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Need something to make for a large group coming over? How about Easter with your family this weekend? Or, better yet… have a friend who just had a baby or know someone going through a hard time and want to take them a comforting, delicious meal? This Oven-Baked Creamy Lemon-Caper Chicken is YOUR recipe.
Hands down one of my most favorite meals is this dish. Growing up, my mom made it (except she used real flour and a shit ton o’ butter instead of olive oil) and it was always something I asked her to make growing up. It is rich, comforting, and it is something that EVERYONE likes (well, I guess Vegans wouldn’t like it…but you get what I’m saying). Even my kiddos beg for this dish!
Happy almost Easter my friends. I hope you enjoy making this Oven-Baked Creamy Lemon-Caper Chicken for you and your family and reflecting on all of the love that surrounds you! God’s love is so bountiful if you just take a moment to look around and see it.
(Side Note: if you want a rapid 30-minute version of this recipe, here is my Skillet Chicken Piccata.)
(Second Side Note: when taking this to a loved one, I do all of the steps up to putting in the oven. I take it over to my loved one and pop it in their fridge with a sticky note telling them “Bake at 300 for 2 hours before you are ready to eat!”. That way, they can enjoy it when they are ready and have a delicious, hot homemade meal at their fingertips!)
- 4 lbs. chicken cutlets
- salt and pepper
- ~1 cup arrowroot flour
- 2-8 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley
- 2 lemons
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 1/2 - 3 cups chicken broth
- 2 tbsp. arrowroot flour
- 2-3 tbsp. capers (drained)
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- A chicken cutlet is a chicken breast butterflied open. You can either do this yourself, or purchase it already like this. Once you have your chicken into "cutlets" break them down so that they are cut in half, lenthwise, and no longer attached to each other (It will look like 2 thinner breasts).
- Season both sides of the cutlets with salt and pepper.
- Place 1/2 cup of arrowroot flour in a bowl. Lightly dredge both sides of the cutlets in the arrowroot flour to coat them, you just need them lightly coated not caked on (if you run out of the flour you may need to add another 1/4 cup or so).
- In a dutch oven or large skillet, heat 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium-high heat. In batches, lightly brown both sides of the cutlets (about 3 minutes per side) and as you go, set the browned ones on plate on the side (they won't be cooked through yet, don't worry. They just need a light brown crust on both sides right now). With each batch that you brown the chicken cutlets, if your skillet is dry add another tbsp. of olive oil each time if you need it (arrowroot flour gets rather sticky to the skillet so you need to be sure that it has plenty of oil coating the bottom all times).
- Once all of your chicken is brown and resting on a plate, lets make the sauce.
- Reduce heat to med-low in the same skillet or dutch oven.
- Add garlic to the skillet and saute for 30 seconds, being careful not to burn.
- Pour in the 2 cups of chicken broth into the skillet and whisk constantly, scraping up all the brown bits on the bottom.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup of broth with 2 tbsp. of arrowroot flour and the juice of 1 lemon. Pour that into the skillet and whisk constantly until the sauce begins to thicken. You want to bring it to a light simmer while whisking. Once the sauce has thickened (about 3 minutes) remove from heat.
- Add the drained capers. At this point, if you think your sauce is looking too thick, go ahead and add in another 1/2 cup of broth.
- Nestle in all of the browned chicken cutlets into the sauce.
- **If you are doing this in a Crockpot: pour the sauce and capers into a crockpot and nestle the chicken in. Cook on Low for 4 hours.**
- Cover the dutch oven, and bake in the oven for 2 hours.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes (the sauce thickens back up a tad). Garnish with parsley and thinly sliced lemon rounds while cooling.
- Serve and Enjoy!
This looks delicious! Have you been able to determine the best Instant Pot cook time conversions?
I haven’t tried this one yet in the IP but need to!
Hey Alex! Do you think the cook time would change if I’m baking in a throw-away aluminum dish? Thank you!
Hi Lesa,
It tends to cook faster when in glass or aluminum. I’d try going for closer to 1 – 1.5 hours, instead, to avoid the chicken drying out. 🙂
Do you think I could make this in the Instant Pot?
I haven’t ever tried it but I am sure you can. I actually just got an Instantpot during prime day so I will have to try it soon to figure out the time, etc.
What would you receommend serving this with?
Hi there, I’d serve it with a starchy something (mashed potatoes, cauliflower rice, cauliflower puree, or roasted potatoes) and a green (roasted brussels, green beans, etc).
Would almond flour be ok to use instead of arrowroot? My husband can’t have arrowroot or flour
Almond flour doesn’t work in this recipe, it makes it taste “grainy”. Tapioca starch/flour would be the best alternative
We made this for our Whole30 day one dinner and it was fantastic! It’s just two of us so we had TONS of leftovers…three lunches for me, two for him before we put the rest in the freezer for sometime in week three or four. Thanks for a great dinner in our first week!
Hi Karen, Glad you enjoyed it!!! Also, my “Whole30 Skillet Chicken Piccata” is a quick to make, better version for only 2 people! Check that one out 🙂
https://thedefineddish.com/whole30-skillet-chicken-picatta/
I made this tonight and its almost to bitter to eat all I can taste is lemon. What did I possibly do wrong? It looks so good. I’m so disappointed
Hi Lynda,
I am sorry to hear that it didn’t turn out for you! Hum.. I am trying to think why that would happen for you to help you. If so many people didn’t tell me how much they loved it I would wonder if it is just the recipe…but I have had tons of wonderful feedback. So let’s see if we can get to the bottom of it! 🙂
Did you cook it in a dutch oven? Sometimes cooking it in casserole dish will overcook it…which may make it bitter.
The last time I had a dish like this that went wrong, one of the lemons was bad and I had no idea before I put it in the dish because it seemed fine. I’m now super careful and taste a tiny bit of each lemon I use because that bad lemon taste is something I don’t ever want to experience again!
Maybe the garlic got too brown?
can you use regular flour or corn starch if i don’t have arrowroot?
Yes you can use flour with this recipe. But you need to do one thing different: on step 8 when you are browning the garlic, add in 2 tbsp. ghee or butter, and 2 tbsp. flour, cook that for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly…the flour/butter combo will turn into a frothy concoction. Then continue with the remaining steps! 🙂
If I don’t have a skillet, big enough do you think a Pyrex glass 9×13 will do the trick?
It should be fine just cover it very tightly with foil when baking and only cook 1.5 hours… I notice when baking chicken in glass it tends to dry out more. I prefer using crockpot or dutch oven for this recipe. 🙂
Hi
Looks delicious! I was wondering how this is the next couple of days as leftovers?
Thanks
It’s really fantastic as leftovers!!! I’d say no more than 3 days.
Thanks! One more question, if I halve the amount of chicken, should I halve all other ingredients and cooking time?
Hi Trish,
I halved the amount of chicken the other day (kept the sauce and cooking time the same) and it turned out perfect!! I’d probably stick with 2.5 cups of chicken broth rather than 3.
Thanks!