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Keeping things colorful and cozy today with this Sage Lemon Butter Chicken Piccata with Mashed Cauliflower. Lightly breaded chicken seared until golden with fresh sage, lemon, and butter. The chicken is finished in a simple white wine pan sauce with burst cherry tomatoes. It’s simple but mouthwatering. Especially when served over creamy mashed cauliflower hinted with garlic. This dish makes great use of those end of summer tomatoes. It’s the late summer dinner that everyone will love!
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I’ve been waiting to share this recipe for far too long now.
I first made it a couple of weeks ago when I had one too many cherry tomatoes in my kitchen. I immediately fell in love with the recipe. But something about this dish just felt too cozy to share mid-August, so I waited until today. The second week of September feels like the perfect timing for this chicken piccata. It uses up all those end of summer tomatoes, but yet feels cozy with the addition of warming sage (my favorite fall herb) and super creamy mashed cauliflower…a new favorite side dish that I never expected to love as much as I do.
It’s the perfect transitional recipe to slowly step away from summer and head into the cooler fall days.
And most importantly, it’s just really good. The chicken soaks up all that delicious buttery pan sauce. It’s perfectly seasoned with fresh sage, thyme, and lemon. The mashed cauliflower is surprisingly satisfying, so creamy and so delicious.
When paired together, I could not love this hearty, but healthy…ish dinner more.
Here is how you make this chicken piccata. It has a few steps, but comes together in under an hour.
First up, start with the chicken. If you’ve made chicken parmesan this is very similar. Just dredge the chicken through a mix of flour and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Then pan-sear it in a hot skillet. This allows the chicken to form a nice golden crust on the outside. Using thin chicken cutlets is key. The thin chicken cooks evenly and browns nicely in a short amount of time.
Tip: if your grocery store does not carry chicken cutlets, as a swap, try asking your butcher to pound out chicken breasts for you. This is a super easy task to do at home, but truthfully…it’s just not that much fun. The butcher can quickly pound out the chicken and save you the trouble…and the mess.
Also, you can easily make this chicken piccata gluten-free by replacing the flour with almond flour. Or your favorite gluten-free flour blend (I like cup4cup).
Once the chicken has been pan-seared, add in some lemon slices and fresh sage. The lemon and sage infuse the butter while crisping up, becoming even more flavorful. Reserve these for topping.
In the same pan, add a splash of white wine and fresh cherry tomatoes. This creates a lemony tomato sauce with capers and fresh thyme. It’s not a traditional chicken piccata sauce by any means, but it’s quick, and it sure is good.
While the chicken is cooking, work on the mashed cauliflower. This is SO EASY.
Simply, boil some cauliflower florets, drain, and mash with a little cream cheese (mostly for extra creaminess), butter, and salt. I know it seems so simple, but don’t knock the mashed cauliflower until you try it. It’s ultra-smooth, so creamy, and really does taste like mashed potatoes, just a smidge lighter.
It’s the perfect healthy side dish to serve with the lemony, sage chicken. When served together, the two create a really delicious dinner that’s great for any night of the week!
Since everyone is in town for my brother’s wedding this weekend, I’m really excited to make this for them tonight. I already know this is going to be a new favorite. Nothing not to love!
If you make this sage lemon butter chicken piccata with mashed cauliflower be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Sage Lemon butter Chicken Piccata with Mashed Cauliflower.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken cutlets, or 2 boneless chicken breasts, sliced in half horizontally
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, (can use GF flour too)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice + 1 addition lemon, sliced
- 12 fresh sage leaves
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons capers
Mashed Cauliflower
- 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2-3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
Instructions
- 1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place the flour and parmesan in a shallow bowl and dredge the chicken through the flour mix, pressing gently to adhere. 2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the chicken and sear on both sides until golden, about 3-5 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the skillet.3. To the same skillet, add the butter, sage, and lemon slices. Sear the sage until crisp, and the lemon until golden on each side, about 1 minute. Remove the sage and lemon from the pan and add to the plate with the chicken. 4. To the skillet, add the tomatoes, thyme, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook until the tomatoes begin to pop, about 4-5 minutes. Pour in the wine and lemon juice, cook 1 minute. Add the capers and season with salt and pepper. Return the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes or until warmed through. 5. Meanwhile, make the mashed cauliflower. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add cauliflower florets and cook until tender, 10 minutes. Drain well.6. In a food processor, combine the cauliflower, garlic, cream cheese, and butter, season to taste with salt and pepper. Pulse until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. 7. To serve, spoon the mashed cauliflower onto plates. Add the chicken, sage and lemon slices. Then spoon over the pan sauce and tomatoes. Top with fresh thyme.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Made it per your recipe and it tasted awesome. This has become one of my new favorites.
Hey Susan,
I am thrilled that you liked the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a go! Have an awesome week:) xTieghan
This was phenomenal! So simple and mostly ingredients I usually always have. It smelled delicious too. Def think I’ll repeat this meal often.. and the mashed cauliflower was so good even my husband enjoyed it.
I used the gluten free flour. I also only had scallion cream cheese for the mash but that actually was perfect. And I don’t cook with wine, so I actually used it with some white grape juice and worked out!
Thanks!
Thank you Amal! I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you! xTieghan
This is definitely a keeper as my husband likes to say.
Thank you so much Holly! I am so happy this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
I Loved this chicken recipe, the cauliflower mash was too garlicky for me and was difficult to eat 🙁 I would definitely make again but either cook the garlic a little or use powder.
Thank you! I am sorry it was a bit too garlicky for you, and hopefully turns out better with less next time! xTieghan
Question – did this recipe again (still delicious) and had the same odd occurrence: when I add the thyme to the pan the thyme kind of jumps all over the place and makes firecracker noises. Do I need to turn down the heat or is there another trick so the thyme doesn’t go wild?
Hey Kam,
Thanks so much for trying the recipe. I would recommend turning the heat down a bit:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This recipe is my new favourite! I have made it twice in the past two weeks. The first time I made it my husband wasn’t home and when he came home for dinner he thought I had ordered it from a restaurant he thought it was soo good!
I didn’t use capers because I couldn’t find them at the grocery store but it was still delicious!
Haha that is too great! I am really glad you both enjoyed this recipe, Candace! xTieghan
I’m making this for my guests on Tuesday. Thank you. My mouth is already watering!
Thank you so much Wendy! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Outstanding!!!!
Thank you Josephine! xTieghan
This was so good! I just bought a cast iron skillet and this was the perfect recipe for it. My family loved it!
So happy to hear that, Tricia! Thank you for trying this one! xTieghan
Wow! This dish was amazingly delicious! Lots of butter may be the reason, but I highly recommend it for a special occasion. I just added fresh green beans. I want to save this recipe for future Sunday dinners with my family in any season. Thank you for creating it!
Hi Julie! I am so happy this turned out so well for you! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
So so good! I did not have as much lemon as I thought (only one) so I had to use it for juice and skip the lemon slices part. Still turned out great. The cauliflower mash was amazing and so easy – I’ll probably use that as a side for other meals! I’m not a huge cooked tomato fan so I added them in toward the very end and they still got lots of flavor.
Yes love that!! I am really glad this turned out so well for you, Kam! xTieghan
Chef Tieghan ~ We truly enjoyed this beautiful meal! Your photography is always stellar!
God bless your hard-working hands.
You are too sweet! Thank you so much! xTieghan
This was absolutely DELICIOUS!!!!!! I could not love this recipe more! The textures and flavors are just perfect. I have tried other mashed cauliflower recipes, but none of them taste as wonderful as this one! The capers, the crispy sage… I can’t wait to eat the leftovers.
That is so amazing to hear!! Thank you so much, Kelly! xTieghan
This was sooo good! It comes together quickly and is company worthy. I subbed tomato slices for the cherry tomatoes because that is what I had in hand. Sage came from my garden. I did not make the cauliflower mash, but sautéed squash which I had on hand. Delish!
Thank you so much Carol! I am really glad this recipe turned out so amazing for you! xTieghan
So good. Don’t skip the steps though our chicken was thicker so I removed the tomatoes, covered the pan and simmered for a while.
Thank you so much Carolyn!! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan