Chicken Francaise is a crispy golden brown egg-dipped chicken cutlet that is served with a lemon butter sauce. You're going to love this Italian-American classic.
10ozchicken breast - boneless skinless2 cutlets - 5-6 ounces each
½cupflour
½teaspoonsalt
¼teaspoonblack pepper
2tablespoonolive oil -for frying
2tablespoonunsalted butter-for frying
Batter
2largeeggs
3tablespoonwater
1tablespoonall-purpose flour
1tablespoonRomano cheese-grated
½teaspoongarlic powder
½teaspoononion powder
2teaspoonfresh Italian parsley -finely chopped
Lemon Butter Sauce
2clovesgarlic -finely minced
¼cupdry white wine
¾cupchicken broth
2tablespoonlemon juice
4tablespoonunsalted butter-divided: 2 tablespoon to saute the garlic and 2 tablespoon to thicken the sauce.
1tablespoonall-purpose flour-to roll butter in to make beurre manie.
½teaspoonItalian parsley-finely chopped
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Instructions
Chicken
Place the chicken cutlets between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound the chicken until the cutlets are about ¼ inch thick.If any of the chicken breasts are thicker than half an inch, use a sharp knife to split the chicken breast in half. Think of it as butterflying the breast. You're just going to cut all the way through to make two cutlets out of one large breast.
Batter and Cook
Add the flour, salt and black pepper to one bowl and mix well.
In another bowl, add the lightly beaten eggs, water, Romano cheese, flour, garlic powder, onion powder, and chopped parsley, and mix all the ingredients together. This is the egg batter aka egg wash.
Add the butter and olive oil to a large frying pan on medium-high heat
Dredge the chicken breast in the seasoned flour, fully coating the breast.
Dip the floured chicken breast into the eggwash mixture and completely coat the cutlet.
When the pan is hot, add the battered chicken breasts to the hot pan. Cook for 2 -3 minutes per side until the cutlet is golden brown.
Place the prepared chicken breasts onto a baking sheet or casserole and place them on the middle rack of 350 degree preheated oven to finish cooking while you make the lemon butter sauce.*The sauce will only take 5 minutes to prepare, which is all the time the chicken needs to finish cooking.
Lemon Butter Sauce
Add two tablespoons of butter to a small saucepan over medium heat.
Add the garlic to the pan and cook for one minute.
Add the chicken broth, white wine, and lemon juice to the saucepot and bring to a light boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
Add the beurre manie (the butter pieces rolled in flour) to the pan and whisk it to thicken the lemon butter sauce.
Taste and reseason with salt and pepper if necessary and add the chopped Italian parsley to the sauce.
Remove the chicken Francaise from the oven and serve with the lemon butter sauce.
Notes
How to make Beurre ManieTake pieces of butter and roll them in flour, pushing the flour into the butter. The butter should be just a little soft.This method can be used to thicken any pan sauce or entree that is saucy.Can chicken Francese be made ahead of time?Yes, they can. The cooked cutlets can be made 3-4 hours ahead of time and kept refrigerated until ready to serve. To reheat the Chicken Francese, place them on a baking sheet in a 350 F oven for 15 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.Chef's SecretI did not use this method when making this sauce, but when making a lemon butter sauce, I will usually add one-half a teaspoon of brown sugar to the pan when sauteing the garlic. This cuts the acidity and adds more flavor to the sauce. It does not make it sweet.