I love lemon piccata chicken so much, and I’ve figured out how to make it light, tangy and totally gluten free. Oh, and my lemon picatta chicken is best enjoyed in a bowl. This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosures.
I love a good lemon picatta chicken recipe, but why do so many recipes have to be so complicated?
Since our family is home a lot these days, and we eat most of our meals at home, I decided to make a basic and lemon piccata chicken recipe using the ingredients I already had on hand.
This is type of recipe you will find when you sign up to receive my Weekly Gluten-Free Meals Plans.
I didn’t have any chicken breasts, which I’d normally use. Instead, I had a package of chicken tenderloins in my freezer. I was craving some lemony chicken, so I figured the tenderloins would have to do.
So instead of calling this a traditional lemon picatta chicken recipe, I decided to call it a lemon piccata chicken bowl recipe. Everything tastes better in a bowl anyway, right?
Ingredients Needed
A good lemon piccata chicken recipe will start with a few pantry-staple ingredients including:
Cornstarch: Cornstarch coats the chicken nicely and is gluten free. I use it instead of flour. You can also use tapioca, potato starch, or a gluten-free flour. (I think cornstarch – or any starch – is better than gluten-free flour in this recipe.)
White wine: I always keep dry white wine, for cooking, in my pantry. Wine will enhance the flavor of the lemon sauce. You can also get it online.
Capers: I always have a jar of capers in my pantry. They are really inexpensive if you buy them at Trader Joe’s, so stock up next time you’re there or buy them online for cheap too.
Chicken Broth: You’ll need a box of chicken broth to make this recipe. I typically use the Kirkland brand chicken broth from Costco because it’s gluten free and tastes great.
Related Reading: Are these 10 Kirkland Brand Products Gluten-Free? Nima Tested
You’ll also need a few fresh ingredients, including:
Chicken: You can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins.
Garlic: Fresh garlic is always best, but it’s okay to use jarred or frozen garlic squares, or garlic powder, as a last resort.
Butter: I use a dairy-free butter, but any butter will work. Who doesn’t have butter in their fridge these days?
Lemon: You’ll use both the zest and juice of a fresh lemon, but if you don’t have a lemon, you can use jarred lemon juice instead. The taste isn’t as fresh, but it works nonetheless.
How to Make this Recipe
I know you will love how simple and quick this recipe comes together.
First heat a non-stick pan with a little avocado oil (or any high heat vegetable oil) over medium-high heat.
Related Reading: Everything You Need to Know about Healthy and Gluten-Free Cooking Oils
Coat each bite-sized piece of chicken with a mixture of cornstarch, salt and pepper, and then cook all pieces in hot oil until all sides are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Do not overcrowd the pan.
Once the chicken is cooked through and slightly brown on the outside, remove it from the pan and set aside.
Lower heat to medium and add butter to the pan until melted, then add the garlic and cook it for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Next, add the white wine, chicken broth, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
Once mixture is lightly boiling, add a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce, then add capers and mix well.
Finally, add the cooked chicken pieces to the pan and mix until all the chicken bits are coated in the sauce.
Serve atop your favorite gluten-free pasta inside a bowl. I recommend either Tinkyada brown rice pasta or Jovial gluten-free brown rice pasta. These are my go-to brands.
The Taste Test
You will love the buttery and lemony-ness of this dish. The sauce is full of flavor and so delicious. You’ll wish you had more of it.
The chicken is tender on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside. It’s perfect!
And best of all, because the chicken is already cut into bite-sized pieces, you don’t need a knife to eat this. Just a bowl and a fork and you’re set for a cozy meal curled up on your couch while binge watching Netflix.
More Recipes
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
- Gluten-Free Orange Chicken
- Fall Off the Bone Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs
- Sign up HERE to receive my weekly gluten-free meal plans, full recipes, grocery lists and more!
Gluten-Free Lemon Chicken Piccata Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 lb skinless, boneless chicken tenderloins or breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 3 Tbsp avocado oil or other high-heat vegetable oil
- 2 Tbsp butter or dairy-free butter
- 4 garlic cloves chopped
- 1/3 cup wine wine
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice approx juice of one lemon
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest approx zest of one lemon
- 3 Tbsp capers drained
Cornstarch slurry
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp water
Instructions
- Heat a large non-stick saucepan with oil over medium-high heat.
- Coat each bite-sized piece of chicken with a mixture of cornstarch, salt and pepper, and then cook all pieces in hot oil until all sides are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Do not overcrowd the pan.
- Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pan and set aside.
- Lower heat to medium and add butter to the pan until melted, then add the garlic and cook it for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add white wine, chicken broth, lemon juice, and lemon zest to the pan and heat until lightly boiling.
- Once mixture is lightly boiling, add a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce, whisking continuously until slurry is well incorporated into mixture and sauce is slightly thickened. Add capers and chicken pieces to mixture and mix until all the chicken pieces are generously coated in the sauce.
- Serve over your favorite gluten-free pasta. It tastes best when served inside a bowl. 😉
Thank you. And yes I love garlic. Hehe
Love everything that includes garlic, and this has a lot I’m also trying to switch to a healthier lifestyle and started to mine for healthy recipes like yours. Also, I’m training with SportMe home workout app, and I managed to get rid of some pounds. Your blog posts are super inspiring for me in this phase, thanks!