks extraordinarily rapidly. Right here’s an outline of the method (or bounce to the recipe under):

1. Put together the hen: Make hen cutlets (breasts sliced in half horizontally) and use a mallet or heavy skillet to pound them to an excellent 1/4” thickness.
2. Season the hen: Sprinkle the hen on all sides with the kosher salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Dredge the hen breasts in flour unfold on a plate, shaking off the surplus.
3. Pan fry: Add the olive oil to a big skillet and warmth over medium warmth. Add the hen and cook dinner for 3 to five minutes per aspect, till browned on either side.
4. Make the sauce: In the identical skillet, cut back the warmth to low and add minced garlic and capers. Cook dinner about 1 minute, then stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, and white wine or hen inventory. Carry to a boil, then cut back to a simmer and add the butter and cream (if utilizing). Simmer 1 minute, then return the hen to the pan and simmer for two minutes.
5. Serve: Take away the hen to a serving plate and prime with sauce and chopped parsley.

Notes on the piccata sauce

Each house cook dinner or chef makes their piccata sauce barely in a different way. Listed below are a number of notes about this sauce and some substitutes you can also make if desired:

• White wine vs hen broth: We like this sauce with white wine base, which provides tangy, crisp notes to the sauce. In case you don’t wish to open a bottle, hen broth or vegetable broth work too.
• Heavy cream: The standard hen piccata sauce sometimes doesn’t use heavy cream. Nevertheless, including a touch provides the sauce a creamier physique (in any other case the sauce is obvious). We like including the cream, however it’s not vital for taste.
• Capers: Don’t, we repeat, don’t omit the capers on this recipe! They add briny, salty pops that make this a standout recipe.

Sides to accompany this recipe

What to serve with hen piccata? This traditional Italian American dish goes effectively with many alternative sides, like rice, pasta, inexperienced beans or a crisp salad. Listed below are a number of concepts:

• Rice: Attempt white rice or lemon rice
• Pasta: Go for garlic butter noodles, angel hair pasta, orzo, or any of those pasta aspect dishes
• Inexperienced beans: Attempt inexperienced beans almondine or haricot verts
• Salad: Make chopped salad, kale salad, apple salad, or these salad recipes
• Broccoli or broccolini: Attempt roasted broccoli, Parmesan broccoli, roasted broccolini, or pan fried broccolini
• Potatoes: Go for our greatest mashed potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, or garlic roasted potatoes