Weeknight Chicken Francese
Chicken francese is a simple yet delicious dinner made of juicy thin-sliced chicken breasts that are seared, then smothered in a lemon and white wine butter sauce!
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 302kcal
Ingredients
Chicken
- 4 thin-sliced chicken breasts ** see chef tip #2
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 2 Tbsp milk water will also work
- 3 Tbsp olive or avocado oil
White wine and lemon butter sauce
- 1 whole lemon seeds removed and thinly sliced
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 cup dry white wine such as a chardonnay
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
Prepare
- To a shallow bowl or dish, add 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1 tsp kosher salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Stir to combine.
- In another shallow bowl or dish, add 2 large eggs and 2 Tbsp milk. Use a fork or whisk to combine well.
- Line a baking sheet with a paper towel and top it with a wire cooling rack. Set this nearby the stove, as this will be where you put the chicken after cooking.
Bread chicken and cook
- Heat a large skillet or pan over a heat in between MED and MED HIGH.
- While pan is heating up, dredge 4 thin-sliced chicken breasts (one at at time) in the flour, turning to coat both sides.
- Add 3 Tbsp olive or avocado oil to hot pan.
- Transfer the flour dredged chicken breasts to the egg mixture (one at a time), turning to coat. Add to hot pan and cook for about 3-4 minutes per side, or until golden brown and the chicken is cooked through to 165°F.
- Remove chicken breasts to the wire rack you prepared earlier.
Make sauce
- Discard any remaining oil, then place skillet back on the stove over MED heat.
- Add the slices from 1 whole lemon to the hot skillet and cook for about 30 seconds per side. Remove lemon slices to the wire rack with the chicken.
- Add 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, and once melted, add 2 Tbsp all purpose flour and whisk well to combine. Cook for about a minute, to get the taste of raw flour out.
- Slowly pour in 2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth and 1/4 cup dry white wine, whisking as you pour, and then whisking very often until mixture simmers.
- Simmer for 3-4 minutes, then add 1/4 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and whisk another couple of minutes until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Finish and serve
- Add the chicken and lemon slices back to the skillet, spooning some sauce over the chicken.
- Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley and serve hot.
Notes
- This recipe makes 4 thin chicken breasts, which you're free to divide up into as many servings as you'd like.
- If you only have full-size chicken breasts, you can turn 2 of them into 4. You're going to slice the regular chicken breasts in half from right to left, opening them like a book. This is a good photo tutorial, although I don’t usually pound the chicken. The reason for using thinner cuts of chicken is that the chicken cooks quicker and more evenly.
- You're looking for chicken breasts that are somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick. If your thin-sliced chicken is still too thick, you can gently pound them until they're the right thickness.
Nutrition
Calories: 302kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 117mg | Sodium: 804mg | Potassium: 187mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 412IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 2mg
