Easy Keto Chicken Piccata with Lemon Caper Sauce

What Makes This Recipe Great

This Keto Chicken Piccata is so bright and light and extremely keto-friendly, being less than 2 carbs per serving. It’s a breaded chicken that gets pan-fried in avocado oil, then topped with a lemony caper sauce. Even better, my entire family LOVES it! That’s right, all my boys, from toddler to adult, absolutely love this chicken. 

Made with simple ingredients and steps, this amazingly flavorful chicken comes together in 30 minutes and is perfect for busy weeknights! 

This Keto Chicken Piccata recipe is legit a recipe that rescues me. I almost always have the ingredients on hand, which makes it super easy to whip up last minute. Plus, it only takes 30 minutes, my kids love it, and it’s carb-friendly for me. 

It’s a staple in my house, and I hope you love it as much as we do! 

• Rescue Recipe Tips: The prep for this recipe is super simple, but if you’re like me and running around like crazy while making dinner, I recommend prepping the chicken ahead of time, then storing it in the fridge until you’re ready to throw it in the pan. This shaves off a few minutes and makes life much easier!
• Kid-Friendly Tips: I butterfly and pound the chicken to about ½ inch thick, which I find to be extra kid-friendly. Kids are typically weary of thick, chewy pieces of meat, so this solves that problem!  With the breading, this really turns out like a crispy fried chicken, and they absolutely love it!
• Keto Tips: Make sure your sides are low carb too- cauliflower rice or cauli mash go well, or a side of roasted veggies. 

Ingredient Notes

• Chicken breasts: I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts. If you prefer tenders or chicken thighs, those will work, too, but the cooking time may need to be adjusted. I recommend butterflying the chicken breasts to ½ inch thick and pounding them with a meat mallet. This tenderizes and allows the chicken to get crispier. 
• Kosher salt
• Pork panko: You can find this online or in specialty markets. Or you can make your own using my super easy pork panko recipe. 
• Egg
• Avocado oil or Olive oil
• Chicken broth: Use a store-bought version or make my homemade chicken broth. 
• Fresh lemon juice: I recommend squeezing fresh lemons for the juice, but a bottle of lemon juice will work in a pinch. 
• Capers
• Fresh parsley: You can swap this for dried parsley if that’s all you have on hand. 

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Make your dredging station. On a large plate or bowl, add the pork panko. On a separate plate or bowl, add the beaten egg.
2. Season the chicken on both sides with kosher salt.
3. Dredge both sides of the chicken breasts in the egg mixture, then in the pork panko, pressing lightly to encourage it to adhere.
4. Heat a large skillet (I used cast iron) over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the avocado oil. Sear the chicken breasts for about 5-7 minutes per side until golden brown. Don’t overcrowd the pan. You may need to cook your chicken in batches.
5. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
6. In the same skillet, add the capers, chicken stock, and lemon juice to the pan. Scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan, and simmer the sauce until it is reduced by half, for about 5-8 minutes.
7. Turn the heat off. Add the chopped parsley to the skillet and stir.
8. Serve the chicken warm, topped with the piccata sauce over zucchini noodles or hearts of palm noodles. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. 

The Ultimate Low-Carb Breading

Instead of dredging the chicken in flour and parmesan cheese, I dredged in pork panko! This is a super low-carb breading alternative that gets a super crispy, crunchy outer layer. Almond flour will work, too, but I find that pork panko is the best!

This saves a TON of carbs and calories, adds even more protein, and makes the chicken gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, keto & Whole30 compliant.

Lemon Caper Picatta Sauce

The best part of chicken piccata is, of course, the sauce. My chicken piccata sauce has chicken stock, lemon juice, and capers. That’s it! No white wine is needed! 

I make it in the same pan that the chicken was browned in to get all the brown bits that add tons of flavor to the sauce. Plus, any leftover breading helps to thicken the sauce just a tad and add a little nuttiness and flavor.

Expert Tips

• Pasta: My favorite keto-friendly noodles to use are hearts of palm spaghetti (Code TASTESLOVELY for 15% off). They taste the closest to regular noodles and are the most convenient to prepare. You could also use zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash. If you don’t need this to be Whole30 + keto, you could use gluten-free or regular pasta.
• Breading: You can substitute almond flour for the pork panko. It’s just not as crunchy. I would not recommend substituting coconut flour.
• Parsley: You can use dried parsley instead of fresh parsley if you’re out of fresh parsley.
• Bone Broth: I use my homemade bone broth for the sauce since it has the best flavor. Store-bought works as well! My go-to store-bought bone broth is Kettle + Fire (code TASTESLOVELY for 20% off).

Serving Tips

I like to serve my keto chicken piccata with hearts of palm pasta. It makes the dish feel even more Italian. But you could serve it with your favorite cooked vegetable like these artichoke hearts or veggie noodles like spiralized zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash. It is also delicious with cauliflower rice.

You’re going to love the sunshiney brightness of this chicken recipe, and you’re going to really love how healthy it is for you!

Storage Tips

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in the air fryer, microwave, or oven.