Olive Garden’s Chicken Piccata is a delicious take on the classic with butter, lemon, capers, sun dried tomatoes and heavy cream. You won’t miss the restaurant version!
Looking for more fun Italian Copycat recipes? We love the Cheesecake Factory Chicken Madeira (Copycat) and Cheesecake Factory Pasta Da Vinci (Copycat) recipes too!
Olive Garden Chicken Piccata (Copycat)
Chicken Piccata is a classic recipe of capers, butter and lemon. The Olive Garden Version also adds in heavy cream and sun dried tomatoes which add a huge burst of flavor!
The original version at Olive Garden is served with slices of zucchini that are baked with Parmesan cheese. Here’s a great Parmesan Zucchini recipe you could serve along side this chicken piccata.
We also love to serve this with pasta, because, well, all Italian food is better with pasta. We find the recipe works best with angel hair spaghetti or thin spaghetti.
Please note, one of the most important things in this recipe is that you filet the chicken breasts into smaller, thinner pieces. This method was used on a healthier Teriyaki Chicken over on Cooking with Points.
How to butterfly a chicken breast:
- On a plastic cutting board (wood boards can contain scratches that can’t be cleaned effectively), place the chicken on the board.
- Place your hand over the top of the chicken, flat/open onto the chicken.
- Use a sharp knife (serrated preferred) to slice through the middle of the chicken breast , slowly through to the other side.
- You should have two equally thin pieces of chicken that are the same shape as it used to be when thicker.
What are Capers?
Capers are flower buds from a Caper Bush (also called a Finders Rose). You can’t actually eat raw capers off the bush as they’re much too bitter. When pickled they become much more mellow over time. They’re a mixture of a salt and acid which adds a punch of flavor to your recipes from pasta to bagels with lox.
How to make homemade Sun Dried Tomatoes:
Sun Dried tomatoes are expensive and actually easy to make (especially during the summer months when we’re overwhelmed with tomatoes!).
Wash your tomatoes and remove the seeds. Then sprinkle with a bit of salt and bake at 200 degrees until the texture is dried and chewy. Store in olive oil until you’re ready to use.
Looking for more Olive Garden Recipes?
Looking for more delicious Copycat Recipes?
- The Cheesecake Factory Farfalle with Chicken and Roasted Garlic (Copycat)
- Cheesecake Factory Chicken Bellagio (Copycat)
- Cheesecake Factory Louisiana Chicken Pasta (Copycat)
Tools used in the making of this Olive Garden Chicken Piccata Recipe:
Capers: No real substitution for these, I love this brand.
Sun Dried Tomatoes: Love this brand, great flavor and plumps up well in the recipe.
Skillet: Cast iron, enameled or not is my favorite skillet for creating a good sear and even heat in reducing sauces.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts halved into thinner cutlets
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 6 tablespoons butter divided
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 shallot minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup lemon juice fresh
- 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes chopped
- 1/4 cup capers rinsed
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- parsley chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper and coat in the flour.
- Add the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet on medium heat.
- Add the chicken and cook for 5-7 minutes on each side.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and add in the garlic and shallots and cook for 1 minute or until it gets aromatic.
- Add in the chicken broth and lemon juice and reduce the heat to medium, whisking well and cooking for 5-7 minutes until thickened (and can coat a spoon).
- Add the remaining butter, sun dried tomatoes, capers and the heavy cream to the pan and whisk well.
- Add the chicken back to the pan and coat with the sauce, letting it thicken for just 1-2 minutes before removing from the heat.
- Garnish with parsley if desired before serving.
Nutrition
Made this last night for dinner…..absolutely delicious. Will keep this recipe and make it again!
One of my favorites! Glad you enjoyed it Ann Marie and thank you for the 5 stars.
Love this recipe both for flavor and for ease of making
This is my mother & son’s favorite dish- and they love this particular recipe.
Can this be prepared an ahead of time and reheated for company?
Can you freeze this?
I’m sure you can 🙂
Used 18% cream (simmered little longer), reduced lemon to 1 tbsp Realemon, topped with a little parm … so good.
Thanks for the 5 stars, Lou!
Hi. I have to make this every week! My husband loves it and so do I. I’m sending a printed copy to my friend across the U.S. and I posted it on Facebook. Thank you!
That’s awesome!
Hi. I really want to make this for dinner tonight but we are using tilapia. Can I substitute the chicken for tilapia?
I haven’t tested it before. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out.
I made this tonight. It was so delicious! I used Kalamata olives in place of capers and two Roma tomatoes diced in place of sun dried and whole milk in place of heavy cream. A little onion in place of shallots. And a little grated Parmesan cheese to thicken sauce. A little improvising lol so beautiful and delicious! I will definitely making this again! Thank you for this awesome recipe ?
So glad you were able to customize it to what you had on hand, Andrea. Sounds delicious!
I made this today for my husband’s lunch. I didnt use tomatoes or cream didnt have them on hand. I was quite impressed. I served dish with crusty bread, salad n carrots. Will make again. Thanks
So glad you all enjoyed it.
This was the best main dish I have ever made! The additional time and ingredients to make the sauce was well worth it. Thank you for such a great recipe. My guests absolutely loved it. PS this is the first time I have ever posted a review on any recipe ever.
You’re so welcome, I’m so glad that you enjoyed it and so much to let me know! I feel honored 🙂 Hope to see you around in the comments of other recipes too!
D-Licious! I saved this recipe a while ago, and recently made it for company. I doubled the recipe, since I didn’t think that 1/2 of a chicken breast would be an adequate serving for one person. I’m glad that I did, since everyone had 2 pieces. I was quite concerned with the sodium content, so I used low-sodium chicken broth. The canned tomatoes had quite a bit of sodium, but I couldn’t do anything about that. WE love capers, but even if you rinse them, they still have quite a bit of sodium. All in all, this was a huge hit with our guests, so I saved this recipe in my “Dinners for Company” file. It was truly quite special.
I’m so glad you were able to customize it to your liking. I appreciate the 5 star rating, Angelina.
This recipe was awesome!!!
Thank you for posting it.
George
You’re welcome!
This recipe turned out amazing. Followed the recipe exactly and then added Parmesan and doodles at the end. So delicious and a beautiful plate.
Thanks, Al! So glad you enjoyed it!!
I just found your page today. Your copycat recipes look very close based on your ingredients. As a photographer I am enjoying the photos the most.
Thanks Kirk!
This recipe was a big hit in my household! Everyone absolutely loved it! It made such a beautiful dish and so delicious! Definitely a family favorite! Thank You for sharing!
So glad it was a hit!! Love to hear that!
Any chance you know the calories and fat nutrition?
Sorry I don’t have the nutritional facts for recipes on the site but I know there are a lot of free resources on the internet from when I’ve cooked for clients with low calorie diets.
Definitely must try this!
Thanks Erin!
This looks really flavorful! Perfect for weekend dinner!
Thanks Toni!
Your pictures are making me hungry! That looks so delicious!
Oh my this looks amazing. I can’t wait to make this at home!!
Enjoy!!
Yum, this looks amazing! Need to make soon!
This looks amazing!! Need to make soon 🙂
Copycat recipes are my favorite and this one tops the list.
I love a good copycat too! Enjoy!!