Easy Chicken Piccata Recipe (Gluten-Free)

This gluten-free chicken piccata recipe is a dinner dream come true. Made with flour-coated crispy chicken in a homemade lemon butter caper sauce, this easy meal feels fancy and elegant but is ready in less then 30 minutes.

If you don’t have time to tenderize your chicken breasts, simply buy precut chicken tenders that are naturally thin. You want the chicken to be uniform in size so you get a perfectly even cook, resulting in juicy chicken. Serve this as is or put over your favorite gluten-free pasta or over white rice.

For more easy weeknight meals, check out these high protein chicken recipes.

Featured Comment ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“I’ve tried a lot of Chicken Piccata recipes and this is the BEST!” – Mary Jo

Ingredients and Substitutes

These are the main ingredients and substitutions. See the recipe card below for the full ingredients list and instructions for this easy gluten-free chicken piccata recipe.

• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts: chicken thighs or tenderloins. To save on time, buy pre-cut chicken tenderloins instead of large chicken breasts that you have to cut and tenderize yourself.
• Flour: I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 to make this recipe gluten-free. If gluten is not a concern, use all-purpose flour, if preferred.
• Olive Oil: this is used to cook the chicken. To lower the fat, you can cook the chicken in cooking spray instead.
• Butter: classic chicken piccata has a creamy butter sauce. To lower the fat, omit the second serving of butter in the sauce. You can also cook the chicken in cooking spray
• Garlic: minced. To save on time, use frozen garlic cubes.
• Lemon: one large lemon, halved. One half will be used for fresh lemon juice, and the other cut into slices for serving.
• Chicken Broth: I always cook with low sodium to control the amount of salt. You can use chicken stock or bone broth.
• Capers: it’s not a piccata without the capers! Highly recommend adding them.

Step 1: prep chicken & coat

Using a knife, butterfly the chicken breast on a cutting board and cut the chicken in half, leaving 4 chicken cutlets. Cover with saran wrap and pound chicken with a meat tenderizer to approximately ½ inch thick and even all over. Season both sides with salt and pepper. 

Lay the flour out on a plate or shallow bowl and dip the pieces of chicken into the flour, evenly coating all sides of the chicken. You will have a little excess flour leftover which has been accounted for in the nutrition facts. 

Step 2: cook chicken

Cut the lemon in half and juice one half (approx. 3 Tbsp.) and slice the other half into thin lemon slices.  Add 2 Tbsp. olive oil to a large sauté pan and heat over medium heat. Add the flour-coated chicken cutlets to the hot oil and cook on each side until cooked through and no longer pink, approximately 3-4 minutes per side. Remove and set aside on a plate.

Step 3: make the piccata sauce

Lower the heat to medium-low and add 1 Tbsp. of butter and minced garlic. Stir and cook until the garlic is fragrant. Add the lemon juice and lemon slices to the frying pan, stirring until the lemon slices are golden brown and scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook for 2-5 minutes.

Step 4: add chicken

Add the chicken broth, capers and 1 Tbsp. of butter to the pan and stir to melt the butter and create a piccata sauce. Add the cutlets back to the pan and spoon the sauce over to soak into the breaded chicken and reheat throughout.