Chicken Paillard with Lemon-Herb Butter Sauce
A recipe for chicken paillard with a bright and citrusy lemon-herb butter sauce, made by pounding chicken breasts into thin cutlets and cooking them quickly in a skillet.
To achieve a delicious and elegant chicken dish, it's essential to pound the chicken into thin, even cutlets. This technique helps the chicken cook quickly and evenly, without drying out. By doing so, the chicken develops a golden crust and stays juicy, making it a far cry from the dry and stringy results often associated with boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
## How to Cook Chicken Cutlets Without Drying Them Out
One of the main challenges when cooking chicken breasts is their uneven thickness, which can lead to overcooking in the thinner parts before the thicker parts are fully cooked. To overcome this, it's recommended to pound the chicken into thin, even cutlets. This solution ensures that the chicken cooks evenly from edge to center, while remaining juicy. In just a few minutes, the cutlets develop a light golden crust and cook through.
## A Quick Pan Sauce That Pulls It All Together
After searing the chicken, the fond in the pan becomes the base for a quick pan sauce. By deglazing the skillet with wine and stock, the flavorful browned bits are incorporated into the sauce. Then, cold butter is swirled in, allowing it to melt gradually and emulsify evenly into the sauce, creating a rich and glossy consistency. The addition of lemon zest and juice, as well as fresh parsley, chives, and tarragon, brightens the flavors and adds a burst of herbal freshness.
## Fast, Easy, and Elegant
This chicken paillard recipe is not only delicious, but it also comes together quickly, in about 30 minutes, using just one pan and a handful of ingredients. It's a dish that's refined enough to serve on special occasions, yet easy enough to make for a weeknight meal. The ingredients used in this recipe include: | Ingredient | Quantity | | --- | --- | | All-purpose flour | 1/2 cup (2 1/4 ounces; 64 g) | | Diamond Crystal kosher salt | 2 teaspoons, divided | | Freshly ground black pepper | 1 teaspoon, divided | | Boneless, skinless chicken breasts | 2 medium (about 6 to 8 ounces each; 170 to 227 g each) | | Extra-virgin olive oil | 1/4 cup (60 ml), divided | | Dry white wine | 3/4 cup (180 ml) | | Homemade chicken stock or store-bought low-sodium chicken broth | 1/2 cup (120 ml) | | Garlic | 1 medium clove, grated | | Unsalted butter | 5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces; 71 g), cut into ½-inch pieces and chilled | | Lemon zest | 1 teaspoon, plus 1 tablespoon fresh juice, divided | | Fresh flat-leaf parsley | 2 tablespoons (18 g), divided | | Chives | 2 tablespoons (about 10 g), divided | | Tarragon leaves | 2 teaspoons (about 3 g), optional, plus more for garnish | | Flaky sea salt | for sprinkling |
