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Chicken Piccata Pasta is cheesy, creamy, dreamy, and so full of tender chicken whipped up in a flash. Featuring bright capers and fresh lemon juice this classic Italian dish will become your new weeknight favorite.
Chicken Piccata Pasta
This classic is such a simple dish, chock full of crispy juicy chicken, perfectly tender chicken, all cooked down in a rich creamy sauce. I love chicken piccata, but I do find the typically acidic and brothy sauce can be missing a little something. In comes the cream, and with the cream added to the sauce we get a dish you’ll want to eat every night of the week, guaranteed.
Speaking of the sauce it can be served over nearly anything you like, it’s just that good. So what are we waiting for? This chicken won’t cook itself!
What Is Chicken Piccata?
This Italian dish is super simple and incredibly comforting. It’s packed full of salty capers, bright fresh lemon juice, and lots and lots of perfectly browned butter. Believe me when I say that this is soon to become your new favorite week night dish.
Now this is where the pasta comes in, because this dish was made to be served over perfectly al dente pasta. Today I chose to go with penne, it’s perfectly shaped to ensure all that buttery lemony sauce clings to every last ridge. We’re also going to dredge our chicken through some flour to ensure our chicken has a crisp little bite to it.
Can I Use Any Other Pasta In My Chicken Piccata?
You sure can use other kind of pasta, traditionally the dish is served over twirl-able slurp-pable spaghetti but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have some fun with it. It’s perfect over fettucine, linguine, bow ties, elbow, shells, etc.
Ingredients In Chicken Piccata Pasta?
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the bottom of the page.
- Pasta – Penne shaped pasta is what we want to use today, although you can use any shape you’d like. You’ll want to cook this pasta before incorporating it in our dish.
- Chicken – Breasts boneless and skinless, chopped into 1 inch pieces.
- Flour – All purpose to ensure a nice crust on our chicken, its the key to chicken piccata.
- Butter – Unsalted to control the sodium content of our dish,
- Olive oil – This will allow our butter to brown perfectly without burning and becoming bitter.
- Garlic – Fresh minced garlic, if jarred is all you have on hand just keep in mind that 1 1/2 teaspoons equals 1 fresh clove.
- Lemon juice – Fresh is definitely best. You’ll want the juice from approximately 1 lemon.
- Capers – Be sure to drain them well before adding them. If you haven’t cooked much with capers before this recipe is a perfect one to try out!
- Chicken broth – We want to use low sodium or no sodium added to control the salt content in our dish.
- White wine – This will add some great notes to our dish as well as deglaze our pan when ready to make our sauce.
- Cream – Heavy cream for this dish to create a nice rich sauce.
- Cheese – Freshly grated Parmesan cheese will really set this recipe off. It will also add some salt to our dish so keep that in mind.
- Parsley – Freshly chopped to be sprinkled liberally on top.
How To Make Chicken Piccata Pasta
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Prepare the pasta: Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- Season the chicken: Season the chicken with salt and pepper and then dredge through the flour, removing any excess flour.
- Brown the chicken: In a large skillet add 1 tbsp of the butter and 1 tbsp of the olive oil and heat until butter has melted over medium high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook until browned and cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Work in batches if needed. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
- Combine the sauce: Reduce the heat to low and ad the remaining 1 tbsp of butter, olive oil and garlic. Cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the white wine to the skillet and bring to a simmer. Cook until it reduces slighly, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Finish the sauce: Add the chicken broth, lemon juice and capers. Bring to a simmer, while scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen all the cooked chicken bits. Stir in the heavy cream.
- Finish the dish: Add the chicken back to the pan and the cooked penne. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over and toss until the pasta is coated in the sauce. Garnish with shredded Parmesan and chopped parsley and serve hot!
Want To Make This Dish With Whole Chicken Breasts?
You sure can make this without cubing up your chicken breasts. Just pound out your chicken till it’s relatively thin then prepare it in just the same way as described above, including incorporating the whole pieces into the sauce. You’ll want to allow it to rest slightly before slicing up and enjoying.
What Can I Serve With My Chicken Piccata Pasta?
This dish is deeply satisfying and delicious all on its own, but if you’d like to turn this into a complete meal here’s some beautiful accompaniments!
- Kale And Quinoa Salad With Lemon Vinaigrette
- Warm Kale Salad With Roasted Butternut Squash
- Summer Salad With Herbed Ricotta And Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Tabbouleh Salad
- Creamy Garlic Parmesan Mushrooms
- Italian Roasted Mushrooms And Veggies
- Old Fashioned Green Beans
- Mushroom Arugula Warm Salad
Tips For Making The Best Chicken Piccata
- Don’t touch your chicken while it’s frying, this will ensure that a good golden crust forms.
- Be sure your chicken pieces are small and bite sized to ensure they crisp up nicely in our sauce pan.
- I like to use lots of fresh parsley, it really helps cut through our rich creamy sauce, especially since we’re not using much seasoning today.
Storing Leftover Chicken Piccata Pasta
You can store this recipe easily in the fridge. In an airtight container it’ll keep for 3 – 5 days just be sure it’s properly cooled before storing. Unfortunately this dish doesn’t freeze well so I recommend either making it day of or a few days before and storing in the fridge.
Craving More Delicious Pasta? Try These Recipes
- One Pot Beef Ragu Pasta
- Creamy Avocado And Spinach Pasta
- Italian Pasta Salad
- Three Cheese Hamburger Helper
- One Pot Chili Mac And Cheese
- Cheesy Bacon Pasta With Tomato Sauce
- Easy Pasta Alfredo
- Cheesy Taco Pasta
- One Pot Creamy Parmesan Pasta
Chicken Piccata Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounce penne uncooked
- 1 pound chicken breasts boneless and skinless, chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon butter unsalted
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup chicken broth low sodium or no sodium added
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup capers drained
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 2 tablespoon parsley chopped
Instructions
- Prepare the pasta: Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- Season the chicken: Season the chicken with salt and pepper and then dredge through the flour, removing any excess flour.
- Brown the chicken: In a large skillet add 1 tbsp of the butter, 1 tbsp of the olive oil and heat until butter has melted over medium high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook until browned and cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Work in batches if needed. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
- Combine the sauce: Reduce the heat to low and add the remaining 1 tbsp of butter, olive oil and garlic. Cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the white wine to the skillet and bring to a simmer. Cook until it reduces slighly, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Finish the sauce: Add the chicken broth, lemon juice and capers. Bring to a simmer, while scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen all the cooked chicken bits. Stir in the heavy cream.
- Finish the dish: Add the chicken back to the pan and the cooked penne. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over and toss until the pasta is coated in the sauce. Garnish with shredded Parmesan, chopped parsley and serve while warm!
Tips & Notes:
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