Chicken Francese

This Chicken Francese recipe is lightly battered chicken cutlets, pan-fried to perfection, and served with a super easy and flavorful pan sauce with hints of lemon. It’s an easy-to-make and satisfying meal that even your picky eaters will devour!

What is Chicken Francese?

In Italian, the word “Francese” means French. So is Chicken Francese French or Italian?

Technically, this is an Italian-American dish, that is modeled after a traditional Italian dish of veal “indorato” which means “encased in gold”. When Italian immigrants couldn’t get their hands on the more expensive meat, they made it with chicken cutlets instead.

While it’s not entirely clear why the Italian American immigrants added “french” to the name of the dish, there’s some speculation that people in those times thought that calling something French made it seem fancier.

Basically, Chicken Francese is a simple chicken dish made with thin cutlets that have been breaded in egg and flour and fried until golden brown. A tasty sauce is made from pan drippings and a bit of chicken stock, wine, and lemon juice.

It’s so easy, and completely delish! You are going to love this gourmet chicken recipe so much. Maybe even as much as you will enjoy making Chicken Piccata or my reader-favorite Tuscan Chicken recipe.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

1. Restaurant Worthy Meal – This is a gourmet dish that’s on so many fancy restaurant menus! The thing is, it’s really not very difficult to make, and it uses very minimal ingredients. How they get away with charging so much for it is their business I guess, but I think my version of this classic Italian chicken dish is better than anything I’ve had while eating out.
2. Fresh Ingredients – Because Chicken Francese uses so few ingredients, it’s really important that they are all fresh and delicious!
3. One Pan Meal – I’ve you’ve been here before, you might already know that I love making pan-fried chicken meals that are done all in one pan. This is my new favorite.

Key Ingredients In Chicken Francese

Here’s what you need to make this deliciously simple Italian Chicken dish:

Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

• Chicken: Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into thin cutlets are one of my favorite things to cook using this stovetop method. You can also use chicken thighs if you prefer.
• Salt, pepper, and garlic powder: Less is more when it comes to classic Italian food. These three seasonings are all you need to make this dish delicious.
• Flour and egg: A light breading is made with seasoned flour and two beaten eggs.
• Oil and Butter: I like to pan-fry chicken in both! this is how you get the best crust on the meat.
• Stock and Wine: The sauce for our Chicken Francese can be made with only chicken stock or a combination of stock and wine.
• Lemon: Only freshly squeezed lemon juice, please! This adds a tangy note to the sauce. I also like to serve the chicken with fresh lemon wedges.

How To Make Chicken Francese

1. Pound the Chicken: Place the chicken pieces on a cutting board, then cover them with a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Use a meat tenderizer to pound the chicken until each piece is  ½ cm or ¼ inch thick, and all of the pieces are pounded to the same thickness. Then season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Get the Pan Ready: Add the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to a skillet, and heat to melt the butter.
3. Dredge Chicken: Meanwhile, combine 4 tablespoons of flour with the garlic powder in a shallow dish, and season with the remaining salt and pepper. In another shallow dish, whisk the eggs. Dredge the chicken first in the flour, and then in the egg. Only do half of the chicken to start, we’ll be cooking it in two batches.
4. Pan-Fry: Immediately after dipping in the egg, add the chicken cutlets to the hot skillet, being sure not to overcrowd the pan. Cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes per side, or until nicely browned and fully cooked. The internal temperature of the chicken should reach 165°F/74C° when checked with an instant-read thermometer. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

1. Start the Sauce: To the same skillet, melt the remaining butter and add 1 tablespoon of flour. Whisk to combine.
2. Finish the Sauce: Add the chicken stock and white wine (if using) to the skillet. Deglaze the pan, scraping off any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. There is so much flavor in those little bits! Let the sauce simmer and reduce until it’s thickened, and the consistency of heavy cream. Stir in the fresh lemon juice, and taste. Add any needed seasonings to perfect your sauce.
3. Add Chicken: Add the cooked chicken to the sauce, remove from the heat, and spoon the sauce over the cutlets before serving. Garnish with fresh parsley and lemon wedges.

Chicken Francese Recipe Tips

• Use fresh, high-quality ingredients! This recipe is beautiful because it’s simple, and with simple recipes, it’s so, so important that all of your ingredients are the best possible. The chicken stock should be homemade or high quality, and fresh lemon juice is a must.
• Flour then egg. The dredging process for this recipe is different than many other fried foods. Remember to dust the chicken cutlets with flour first, and dredge through the egg just before adding to the pan.
• For extra lemon flavor, add lemon wedges to the pan while you simmer the sauce. You’ll pull the juice and the oils from the lemon, and the sauce will have a stronger flavor.
• To make the sauce creamier, add ¼ – ½ cup of heavy cream to the sauce at the very end.
• Cook with or without wine. Chicken Francese is amazing when made with just stock as the base of the sauce, but adding a dry white wine will make it even better. I recommend using half stock and half wine for the best sauce.

Storing Tips

Enjoy leftovers for up to 3 days! Keep everything stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

This dish is really best enjoyed fresh. That said, you can freeze Chicken Francese if you would like. I suggest storing the sauce separately from the chicken cutlets and warming them separately before combining them to serve.

Chicken Francese Variations

There are many recipes here that are similar, but slightly different than this one. Try something new next time!

• Chicken Piccata is another Italian chicken recipe. In that one, the chicken is breaded with flour only, rather than the flour and egg coating in Chicken Francese. The sauce is also tangy and lovely with the addition of capers.
• My Lemon Chicken is also breaded with flour only, and it has a similar sauce, but with the addition of heavy cream to make it thick and extra rich.
• Chicken Stroganoff is a pan-fried chicken recipe with an Eastern European spin, in a creamy sauce with lots of mushrooms.

What To Serve With Chicken Francese

Choosing which sides to serve with your homemade gourmet chicken Francese doesn’t need to be difficult! This chicken is delicious, with a mild flavor, so it will pair well with many different vegetables and starches.

• I love serving this chicken with creamy Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Broccolini. I feel like it’s a very authentic way to enjoy Italian dishes with chicken.
• You might also enjoy chicken Francese with pasta on the side. Simple Olive Oil Pasta with garlic or Creamy Lemon Pasta would be my choice.
• As a bonus, serve up a fresh batch of copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks or a Caesar Salad with homemade dressing.

FAQs

Chicken Francese has such great flavor for being such a simple recipe! It’s ready so quickly, you can even make this one on these extra busy weeknights. Be sure to Pin it!