Chicken Francese is a family favorite Italian-American meal. With its crispy coating and creamy lemon butter sauce, you will be going back for seconds and thirds! This to-die-for meal is ready in just 45 minutes!
There are few meals out there that we find ourselves quite literally licking the plate clean. Bad table manners? Definitely. But we’re not even sorry about it. It is that good. It’s all in that creamy lemon and butter sauce. It simmers and reduces and concentrates all of that goodness into one of the best sauces we’ve ever had. The best part about this is that all of that deliciousness is ready in just 45 minutes! Move over chicken piccata, there’s a new favorite Italian-American dish in the house!
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Chicken Cut Options for Chicken Francese:
You have a few options when it comes to what chicken you use. If you want to use chicken breasts, you want to be sure they are thin. There are a few options on how to do this:
- Cut each chicken breast in half horizontally, giving you 2 thin chicken breast pieces.
- Use chicken cutlets.
- Pound the chicken breasts thin.
Alternatively, you can always use boneless skinless chicken thighs if you prefer dark meat. Boneless skinless chicken thighs are typically thin enough that you shouldn’t need to pound thin.
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Doubling Recipe Instructions:
If doubling the recipe, be sure to add in extra butter and olive oil in between batches. You can add all of the cooked chicken pieces to a 9×13 pan and pour the sauce over the chicken and warm in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes for the final steps.
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Sauce Thickness:
This sauce is fairly thin. If you want a thicker sauce, sprinkle in 1-2 teaspoons of flour into the sauce and stir it in.
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White Wine:
Some home chefs love white wine in their Chicken Francese. If you are going to add in white wine, we highly recommend you use a good quality white wine. Cooking wine does not have the same flavor as standard drinking wine, and unfortunately just has a ton of salt. We do not recommend it. In a white wine butter sauce, you want to use quality ingredients.
Add 1/2 cup white wine when you add in the chicken broth. You will also need to reduce the amount of chicken broth down to 1 1/2 cups to account for the extra liquid.
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Serving Suggestions:
We believe nothing goes better with chicken francese than a large bed of mashed potatoes or pasta to soak up any remaining sauce.
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Fresh vs. Bottled Lemon Juice
When lemon is the star of the show in a sauce like francese, you really need to use freshly squeezed lemon juice.
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Storage and Reheating Instructions:
Chicken francese is best served immediately. However, you can store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat in a skillet over medium-low heat until warmed through.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious chicken dinner recipes:
- Easy Chicken Teriyaki
- Classic Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Baked Honey Dijon Chicken and Potatoes
- Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
I’ve made this twice now (once was for a dinner party of 16, so I doubled it), and it’s a HUGE HIT! In fact, my father-in-law says it’s his favorite thing I’ve ever made (and I’ve been in the family and cooking for them for 17 years)! 😂🙌🏼 I serve it with linguini and crusty French bread. Delicious! 🍋
Wonderful!
I had a similar recipe but lost it ☹️ So happy to find this one ! Tried it & loved it , & so easy !!!
I made your meatloaf several times and was quite good
Delicious! My family couldn’t get enough of this dish.
The recipe picture shows a bed of spaghetti but the recipe doesn’t mention spaghetti. I guess I am a little puzzled or stupid. The recipe sounds fabulous.
Pasta is mentioned in the serving suggestions area …
Amazing recipe. Thank you for sharing. When I made it, I chopped & measured ingredients earlier in the day. That allowed me time to focus on cooking when it was time to eat. The prep time was about an hour. Cook time was right on. Everyone loved the chicken. It was moist, perfect lemon flavor in the sauce, but needed a little more sauce — it was a great hit. Made with spaghetti.
It’s a lemon garlic party in my mouth! I only had half & half (maybe less than a cup) & it worked out perfectly.
Wondering if 4 eggs is a typo as 2 would have easily been enough to coat 8 pieces (4 breasts cut in half).
Definitely could be called Comfort Food if served with noodles.
Wonderful
First, this meal was delicious!! Second, it is most definitely NOT a 30-minute meal. You cannot cook 8 chicken breasts in one pan, so the cook time for the chicken alone is 16 minutes. Plus, the recipe calls for 15 minutes to simmer the sauce and 10 minutes in the oven. That doesn’t include prep time, which is not insignificant given the number of lemons that need to be squeezed and the garlic that needs to be minced. Again, this is a delicious recipe, just don’t start cooking at 7:00 unless you want to eat at 9:00.
It all depends on how you use each minute and the tools you use. I agree that it takes more like 45-60 minutes. And if you’re already starving, that smell of lemon & garlic will drive you crazy, it’s so good!