Chicken Breasts in Lemon Butter Caper Sauce

Of all the ways to prepare boneless chicken breasts, this has to be my very favorite one.  I don't know what it is about the combination of lemon and capers....but I just love it.  I love capers period.  Such little bites of so much flavor. I also got to try out my new cast iron skillet.  It browned the chicken quite nicely, but really, any good, heavy skillet will work.  The secret is to get the pan smoking hot before you add the chicken, then put it in and leave it alone until it is well browned.  This way it will get lovely color and not stick.  If you try to move the chicken around before it had sufficiently gotten a nice brown crust, it will stick.   This recipe is very similar to a chicken piccata, if you have ever made or had it...but much healthier than the traditional recipe. If you don't want to use wine, you can replace it with more chicken stock, and it comes out just as tasty. 

Chicken Breasts in Lemon Butter Caper Sauce
MyKitchenAdventures

Printable Recipe

Servings - 8 or 4   Serving Size - 8 ( 1 - 4oz. breast each) or 4 ( 2 - 4 oz. breasts each)   Points Plus per serving - 1 breast = 3 points+,  2 breasts = 6 points+

( per breast with 1/8th of sauce)   Calories - 144.1,   Total Fat - 3.9g,   Carb. - 23.3g,   Protein - 23.3g,  Fiber - 0.1g

8 boneless chicken breasts ( approx 4 oz each)

salt and pepper, to taste

cooking spray or misto

2 TBS unsalted butter, divided

1 TBS shallot, finely chopped

1/4 cup white wine

1 1/2 cups fat free, low sodium chicken stock

juice of one lemon

1 tsp. corn starch

2 TBS capers

1 TBS fresh chopped parsley ( optional ) 

Heat large skillet on med-high heat.  Spray with cooking spray or  misto to coat pan.  Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.  Add chicken breasts to the skillet, being careful not to overcrowd.  You might need to work in batches depending on the size of your skillet.  ( I did three breasts at a time in my cast iron skillet )  Brown chicken on both sides, about 3-4 min per side, and remove to a baking dish in a warm oven.  (250 degrees F)  Keep chicken in warm oven to continue cooking, while making the sauce. 

Turn heat on skillet down to med-low.  Add 1 TBS of butter to the pan, allow to melt and add the shallots.  Saute until soft, about 4 minutes.  Add wine to pan, and bring to boil.  Allow to reduce by half, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a spoon while it reduces.  Add chicken stock, lemon juice, and parsley ( if using).  Allow mixture to come to a boil again.  Mix the cornstarch with a little cold water, and add to the boiling liquid, and stir to thicken.  Bring to boil and allow  to boil for about one minute, or until thickened.  Turn off heat, and swirl in other tablespoon of butter until melted.  Add capers.  Return chicken and the collected juices ( which should be clear) to the sauce.  Coat chicken in sauce.  

This serves either 4 ( two breasts per serving ) or 8 ( one breast per serving).  For one breast with about 2 TBS sauce the point value is 3p+.


This recipe has been featured on Flavor-Fix.com ( Lemon)