This savory one-skillet lemon chicken piccata is made all in one skillet and couldn’t be easier! Perfect for weeknights and the leftovers save well for lunch the next day. It’s gluten free, paleo, low carb and keto.
*This recipe was updated in 2021 based on feedback and retesting!
One-skillet chicken is a thing of beauty, don’t you think?
I mean one-skillet anything is pretty much the only way I do things on weeknights anymore.
Along with some roasted veggies that require zero effort and no brain power thanks to the oven-timer feature.
But anyway, chicken. There are just about a trillion ways to cook chicken and you can find most of them with a 30 second search on Pinterest.
Slight exaggeration, but ever so slight, really. People love chicken and it really is SO versatile, tasty, and quick too.
I Love One-Skillet Chicken Recipes!
I have a one-skillet chicken marsala, tuscan chicken, lemon chicken, pesto chicken, Greek Chicken and veggies, and chicken cacciatore.
It’s definitely time for something new – and this lemon chicken piccata is the perfect twist on your one-skillet chicken dinner.
We start with thin sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts – I pounded mine thin to about 1/2″.
I used a combination of almond flour and tapioca for dredging, but you can use all tapioca if you prefer.
I’ve tried it both ways and there’s no big difference, although I feel like the one with almond flour is a bit more crisp even after being in the sauce.
After the chicken is pan fried, it’s time to make the sauce, which is incredibly simple. Garlic and onion, bone broth, lemon, and coconut cream form the base of the sauce.
You won’t taste the coconut cream though, it just adds creaminess to the sauce. So, slightly different than a traditional Piccata sauce, but trust me, it works for this chicken!
I like to add in a little stone ground mustard for extra flavor plus salt and pepper to season. The mustard is optional so if you’re not a fan, simply omit it.
Once you stir in the capers and add the chicken back in, everything simmers together for a minute and then it’s time to eat!
I served mine with sautéed cauliflower rice but any veggie noodles, or roasted potatoes would be delicious too.
The finished dish is so so tasty! Lots of lemon and garlic, a creamy dairy-free sauce, juicy flavorful chicken. It’s everything you could ask for in chicken piccata!
Okay, go grab your ingredients and a nice big skillet because it’s time to make this one-skillet Paleo lemon chicken piccata – let’s go!
Lemon Chicken Piccata {Paleo, Whole30, Keto}
Lemon Chicken Piccata {Paleo, Whole30, Keto}
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded to 1/2” thickness (or purchased thin-sliced)
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
- 3 Tbsp blanched almond flour *
- 2 Tbsp tapioca flour
- 3 Tbsp ghee divided
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small onion chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 cup chicken bone broth
- Juice of 1 lemon about 3 Tablespoons
- 1/3 cup coconut cream unsweetened, blended before using**
- 1 1/2 tsp stone ground mustard or dijon, optional***
- 1/4 cup capers drained
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
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Pound your chicken breast to 1/2” thickness, if necessary, and cut into cutlets. Season with sea salt and pepper on both sides.
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Heat a large skillet over medium/medium-high heat. In a shallow bowl, mix together the almond flour and tapioca* for dredging. Add 2 Tbsp of the ghee to the skillet.
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Once the ghee is heated, lightly dredge the chicken, one cutlet at a time, in the flour mixture, shake off the excess, and place in the skillet. Cook about 4 minutes on each side to cook through. The outside should be golden brown - adjust the heat if you need to to avoid over-browning. Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside.
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Lower the heat to medium low and add the remaining ghee. Add onions, cook for a minute until translucent, then add the garlic. Cook and stir another minute, until softened. Add the broth and lemon juice, then raise the heat to medium and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
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Cook for 3 more minutes, then stir in the coconut cream and the mustard (if using). Cook and stir another minute, then stir in the capers. Add the chicken back to the skillet, lower the heat to a simmer and simmer another minute. Serve over sautéed cauliflower rice or veggie noodles. Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
*To make the recipe nut free, you can replace the almond flour with an equal amount of tapioca flour, making the tapioca flour measurement 5 Tbsp.** Coconut cream is the thick part of a chilled can of unsweetened coconut milk. It can also be purchased separately in a can.
***This is for a flavor boost, omit if you don’t like the taste of mustard
Nutrition
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Want More Whole30 Paleo Dinner Recipes? Try One of These!
One Skillet Creamy Tuscan Chicken
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This was DELICIOUS, whole family LOVED it (VERY unusual), THANK YOU!!!
This recipe is amazing. It has become a menu staple in our home. I make this recipe as written and it always comes out delicious every time.
Sooo good. I love that all the ingredients are perfectly measured so there is no waste. My 14 year old son just ate three pieces. Thx!!
Great to find an Italian recipe that caters to my food restrictions. Made as written and it was delicious!
This was an easy recipe to follow and delicious! My husband isn’t following Paleo like I am (recently lost 12 lbs on Paleo eating plan) so I try Paleo recipes without telling him to see if he notice anything different. He enjoyed it and didn’t noticed anything different. This will be my “go to” recipe for piccata.
Thank you, Michelle.
This was a very simple recipe to follow! I used coconut flour to coat the chicken instead of almond or tapioca flour and it turned out nice and the coconut flavor wasn’t overpowering. I also excluded the capers and added organic sliced mushrooms instead which gave it some extra substance. It didn’t thicken quite as much as I thought it would, but I’m sure tweaking a few things here or there would fix that. I will definitely be making this again! Very delicious and kid-approved!
Wow. I loved this. I also had to improvise due to “flour” that I had on hand. I used a combo of coconut flour and almond flour. I also saw that it doesn’t thicken enough so I used xanthem gum which worked well. It reminded me of an old WW recipe that i used to make. That one added broccoli so that is also what I did.
The only other thing I changed that didn’t effect the flavor was that I made medallions since my chicken was barely thawed. Worked out really well. I will definitely be making this again.
Delicious! I used all chicken broth instead of broth and wine. I used cream instead of coconut cream. Family loved it.
Probably the best Chicken Piccata I’ve ever had! My husband and I did the Whole30 diet and when we made this we were blown away! Fantastic!! I have made it a few times now and it’s always a hit! Thank you!
I used this recipe as a jumping-off point to create a family dinner last night. It was the PERFECT balance of salt, fat, acid, and heat. Even our 2-year-old daughter DEVOURED nearly an adult-portion last night.
It will definitely be added to our regular meal rotation because it was delicious, healthy, and fast! As a busy full-time Mama and working part-time while she sleeps, fast recipes for the whole family are a must.
When I cook, I also taste as I go so I can adjust on the fly. I found it interesting some folks found the coconut cream flavor too strong, personally, I couldn’t even taste it in the sauce. Granted, I did use a small can of coconut cream, not just the cream from a regular can of coconut milk. I also added more fresh lemon juice as when I tasted the sauce while simmering, one just wasn’t enough for our personal family taste buds.
My mods:
-Chicken thighs, organic, boneless & skinless
-1 whole lemon juiced, plus 1/2 half lemon juiced
-1/2 lemon, sliced thin (as a finisher in the sauce and a garnish for the chicken)
-Brown rice flour (that’s what we had on hand, also acts as a sauce thickener)
-EVOO (no ghee on hand)
-Spicy brown mustard (no dijon in our fridge)
Next time I make this, I plan to add some white miso paste to really amp up the umami flavor.