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Thinly cut chicken breasts, lightly breaded, pan-fried, and coated in an irresistible lemon sauce. Chicken Francese is a delicious and impressive dish, perfect for weeknight dinners or for serving guests!

A plate of mashed potatoes and chicken francese with a small green leafy salad.

Before You Get Started

  • Dry White Wine: A sauvignon blanc or a pinot grigio work best in dishes like this. If you prefer not to cook with alcohol, you can replace it with chicken broth instead.
  • Chicken Cutlets: You can buy chicken already sliced into cutlets, or you can DIY it! Just take two evenly-sized chicken breasts and slice them in half horizontally, like a hamburger bun. Keep everything as similarly-sized as possible, but don’t stress if it’s not perfect. You’ll be able to make them the same thickness during prep.

What I Love About This Recipe

  • Chicken Francese is, ironically, a classic Italian-American dish that is loaded with rich flavor. Thin chicken cutlets, lightly breaded then pan-fried and covered in a beautiful white-wine-lemon sauce. A little reminiscent of chicken piccata, without the capers.
  • This is one of those “easy enough for any night, elegant enough for a special night” sort of recipes. Pair your chicken francese with a side salad and mashed potatoes or pasta and you’ve got a meal that feels fancy and is guaranteed to impress. Perfect for the holidays or an anniversary dinner.
Lightly pan-fried Chicken Francese in a large skillet with lemon sauce, topped with a sautéed lemon coin.
A plate of mashed potatoes and chicken francese with a small green leafy salad.

Cheryl’s Tips

  • It’s important that the chicken cutlets are roughly the same size and especially the same thickness. If they vary too much, they’ll cook at different rates and won’t be ready at the same time.

Recipe Variations

  • Make it Gluten Free: Use gluten-free all-purpose flour and make sure the chicken broth is 100% gluten-free.
  • Make it Dairy Free: Use a plant-based butter.

Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.

Lightly pan-fried Chicken Francese in a large skillet with lemon sauce, topped with a sautéed lemon coin.
Recipe By: Cheryl Malik

Chicken Francese

Prep 20 minutes
Cook 20 minutes
Total 40 minutes
A classic, elegant dish, easy enough for weeknights, delicious enough for events!
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4 servings

Equipment

  • Cutting board
  • food-safe plastic wrap
  • meat mallet or rolling pin
  • Shallow bowl
  • 2 whisks
  • medium mixing bowl
  • Large skillet
  • Tongs
  • Large wooden spoon
  • Small bowl
  • Fork

Ingredients

For the Pan-Fried Chicken

  • 4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets approximately 3-4 ounces each, same size and thickness
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • salt to taste
  • freshly cracked black pepper to taste
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • oil of choice for frying; avocado oil, peanut oil, canola oil

For the Lemon Sauce

  • 2 tablespoons salted butter at room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon salted butter at room temperature
  • lemon coins ¼-inch thick, from half of 1 medium lemon
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice from half of 1 medium lemon

Serving Suggestions (All Optional)

  • chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

  • Place 4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets on cutting board. Cover chicken cutlets with sheet of plastic wrap, then pound each cutlet with meat mallet or rolling pin until cutlets are approximately ¼-inch-thick at all points.
  • Add ¼ cup all-purpose flour, salt, and freshly cracked black pepper to shallow bowl. Whisk to incorporate. Set aside.
  • Crack 2 large eggs directly into medium mixing bowl and add 2 tablespoons water. Whisk ingredients together well until fully incorporated into smooth egg wash. Set aside.
  • Place large skillet on stovetop over medium-high heat. When skillet is warm, add oil of choice (approximately 2 to 4 tablespoons, as needed). Continue heating skillet until oil is hot and shimmery.
  • Uncover chicken cutlets and discard plastic wrap. One by one, dredge chicken cutlets through flour mixture. Gently press cutlet into flour to coat completely, then shake any excess flour back into bowl. Repeat on other side.
  • Dip each floured cutlet into egg wash, coating both sides of cutlet completely. Let any excess drip back into bowl, then place cutlets in skillet.
  • Pan-fry cutlets 2 minutes or until golden underneath, then flip cutlets over and fry 2 minutes on other side.
  • When cutlets are golden on both sides, carefully remove cutlets from skillet and transfer to large plate. Set aside. Reduce heat under skillet to medium.
  • Add 2 tablespoons salted butter and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour to small mixing bowl. Use fork to mash ingredients together until butter and flour combine into paste. Set aside.
  • Add 1 tablespoon salted butter to skillet and let melt, then add lemon coins. Sauté lemon coins 1 to 2 minutes, then flip coins over and sauté 1 to 2 minutes more.
  • Pour in ½ cup dry white wine and stir to incorporate, making sure to scrape up any browned bits of food that may have stuck to bottom of skillet.
  • After 30 seconds, or once smell of alcohol has lessened, add ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth and 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Stir to incorporate, then bring mixture to simmer.
  • Add butter-flour paste to skillet and stir to incorporate. Simmer 1 minute or until paste is fully incorporated, stirring constantly.
  • Retun chicken cutlets to pan. Turn cutlets over 3 to 4 times to coat all sides in sauce, then simmer cutlets in sauce 1 minute.
  • After 1 minute, transfer cutlets to serving plates. Spoon additional sauce over tops of cutlets, garnish with chopped fresh parsley if desired, and serve warm.
  • White Wine: If you don’t want to cook with alcohol, replace the white wine with an equal amount of chicken broth.

Approximate Information for One Serving

Serving Size: 1servingCalories: 312calProtein: 29gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 188mgSodium: 246mgPotassium: 517mgTotal Carbs: 9gFiber: 0.3gSugar: 1gNet Carbs: 9gVitamin A: 432IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 28mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

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Cheryl Malik

In addition to being a certified health coach, certified yoga instructor, and mom of 3, Cheryl is also the recipe developer, editor-in-chief, food photographer, and passionate foodie behind 40 Aprons. Having spent the last 10+ years as a food blogger, she's become known for her flavorful recipes, detailed instructions, gorgeous photography, and down-to-earth approach to food and cooking in general.

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