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Chicken Scallopini, a 15-minute dinner idea, is a weekly menu staple in my home (and will soon be in yours, too!). The easy one-skillet recipe features pan-fried chicken in a punchy lemon-butter sauce.
Meggan’s notes
Let’s take a trip to Italy, where “scallopine” is just an elegant way to say “chicken breast.” My 15-minute skillet dinner puts this versatile, Midwest-favorite protein pick to delicious use in a piccata-esque feast.
The results are crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and swirled in a luscious lemon butter sauce that’s begging to be sopped up with warm bread. Or spoon it all over cooked pasta.
Either and all the ways, Chicken Scallopini is a weeknight dinner winner.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Chicken breast cutlets: Most grocery stores stock chicken cutlets, but if you can’t find them, set the chicken breasts flat on a cutting board. Working with one breast at a time, place your palm on top of the breast and slice it in half horizontally, cutting all the way through. Repeat with remaining chicken.
- Olive oil or clarified butter: Pan-fry in either fat. Discover how to clarify butter at home, which is a simple process that removes the water and milk solids from whole butter. For a store-bought swap, look for ghee (another type of clarified butter) at the supermarket or online.
- Dry white wine: Choose your favorite; Chardonnay, Viognier, Pinot Gris, or Sauvignon Blanc all work well. You only need 4 ounces, so put the other 21.4 ounces to use as a beverage pairing alongside this chicken dinner. For an alcohol-free substitute, use ½ cup vegetable broth or chicken broth instead.
Step by step instructions
- Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Dredge each cutlet in flour and shake lightly to remove excess.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil until shimmering. Add chicken and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes, flipping halfway through. Transfer chicken to a plate and tent with foil.
- Add wine and lemon juice to skillet, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom. Remove from heat and whisk in butter until incorporated. Stir in capers.
- Add chicken and any accumulated juices back to pan. Swirl to coat the chicken with sauce. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with lemon wedges.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 4 adult servings, each with two 3-ounce pieces of chicken.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: The chicken can be coated with flour and stored in the refrigerator (covered or wrapped in plastic) up to a day in advance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Any kind of cooked pasta is terrific; spoon the chicken and sauce on top so it can soak up all the goodness. Try the same strategy with mashed potatoes (garlic mashed potatoes, Boursin mashed potatoes, 3-ingredient mashed potatoes, or make-ahead mashed potatoes; you can’t go wrong). Or simply set out a basket of crusty bread, such as wedges of toasted No-Knead Bread, to soak up the lemony sauce.
In addition to cutting down on clean-up time, deglazing the pan with white wine welcomes the flavorful chicken drippings to the sauce. The little bits left in the pan after cooking protein are a free and fast way to amp up the flavor of your sauce.
Delicious serving suggestions
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Chicken Scallopini
Ingredients
- 8 (3-ounce) chicken breast cutlets (see note 1)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (see note 2)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup capers drained
- 2 tablespoons butter cold
- minced fresh parsley and lemon wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Dredge each cutlet in flour and shake lightly to remove excess.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil until shimmering. Add chicken and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes, flipping halfway through. Transfer chicken to a plate and tent with foil.
- Add wine and lemon juice to skillet, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom. Remove from heat and whisk in butter until incorporated. Stir in capers.
- Add chicken and any accumulated juices back to pan. Swirl to coat the chicken with sauce. Garnish with parsley and serve with lemon wedges.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Chicken breast cutlets: Most grocery stores stock chicken cutlets, but if you can’t find them, set the chicken breasts flat on a cutting board. Working with one breast at a time, place your palm on top of the breast and slice it in half horizontally, cutting all the way through. Repeat with remaining chicken.
- Dry white wine: Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, and Viognier are my favorite varieties of dry cooking wines.
- Yield: This recipe makes 4 adult servings, each with two 3-oz. pieces of chicken.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
As far as I know, Piccata is the scallopine in the lemon-butter sauce. Capers are traditional additions to the dish (same goes for chopped parsley)
The recipe described here, although lovely, is for Piccata, so I’m thinking that if this is the dish you submitted for your final, it didn’t pass. Although capers are a delicious addition to Scallopini, mushrooms are traditionally used as is the use of cream as a necessary ingredient.
I’ll keep coming back as I have no criticism of this recipe except for the mis-naming. Other than that it is classic piccata and the options of meats works too…
(speaking this, hopefully constructive criticism as a foodfreak who has over 30 yrs industry experience and was lucky enough to attend the CIA, Nappa, CA – I’m also Italian)
Hi Susan, I appreciate your passion for food. You obviously care a lot about recipes which is great. The recipe that I posted is straight out of my “On Cooking” culinary textbook, so that is the reason why I call this Scallopini. My culinary school textbook says so, so I certainly passed my final 🥴. I did a search in google and most of the recipes that are on page one look exactly like mine – lemon sauce with capers. Some are creamier than others. I did see one from Southern Living magazine which has mushrooms as you described, no capers. I know at the Cheesecake Factory their chicken piccata has a creamy lemon sauce with both mushrooms and capers. So, either Americans are confused or there are different variations. In any case, I am going to see if I can track down some Italian cookbooks with “authentic” recipes so I can be more informed and avoid mistakes like this in the future, and probably rework and reshoot this version of Scallopini. If you have any suggestions on cookbooks with “authentic” recipes, I would gladly welcome them. Thank you for your help! -Meggan
Just a quick follow-up – I’ve ordered “The Italian Regional Cookbook” which reviewers have indicated is a good first step on understanding authentic Italian recipes. You know, I post a lot of Mexican recipes because I have traveled extensively in Mexico and learned from the locals. I have never even been to Italy so I have a lot to learn. Thanks again for your help. -Meggan
This was a huge win for me tonight. I have some picky eaters and they enjoyed it. It’s very easy to make. Definitely a doable week night dinner.
Delicious recipe and so easy to make! I add some green olives with jalapeño!
Maybe the cream in chicken piccata is the difference between that & scallopini.
I subbed the capers for some chopped shallots and sautéed them a bit before deglazing. It came out very nice, plus an easy microwaveable leftover cutlet & sauce for lunch tomorrow.
We loved it. I didn’t have capers and it was still awesome.
Made this tonight… yummy! My husband loved it. This recipe is now on my “will make again” board.
Made this tonight for dinner. So to keep it all Italian, I served this with linguini and a simple tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and Italian seasoning, garlic and onion reduction with a big garden salad dressed with Italian dressing as sides. I subbed a very inexpensive Christian Brothers dry sherry and lime juice b/c I had no lemons. Perfect regardless. Five stars kid!!! Or better yet an “A+” from both of us!!! XOXO
Wow! That looks yummo diddly oh. Must make soon.