Quick, juicy and delicious. Chicken Francaise is a wonderful, fast recipe that's perfect for a weeknight family meal. Learn how to make chicken Francaise with this quick recipe.
Mike's Recipe Rundown
- Taste: Lemony and bright, it offers a nice balance of citrus against the lightness of the sherry wine.
- Texture: The egg and flour coating really just soaks up the flavor of the sauce more, so this is a soft but firm bite. There's not really much crunch once you've spooned over your sauce. The egg and flour coating simply soak up all the saucey goodness.
- Difficulty - Intermediate: Overall this is a pretty easy recipe. Dip, cook until brown and make a sauce. Nothing incredibly difficult here.
- Pros: This is a delicious and quick meal. You get a ton of flavor in a dish that you can literally pull together in less than 30 minutes.
- Cons: This is somewhat similiar to chicken piccata, but it has a definitely has a different flavor profile. Where as that is more olive-y with the capers, this is more citrus and herbs. So, it really depends on what you're in the mood for.
- Would I make it again? Yep! This is an awesome quick dinner recipe.
Check out some of our other great recipes, like cajun shrimp and grits, smoked gouda mac and cheese, chicken tikka masala, or 29-hour, super tender sous vide chuck roast. Or, try one of my wife's favorites, my Bacon Lamb Sliders which are 100% flavor-bombs. .
What do I need to make Chicken Francaise
Chicken Francaise is a pretty simple dish to make. Two shallow tupperware containers work well for dredging your chicken in flour and egg. From there, you'll want a nice large frying pan (affiliate) to cook everything up in. Preferably a pan with a nice, thick bottom to evenly distribute the heat.
Nerd Chefs' Tips and Tricks
- Brining your chicken in a saltwater bath for about 8 hours can really relax the tendons in the muscle and really soak up the flavor of your sauce more. If you go this route, be more conservative with your salt, as the chicken will already be plenty salty.
- Cooking this on more of a medium will make sure you wind up with a nice golden brown color and cook it throughout. It's always a good idea to test your chicken with a meat thermometer to make sure it's up to temp.
- There is a wide range of how much sauce people use on their chicken francaise if you search the web for recipes. I like just enough to lightly spoon it over the breast. Some recipes swim in sauce. To me, that overpowers the chicken. The sauce should complement the meat, not be the star by itself.
- Looking for a super Italian version of this meal? The culinary Institute of Virginia offers a video on cooking veal francaise. Chicken became the more popular version of this dish because of price.
How to Make chicken Francaise
Getting Started
Bring your frying pan (affiliate) up to heat over medium heat. When warm, add butter and oil and allow to melt.
If you haven't already, butterfly cut your chicken breasts into two equal pieces. In a shallow bowl (I use tupperware containers), combine all your dry ingredients. This includes salt, pepper, smoked paprika and flour. In the other, beat an egg with milk. Plate the two bowls directly next to each other.
Use a wet hand/dry hand approach to dredging your chicken. With your wet hand, pick up a chicken breast and plate it in the bowl of flour. Using your dry hand, shovel flour over the top and lightly press it into the chicken breast.
Still using your dry hand, pick the chicken up and drop it in the egg mix. Using your wet hand pick up the chicken and shake off excess egg mix, then place in the hot pan.
Repeat with remaining chicken breasts, but be careful not to overcrowd the pan. If you can't get place all your chicken flatly in the pan at one time, cook it in batches.
Getting Cookin'
Cook chicken until one side is nice and golden brown, then flip over to opposite site. Continue cooking on medium until other side is a nice golden brown as well. Remove chicken to a pan and keep warm in the oven.
Add sherry wine to pan and use a spatula to scrape up any brown bits that have cooked on the bottom of the pan. That stuff has a ton of flavor in it, you want that goodness!
Next, pour in vegetable broth squeeze in fresh lemon juice and stir everything together. Increase heat to medium high and cook until sauce is reduced by half. Meanwhile, dredge 1 Tbsp of cold butter in flour. Remove pan from heat and drop butter in pan. Stir in until melted, then add fresh chopped parsley.
Add chicken back to pan and return to burner at medium heat. Spoon over sauce and chicken continues to cook. Cook until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink the center, about 3-4 more minutes. Remove from heat and serve hot, with pan sauce spooned over top.
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Chicken Francaise
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, butterflied into 4 cuts
- ½ cup flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 pinch smoked paprika
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- ¾ cup sherry wine
- ¾ cup vegetable broth
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Lay out two shallow bowls. In one, combine dry ingredients (flour, salt, pepper, smoked paprika) and whisk together. In the other, scramble egg and milk together. Heat oil and 1 Tbsp butter in a large frying pan (affiliate) (or cast iron pan (affiliate)) over medium heat.
- When butter begins to foam, take an individual chicken breast and dredge it first in flour, then dip it in the egg mix. Add to pan and cook until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Flip over and cook another 2-3 minutes, until opposite side is browned. Remove to a pan to rest.
- Add sherry wine to pan and use a spatula to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour in vegetable broth and fresh lemon juice and stir together. Increase heat to medium-high and cook until liquid is reduced by half. Remove from heat. Dip remaining Tbsp of cold butter in flour, then drop in pan. Stir butter in until melted, then add fresh chopped parsley.
- Add chicken back to pan and return to burner over medium heat. Spoon over sauce and cook until chicken is no longer pink about another 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and serve hot, with pan sauce spooned over.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: Italian Chicken, Lemon Chicken, Dinner Under 30 Minutes