This is our vegan take on a classic Italian chicken piccata recipe. We’re using plant chicken breasts cooked in a rich buttery sauce made with lemon and capers.
In This Post: Everything You Need to Make Vegan Chicken Piccata
Vegan Chicken Piccata Photos
Vegan Chicken Piccata Video
Ingredients for this Recipe
Plant Chicken Breasts
We imagine that you probably have a favourite brand of plant chicken breasts that you like to use, but we will share our favourites with you anyway (apologies to our international friends, these are British brands). Our go-to is Vivera’s Plant Chicken Breast it tastes amazing, and cooks so well, it also doesn’t end up with a film-like skin on it like some brand’s products do, and it’s packed with protein and vitamins like B12. We’re also big fans of The Vegetarian Butcher’s Impeckable Chicken Breast.
All Purpose Flour
You’re going to need flour to mix with some seasonings and create a textured and tasty coating for the plant chicken breasts.
Seasonings
Mix these seasonings with all-purpose flour to create a flavoursome coating for your fried plant chicken. You’ll want garlic powder, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
Olive Oil
We will use some olive oil to fry the plant chicken breasts in and also (applied with a brush) to lightly coat the breasts to help the flour and seasoning mix stick to them.
Vegan Butter
You’ll want to make sure you have a couple of tablespoons of vegan butter handy for the piccata sauce. It’s a butter sauce combined with olive oil, vegetable stock and some dry white wine.
Vegetable Stock
There are plenty of vegan-friendly vegetable stock options out there, we tend to not make our own just to keep it simple. Our personal favourite is Knoor’s vegetable stock cubes (not an affiliate link, and this is a brand available in Britain), they have a really great rich flavour to them that always lifts the dishes we use them in.
Dry White Wine
The best dry white wines for cooking with are a pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc. We decided to use a sauvignon blanc in this recipe because it has a zesty acidity to it that’s perfect for a chicken piccata.
Lemon Juice
Fresh is best, we have said that in some of our other recipes using bottled juice works fine, and sometimes it does, but this time, we’re going to use some zest and slices to garnish as well, so you will need to use fresh lemons and squeeze the few tablespoons of juice you need from them.
Capers
Capers come jarred in brine and have a really unique flavour to them, from citrus to salty and even floral notes. They are a key ingredient in a piccata sauce, which is primarily made up of lemon and capers.
Fresh Parsley
We recommend using fresh parsley. It makes for a great garnish, and flat-leaf parsley is one of the most commonly used herbs in Italian cooking, so it’s the perfect herb for a plant chicken piccata.
Pasta
If you’re wondering what to serve with a vegan chicken piccata, for us there is only one answer. This is after all an Italian dish, so instead of potatoes as some recipes use, we love to serve up ours on a bed of tagliatelle.
Alex and Katherine’s Comments
If you take the time to browse all of our dinner recipes it’s not going to take you too long to realize that we like pasta dishes. We’ve made all sorts of Italian-inspired meals, from plant-based lasagne to creamy orzo dishes. We won’t list them all here but if you scroll down we’ve made a list of all the other creamy dinner recipes we think you might also enjoy. We just thought we would stay clear of using a tomato base for once and explore some other flavours, and a piccata sauce does just that.
This plan chicken piccata recipe is a really easy dinner meal to make. In fact we think this might just be one of our easiest vegan meals. The only ingredient you need to slice is a lemon, and the cooking time is less than 15 minutes. So if you’re short on time, and want to keep it simple then this is the perfect recipe for you. We had a lot of fun making it too, chucking some plant chicken breasts in a bowl of flour and then frying everything up on high in the same pan (breasts and sauce in the one pan), perfect.
Piccata sauce is such has such a unique flavour. It’s super citrusy, but without making you feel like you’ve just chewed on a lemon, combined with the savoury flavours of salty capers, dry white wine and vegetable stock. We have tried to remain true to the classic Italian ingredients used in this recipe, simply focusing on creating a great plant-based alternative to the original.
There is just one thing we wish we had done differently when we made this recipe a couple of times during testing. We should have just tucked the plant chicken breasts into a ziplock bag and flattened them a little with a rolling pin. This just makes it a little easier to get a nice even colouring, and crispness on both sides of the breasts when you’re frying them, and some good even heat throughout.
Vegan Chicken Piccata Recipe
Vegan Chicken Piccata Recipe (with Lemon and Capers)
Equipment
- 1 Citrus Juicer
- 1 Fine Grater
- 1 Chefs Knife
- 1 Chopping board
- 1 Cooktop (Stovetop, Hob)
- 1 large non-stick frying pan
Ingredients
- 4 Plant chicken breasts
- 1/2 Cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp vegan butter
- 1 Cup vegetable stock
- 1/4 Cup dry white wine
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 2 Tbsp capers drained
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Lemon slices for garnish
- Fresh parsley for garnish
- Cooked tagliatelle pasta to serve
Instructions
- In a shallow bowl (large enough to lay down a plant breast in) combine the all-purpose flour, garlic powder, sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Now is a good time to begin boiling a large pot of water to boil your pasta in.
- Lightly brush each plant chicken breast with a covering of olive oil to help the flour and seasoning mix stick.
- Lay each chicken breast down in the flour and turn them over a couple of times until they're completely covered.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat.
- Add the flour-coated chicken breasts to the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes until they're crispy and golden brown. Once cooked move remove from the pan and set aside.
- As soon as your pasta water is boiling, add approximately 250g of tagliatelle (enough for 2 people) to the pan and cook for at least 10 minutes.
- While the plant chicken breasts are cooking it's the perfect time to juice one lemon (enough for 3 tablespoons), zest the peel of the same lemon and then cut a few slices from a second lemon to use as garnish.
- While you're waiting for the plant chicken breasts to finish frying, this is also a good time to make 1 cup of vegetable stock, ready for the piccata sauce.
- In the same frying pan that you just removed the plant chicken breasts from add another tablespoon of olive oil and turn the heat up to high.
- Add 2 tablespoons of vegan butter and mix with the oil until melted.
- Now add the vegetable stock and white wine to the pan and simmer for 2-3 minutes until the sauce has reduced slightly.
- Stir the capers and lemon juice into the sauce and reduce the frying pan for another couple of minutes.
- Finally, return the crispy-coated plant chicken breasts to the pan and let them simmer for a couple of minutes while the flour from them thickens the sauce.
- Drain the cooked pasta, and serve the plant chicken and sauce on top of a bed of tagliatelli, garnished with lemon slices and fresh parsley.
Notes
- Fresh is best, using fresh lemons means that you can add lemon zest to your sauce and garnish with juicy lemon slices. Unless you need to, try to avoid using bottled juice.
- It’s in the details. There are a couple of common types of parsley, flat-leaf and curly-leaf. Curly-leaf is French and flat-leaf is the variety that you want to be using in classic Italian dishes.
- If you want to add an extra level of flavour to the finished dish, garnish the plant chicken breasts with some vegan parmesan cheese. just a sprinkle on top, but it is good, we tried it the second time we made this dish.
Vegan Chicken Piccata: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a crispy texture on the vegan chicken?
Make sure the vegan chicken breasts are fully coated in the flour mixture, and pan-fry them in olive oil until they turn golden brown. You can also use panko bread crumbs for extra crispiness.
However the flour coated chicken does serve another purpose, when you add it back to the sauce, the flour helps to thicken the sauce. So you could choose to keep your plant chicken breasts crispy and just pour the piccata sauce over them at the end, but you’ll want to add some flour to your sauce, just a teaspoon should be enough.
What can I use instead of dry white wine?
If you prefer not to use dry white wine, simply replace it with more vegetable stock for a non-alcoholic version. It still gives the sauce a rich flavor.
What does vegan piccata sauce taste like?
The piccata sauce has a tangy and savory flavor thanks to the combination of lemon juice, capers, and vegan butter. It’s slightly zesty with a smooth, buttery finish.
How do I store leftover vegan chicken piccata?
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. When reheating, add a splash of vegetable stock to refresh the sauce.
What sides pair well with vegan chicken piccata?
This dish pairs well with pasta, mashed potatoes, or even roasted vegetables. It’s versatile and works with any of your favorite side dishes!
If You Thought this Recipe was Tasty, You Should Try These
- Our first recommendation will be perfect for you if you enjoyed the creamy, plant-chicken elements of this dish. Try our gnocchi and leek bake. Baked gnocchi, leeks, vegan chicken pieces, mushrooms and more all covered in a creamy cheesy, onion sauce.
- If you want an Italian-inspired pasta dish which uses just fresh vegetables without any plant-based meat substitutes then you might want to take a look at our creamy one-pot mushroom and spinach orzo dinner.
- This isn’t strictly an alternative meal option, but if you love the sound of this chicken piccata recipe, but have had your fill of pasta dishes recently then maybe a side of creamy mashed potatoes is just the thing for you.
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