This Chicken Scallopini Recipe is the 20 minute restaurant worthy dish you need in your rotation! Made with thinly sliced chicken breasts and a simple lemon butter sauce and zero chopping of any kind, you will make this flavorful dinner again and again!
We eat chicken a lot. Like a lot a lot. And one of my weekly challenges is keeping chicken from being, well, not boring despite my kiddos limited flavor paletes. Some of my favorite chicken dinners are my Air Fryer Chicken Thighs, Skillet Chicken Caprese, and my Chicken Marsala with mushroom sauce.
A new one on repeat these days is this Lemon Chicken Scallopini Recipe. It’s the perfect recipe for busy weeknights when you want something incredibly flavorful, but have zero desire to chop veggies or spend much time in the kitchen. And everything cooks in one pan which is always a bonus because we all know how I feel about washing dishes and I know you feel the same.
What is Chicken Scallopini?
I debated on what to call this recipe, but landed on chicken scallopini – which basically an Italian dish made with boneless skinless chicken breasts that have been butterflied and pounded very thin, just like in my chicken cutlet recipe. I always assumed scaloppini referred to the sauce in this dish, but scallopini is quite literally an Italian word for thin chicken breast.
You can do this yourself, but as a shortcut, I often just buy thinly sliced chicken breasts from my grocery store as they are readily available now and it just helps me get this meal on the table quicker.
My version of chicken scallopini is similar to my lemon chicken recipe or a traditional chicken piccata, where I quickly dredge the chicken in flour before pan frying it in a small amount of butter and olive oil. This is quickly finished off with some fresh lemon juice and topped with a small amount of melted mozzarella.
You can add some small capers to this for extra flavor, but we will often leave them off. Totally your choice.
Ingredients for this Easy Chicken Scallopini
My favorite thing about this delicious meal comes together with the most simple ingredients. You will need:
- Thinly Sliced Chicken Breasts – I like to buy thinly sliced chicken cutlets to save time, but you can also butterfly your chicken yourself, pounding cutlets into uniform thickness
- Gluten free flour – if you don’t need to keep this gluten free, you whatever flour you have on hand
- Garlic powder, salt and pepper
- Butter + Extra Virgin Olive oil
- Fresh lemon juice – one lemon should be enough, but you can get an extra for fancier presentation if you want and add some slices on top.
- Chicken broth or chicken stock
- Dry white wine – I typically use whatever I have in the fridge – no need to get fancy
- Optional – thinly sliced mozzarella cheese
- Garnish – fresh parsley and tiny capers, also optional. We aren’t the biggest fans of capers, so if I add them, it’s just a smidge.
Substitutions + Additions
- For dairy free, skip cheese and use dairy free butter or additional olive oil.
- If you can’t find thin chicken breasts and don’t want to butterfly your own chicken, you can use chicken tenderloins for this. Not traditional scallopini, but still the same delicious outcome!
- If you don’t have wine or don’t want to use wine, you can use additional broth.
- Swap mozzarella cheese for Parmesan or Pecorino Romano if you want a sharper flavor.
- If you have time, saute some fresh garlic, shallots, or onion and sliced mushrooms after cooking your chicken.
- For a lower carb dish, use almond flour instead of gluten free flour.
Step by Step Instructions
The recipe could not be easier! For full instructions, be sure to check the recipe card below.
- Season both sides of your chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
2. Place flour in a shallow bowl, and lightly coat both sides of the chicken in the flour, shaking off the excess.
3. Cook chicken in batches. In a large skillet, heat 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp of olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook half the chicken in the first side for 3-4 minutes, then flip, cooking an addition 2-3 minutes. If your chicken is getting too dark, lower heat; chicken should be golden brown on both sides. Add in another tsp of butter and olive oil and cook the second batch the same way.
4. Remove chicken from pan. Turn heat to high and juice from one lemon, white wine, and chicken broth. Cook over high heat for 2 minutes, stirring to remove any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low.
5. Add chicken back to the pan and cover each piece with a half of a piece of mozzarella. Cover and let cheese melt and sauce thicken slightly – about 5 minutes.
6. Garnish with fresh parsley and capers, if desired.
Recipe FAQs
Chicken Scallopini, as I detailed above, refers more to the way the chicken is prepared – thinly sliced, but the sauce can vary. Chicken Piccata is chicken that is served with a lemon butter sauce and topped with capers. This recipe has a similar vibe to Chicken Piccata, but for me the addition of capers is truly optional, and we also love it with thinly sliced cheese.
I love this chicken served with Brown Rice or my Copycat Rice a Roni or Parmesan Roasted Baby Potatoes. It’s delicious with roasted asparagus or Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Parmesan, and Balsamic.
Chicken breasts can be very large and I do not recommend using them as is for this recipe. Instead, you can butterfly or slice your chicken breasts in half. Place your hand over top of the chicken breast to hold it in place, then slice the breast horizontally until you have two thinner slices of chicken.
Next, cover your chicken with plastic wrap to keep raw chicken from flying all over the place. And using a mallet, rolling pin, or a frying pan, pound the chicken thinner and try to even it out.
For a detailed description of how to do this with pictures, check out this How to Butterfly Chicken blog post from Culinary Hill.
Storage
Store leftover chicken and sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. My favorite way to reheat chicken scallopini is by heating up a pan on low heat, then placing chicken and sauce in the pan and covering until chicken is gently heated through. You could add more chicken broth to the pan, if necessary.
More Healthy Chicken Recipes (that aren’t boring)
Air Fryer Chicken Tenders with Everything Bagel Seasoning + Maple Mustard Sauce
Easy Chicken Scallopini
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts thinly sliced
- ¼ cup gluten free flour you can sub whatever flour you have on hand
- garlic powder to taste
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 2 tsp butter, vegan butter, or ghee
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 lemon juice of
- ⅔ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 2 slices Mozzarella cheese thinly sliced
- Fresh parsley for garnish, optional
- Capers for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Season both sides of your chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Place flour in a shallow dish, and lightly coat both sides of the chicken in the flour, shaking off the excess.
- Cook chicken in batches. In a large skillet, heat 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp of olive oil over medium heat. Cook half the chicken for 3-4 minutes, then flip, cooking an additional 2-3 minutes. Chicken should be golden brown on both sides. Add in another tsp of butter and olive oil and cook the second batch the same way.
- Remove chicken from pan.
- Turn heat to high and add juice from one lemon, white wine, and chicken broth. Cook over high heat for 2 minutes, Stirring to remove any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low.
- Add chicken back to the pan and cover each piece with a half of a slice of mozzarella. Cover and let cheese melt and sauce thicken slightly – about 5 minutes.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and capers.
- To serve, spoon sauce over chicken and serve with a side of brown rice or pasta and your favorite veggies.
Notes
-
- If you can’t find thin chicken breasts and don’t want to butterfly your own chicken, you can use chicken tenderloins for this. Not traditional scallopini, but still the same delicious outcome!
- For dairy free, skip cheese and use dairy free butter or additional olive oil.
- If you don’t have wine or don’t want to use wine, you can use additional broth.
- Swap mozzarella cheese for Parmesan or Pecorino Romano if you want a sharper flavor.
- If you have time, saute some fresh garlic, shallots, or onion and sliced mushrooms after cooking your chicken.
- For a lower carb dish, use almond flour instead of gluten free flour.
Tiffany G says
Should there be a teaspoon counted with this for portion fix? Looks delicious, can’t wait to try!
Nancylynn says
Yes, thank you for calling it out so nicely! All fixed now!
Mary says
I made this last week and it is now in my rotation. So easy to make and delicious. I made some pasta to go with it cause there was enough sauce for the pasta.
Nancylynn says
Thank you, Mary!