I was looking through my tried and true recipes for some inspiration. I was on the hunt for a quick weeknight meal to use some chicken breasts I had in the freezer. I came across this recipe that I hadn’t made in years. I had it marked as a family favorite but for some reason it got buried in my list of recipes and I just hadn’t gotten around to making it for a really long time.
Note to self: this recipe needs to go into the regular rotation!!! It comes together quickly so it’s the perfect meal for a busy weeknight. It produces a tangy, super flavorful sauce that will have you smacking your lips. My husband who doesn’t much like chicken loves this meal!!! If you ask him, he will tell you he doesn’t care for chicken. Why? Because it tastes like chicken, LOL.
This isn’t the traditional Chicken Piccata you are probably used to with capers. I’m personally not a big fan of the salty little green balls, so you won’t find them in this recipe. This recipe is more of a lemon chicken with mushrooms. I like to serve it over a bed of wild rice pilaf but it’s equally delicious served over buttered pasta or on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes.
If you want to learn how to make the worlds fluffiest, creamiest mashed potatoes you can learn all about how to make them here. Just a warning, if you master making mashed potatoes you will be making them a lot! ☺️
Ok, let’s get back to the recipe for making this yummy winner, winner, doesn’t taste like chicken dinner!
To start you will need to slice a chicken breast into 3 to 4 pieces. Try to keep them all about the same size. Place the chicken pieces in between plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet pound the breasts until they are about a 1/4 inch in thickness.
I buy the large value packs of chicken when it’s on sale and freeze it. I take the time to cut the breasts not cutlets and pound them nice and thin. I then lay them out in a large freezer bag in a single layer and freeze them. Not only is this a huge timesaver for me down the road but storing the meat in this fashion saves a ton of space in the freezer.
When I want to use the meat for cooking, I just drop the bag into my kitchen sink filled with hot water. Because the meat is nice and thin, it thaws in just a few minutes and it’s ready to use. No more pizza deliveries because I forgot to take the meat out of the freezer the night before to thaw.
Season cutlets liberally with salt and pepper on both sides.
Dredge seasoned cutlets in flour, coating them completely. Shake off excess flour.
Once the chicken cutlets are coated in flour get a couple tablespoons of butter and a couple tablespoons of olive oil heated in a large frying pan over medium heat.
Cook chicken cutlets, a few at a time until lightly golden brown.
Keep cooked cutlets warm.
While the cutlets are cooking, it’s time to make the tasty sauce for them. Bring 3/4 cup water to a boil, add chicken bouillon and stir to dissolve.
Juice and zest one lemon. Add the zest and the juice to the chicken bouillon/water mixture.
Pour chicken bouillon/lemon juice mixture into the skillet to deglaze the pan. Using a spatula scrape up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Those browned bits have a lot of amazing flavor!
Add another tablespoon or two of butter and simmer over low heat for a few minutes, until the sauce reduces and thickens.
Add a can of sliced mushrooms to the sauce and stir to combine.
Return cooked cutlets to the pan and move them around gently to coat them with the sauce. Cook for about a minute of two to make sure the cutlets are completely heated through.
Serve over rice, cooked pasta or mashed potatoes. Top cutlets with slices of mushrooms and drizzle with the lemon sauce.
Devour your plate of deliciousness. Try hard not so make slurping noises or obnoxious lip smacking sounds as you revel in this yumminess!
Mushroom Chicken Piccata
- 2 to 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- Flour, about a cup
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 3 tablespoons chicken boullion
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained
- Fresh chopped parsley, optional
Wash chicken, pat dry. Cut each breast into 3-4 pieces. Place chicken breasts between plastic wrap and pound to 1/8 inch thickness. Salt and pepper each piece and dredge in flour to coat, shaking off excess flour.
Heat 2 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet. Fry chicken breasts until golden brown on both sides. Remove breasts and keep warm.
In a small bowl combine chicken boullion in the boiling water, until dissolved. Stir in lemon zest and juice. Add to the skillet.
Stir in remaining butter and scape up the browned bits in the bottom of the skillet.
Add mushrooms and stir until butter is completely melted, mushrooms are heated through and the sauce reduces and thickens.
Return the chicken cutlets to the skillet and heat for 1 minute.
To serve, spoon sauce over the chicken and garnish with fresh chopped parsley and lemon slices if desired.