Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata Fettuccine – this is for the lemon lovers out there. Crispy chicken with fettuccine in a creamy lemony sauce with capers and garlic. This twist on a classic marries everything we know and love in a pasta dish.
My lemon chicken piccata recipe is one of my favorite chicken recipes of all time, plus it’s one of the most popular recipes here on Jo Cooks. There’s a reason for that and it’s probably due to its simplicity and of course its delicious taste. Having said that, this creamy lemon chicken piccata fettuccine is a derivative of that recipe, but with a twist.
We’re introducing some cream to this sauce as well as some perfectly twirl-able al dente fettuccine. Believe me when I say that there is a way to improve upon perfection, and this recipe today does just that. So buckle in and get prepared for your new favorite week night dinner!
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.
One of the most common questions from you guys on the lemon chicken piccata was what to serve it with. Well the answer is pretty much anything; mashed potatoes, pasta, or steamed veggies such as asparagus or broccoli. Which is what I basically did here, though I changed the sauce a bit and added some heavy cream and some garlic to it and tossed the sauce with some fettuccine.
Ingredients
- Pasta – Fettuccine shaped pasta is what we want to use today, although you can use any shape you’d like.
- Chicken – Breasts boneless and skinless.
- 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 – Use as much or little as you like.
- Lemon juice – Fresh is definitely best. You’ll want the juice from approximately 1 lemon.
- Thyme – I used fresh today but if dried is all you have on hand just keep in mind that 1 teaspoon dried equals 1 tablespoon fresh.
- 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.
- 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 Lemon Chicken Piccata Fettuccine
- Cook the pasta: Cook the fettuccine according to package instructions until it’s al dente.
- Preheat oven: To 350 F degrees.
- Prepare the chicken: Add the 1/2 cup of flour to a shallow plate. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then dredge through the flour.
- Brown the chicken: In an oven safe skillet melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook on both sides until golden brown, about 3 or 4 minutes per side. Do not worry if the chicken is not cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside.
- Form the sauce: Discard the leftover butter in the skillet and add the olive oil. Whisk in the flour until a paste forms. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in the chicken broth, you will notice it start to thicken immediately.
- Finish the sauce: Add the thyme, capers, lemon juice and stir. Stir in the heavy cream and season with salt and pepper if needed. Add the chicken back to the skillet and place in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
- Finish the dish: Toss the pasta together with sauce, you can remove the chicken to make it easier to toss the pasta with the sauce, then garnish with parsley and if preferred some Parmesan cheese.
The Key Is In The Lemons
The reason I chose to make this dish is because I bought these beautiful Meyer Lemons from Costco. I have a lot of them, they came in a great big box and I’m just dying to use them. Of course I have many ideas, mostly desserts, but then I remembered my original chicken piccata recipe, only I wanted to make it creamy, dreamy, and oh so satisfying. Perfect use of my gorgeous Meyer lemons.
Some Tips
- Don’t touch your chicken while it’s frying, this will ensure that a good golden crust forms.
- 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.
- One thing to note is that if you use low fat cream the sauce might curdle a bit, but if you just use regular heavy cream as stated in the recipe, the sauce shouldn’t curdle.
How to Serve
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
Leftovers
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.
More Must Try Pasta Recipes:
- One Pot Beef Ragu Pasta
- Creamy Avocado And Spinach Pasta
- Italian Pasta Salad
- Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Chicken Pesto Caprese Pasta
- Three Cheese Hamburger Helper
- One Pot Chili Mac And Cheese
- Cheesy Taco Pasta
- One Pot Creamy Parmesan Pasta
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Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata Fettuccine
Ingredients
- 8 ounce fettuccine uncooked
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 pound chicken breasts skinless and boneless (about 3 or 4)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 4 tablespoon butter unsalted
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup chicken broth low sodium
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme chopped
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cook the fettuccine according to package instructions until it’s al dente.
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
- Add the 1/2 cup of flour to a shallow plate. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then dredge through the flour.
- In an oven safe skillet melt the butter over medium heat. add the chicken and cook on both sides until golden brown, about 3 or 4 minutes per side. Do not worry if the chicken is not cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside.
- Discard the leftover butter in the skillet and add the olive oil. Whisk in the flour until a paste forms. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in the chicken broth, you will notice it start to thicken immediately.
- Add the thyme, capers, lemon juice and stir. Stir in the heavy cream and season with salt and pepper if needed. Add the chicken back to the skillet and place in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
- Toss the pasta together with sauce, you can remove the chicken to make it easier to toss the pasta with the sauce, then garnish with parsley and if preferred some Parmesan cheese.
Video
Recipe Notes
- You can use a lighter cream for this recipe to cut down on calories, but it may curdle and break in the sauce. To avoid this, allow the cream to come to room temperature and mix 1/4 tsp of corn starch into it before slowly adding it to the sauce. Make sure the sauce is not boiling.
- Capers can be found in small jars in the same aisle as pickles.
- 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.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
We made it gluten-free (trader joe’s egg noodles) and dairy-free (almond milk) and it was amazing! *GF flour sub works too