This healthy chicken piccata isn’t breaded or fried, but it still has all the flavor of the original. As a bonus, it’s ready in less than 30 minutes using your pressure cooker or Instant Pot!
I bought an Instant Pot awhile ago and while I mainly use it for making boiled eggs, I also frequently cook chicken in it. I should probably branch out, but I tend to be a creature of habit. Chicken with salsa verde, chicken with regular salsa, and Shelly’s chicken piccata. We love Shelly’s chicken piccata.
Since I was doing Whole30 and I was still craving chicken piccata, I decided to make it compliant to the program and also lighten it up a bit (it’s not a super heavy recipe to begin with but this recipe is lower calorie, gluten-free, and dairy-free. Ben and I both loved this version, and truthfully, it’s easier too since it eliminates a couple of steps.
There I go again, making things easier and healthier. It’s kinda what I do.
This healthy chicken piccata is ready in 30 minutes, which is probably one of the reasons it is one of my go-to recipes. You’ll find that it’s full of flavor thanks to garlic, lemon, chicken broth, oregano, and basil. The capers add a nice salty bite that keeps you coming back for more.
Recipe Tip
If you’re following the Whole30 program, make sure you’re reading labels! Many store-bought chicken broths and chicken stocks contain sugar or honey.
I usually serve chicken piccata with rice (try making brown rice in the Instant Pot!) topped with the delicious sauce from the pan. We always have vegetables with it. Asparagus and green beans (try these Parmesan roasted green beans!) are my favorites with this healthy chicken piccata. It’s also great with pasta – you could slice the chicken and serve it over a bed of pasta with the sauce that you find in the Instant Pot when it’s done cooking.
If you keep capers stocked in your pantry like I do, this recipe uses all ingredients you’re likely to have on hand!
Enjoy!
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken Marsala (one of our favorites!)
- Southwestern Instant Pot Chicken and Quinoa
- Instant Pot Crack Chicken Pasta (cheesy ranch perfection)
- Instant Pot Honey Sriracha Chicken — serve this one with steamed broccoli and rice, so good!
- Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
- Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Pasta — the pasta and chicken cooked in one pot!
- Instant Pot White Chicken Chili — always a crowd pleaser.
Instant Pot Chicken Piccata
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 ½ to 2 pounds total)
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (another type of cooking oil can be used)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¾ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth (see note)
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ cup capers, drained
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon chicken broth or water
- 1 tablespoon butter, optional
Instructions
- Slice each chicken breast in half as though you were going to butterfly it (opening it like a book), but cut all the way through to make two thin flat pieces (4 total).2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Mix the flour, salt, and pepper on a plate. Dredge both sides of each piece of chicken in the flour mixture until well-coated. Reserve plate.3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- Heat Instant Pot to Sauté. When it’s hot, add oil. Add two pieces of chicken to the pan, brown for 3 minutes without disturbing, flip it over, and brown the other side for 3 minutes more. Chicken won’t be completely cooked through. Transfer to reserved plate, and brown the remaining 2 pieces of chicken, adding more oil if needed. When chicken is browned, remove it from the Instant Pot and set aside.1 tablespoon olive oil
- After you've browned the chicken, add minced garlic to the Instant Pot, and cook, stirring constantly for about 1 minute or until fragrant.1 clove garlic, minced
- Add broth, lemon juice, oregano, and basil to the Instant Pot, and scrape any brown bits off the bottom. Return chicken to Instant Pot, and sprinkle the capers on top.¾ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth, ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon dried basil, ¼ cup capers, drained
- Put cover on, making sure valve is sealed. Set Instant Pot to Pressure Cook (or Manual, High Pressure depending on your model) for 4 minutes.
- When timer goes off, quick release the pressure. Carefully remove lid. Using an instant read thermometer, check the internal temperature of the chicken (it should be at least 165°F).
- Remove chicken from the pan. Turn Instant Pot to Sauté. In a small bowl, stir together 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon additional broth or water. Slowly stir the cornstarch mixture into the sauce in the pan, cooking and stirring constantly until sauce is thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. For a richer flavor, stir in butter, if desired.1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 tablespoon chicken broth or water, 1 tablespoon butter, optional
- Serve chicken on pasta, if desired, spooning sauce over the chicken and pasta.
Notes
- Chicken: Instead of butterflying your chicken, you could buy four chicken cutlets (sometimes labeled thin cut). I usually cut my own because it’s less expensive and not difficult to do.
- Sauce: This recipe was retested and revised 7/2025. The original recipe didn’t have cornstarch to thicken the sauce, but the sauce is very thin without it. The original recipe also included more capers. The amount of capers you add is really up to you. I think you’ll love this new and improved recipe!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
Thank you for this recipe. It was delicious! I added some lemon zest, artichokes, and cornstarch slurry.
You’re so welcome! Funny you say that – we just retested this recipe, and although we haven’t updated it yet, we plan to add a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce!
I made this last night and it was delicious! I zested one lemon to add a little more lemon flavor.
So glad you liked it! Thank you for leaving a review!
I feel like the lemon juice cooked off in the pressure cooker so I’m trying it for the second time and I’m going to put the lemon juice on at the end. It is a super yummy and simple recipe. I love it. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the review!
Very good and super easy! Thank you. I doubled the ingredients and it was wonderful.
So glad you liked it! Thank you for leaving a review!
It was delicious! I used chicken thighs.
I’ll make it again !
So glad you liked it! Thanks for leaving a review!
Had 4 chicken breasts, 2 zucchini, and a loaf of garlic bread. Needed a quick, easy, relatively healthy meal. Found this recipe and had everything else I needed to make it. Toss the garlic bread in the oven and sautéed the zucchini on the stove top, and viola. Supper. It was a hit here. Thanks!
I’m so glad to hear it! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review!
This was delicious. The recipe was easy to understand and to be honest I have never used the sauté function on my instapot until now.
So glad you liked it! Thanks for leaving a review!
I increased the broth by 1/2 cup and added a 14 oz. jar of artichokes at the same time as the capers. Pulled the chicken out once cooked, set the IP to sauté and then added a corn starch slurry to thicken the liquid and make a sauce. Shredded the chicken and added it back to the sauce, serving the whole shebang over white rice. It was heavenly. Thank you for the inspiration!
Artichokes are a great addition! Glad you liked the recipe!
My husband and I loved it.
So happy to hear it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
I made this recipe last night. The chicken was extremely rubbery. Ten minutes of pressure cooking is too long. I would suggest limiting it to only two minutes of cook time.
It definitely depends on the size of your chicken breasts. Did you have thinner cuts?