Olive Garden Chicken Piccata (Copycat)

Olive Garden’s Chicken Piccata is a delicious take on the classic with butter, lemon, capers, sun dried tomatoes and heavy cream. You won’t miss the restaurant version!

Looking for more fun Italian Copycat recipes? We love the Cheesecake Factory Chicken Madeira (Copycat) and Cheesecake Factory Pasta Da Vinci (Copycat) recipes too!

Olive Garden Chicken Pitccata Recipe
 Olive Garden Chicken Piccata (Copycat)

Chicken Piccata is a classic recipe of capers, butter and lemon. The Olive Garden Version also adds in heavy cream and sun dried tomatoes which add a huge burst of flavor!

The original version at Olive Garden is served with slices of zucchini that are baked with Parmesan cheese. Here’s a great Parmesan Zucchini recipe you could serve along side this chicken piccata.

We also love to serve this with pasta, because, well, all Italian food is better with pasta. We find the recipe works best with angel hair spaghetti or thin spaghetti.

Please note, one of the most important things in this recipe is that you filet the chicken breasts into smaller, thinner pieces. This method was used on a healthier Teriyaki Chicken over on Cooking with Points.

How to butterfly a chicken breast:

  • On a plastic cutting board (wood boards can contain scratches that can’t be cleaned effectively), place the chicken on the board.
  • Place your hand over the top of the chicken, flat/open onto the chicken.
  • Use a sharp knife (serrated preferred) to slice through the middle of the chicken breast , slowly through to the other side.
  • You should have two equally thin pieces of chicken that are the same shape as it used to be when thicker.

Chicken Piccata Recipe with Sun Dried Tomatoes

What are Capers?

Capers are flower buds from a Caper Bush (also called a Finders Rose). You can’t actually eat raw capers off the bush as they’re much too bitter. When pickled they become much more mellow over time. They’re a mixture of a salt and acid which adds a punch of flavor to your recipes from pasta to bagels with lox.

How to make homemade Sun Dried Tomatoes:

Sun Dried tomatoes are expensive and actually easy to make (especially during the summer months when we’re overwhelmed with tomatoes!).

Wash your tomatoes and remove the seeds. Then sprinkle with a bit of salt and bake at 200 degrees until the texture is dried and chewy. Store in olive oil until you’re ready to use.

Looking for more Olive Garden Recipes?

Homemade Chicken Piccata Recipe

Looking for more delicious Copycat Recipes?

Tools used in the making of this Olive Garden Chicken Piccata Recipe:
Capers: No real substitution for these, I love this brand.
Sun Dried Tomatoes: Love this brand, great flavor and plumps up well in the recipe.
Skillet: Cast iron, enameled or not is my favorite skillet for creating a good sear and even heat in reducing sauces.

Homemade Chicken Piccata Recipe
5 from 9 votes
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Olive Garden Chicken Piccata (Copycat)

Olive Garden's Chicken Piccata is a delicious take on the classic with butter, lemon, capers, sun dried tomatoes and heavy cream. You won't miss the restaurant version!
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword Olive Garden Chicken Piccata
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 4 Servings
Calories 454 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breasts halved into thinner cutlets
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 6 tablespoons butter divided
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 shallot minced
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice fresh
  • 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes chopped
  • 1/4 cup capers rinsed
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • parsley chopped (optional)

Instructions

  1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and coat in the flour.
  2. Add the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet on medium heat.
  3. Add the chicken and cook for 5-7 minutes on each side.

  4. Remove the chicken from the pan and add in the garlic and shallots and cook for 1 minute or until it gets aromatic.
  5. Add in the chicken broth and lemon juice and reduce the heat to medium, whisking well and cooking for 5-7 minutes until thickened (and can coat a spoon).

  6. Add the remaining butter, sun dried tomatoes, capers and the heavy cream to the pan and whisk well.
  7. Add the chicken back to the pan and coat with the sauce, letting it thicken for just 1-2 minutes before removing from the heat.

  8. Garnish with parsley if desired before serving.
Nutrition Facts
Olive Garden Chicken Piccata (Copycat)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 454 Calories from Fat 297
% Daily Value*
Fat 33g51%
Saturated Fat 15g94%
Cholesterol 137mg46%
Sodium 1113mg48%
Potassium 748mg21%
Carbohydrates 13g4%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 27g54%
Vitamin A 855IU17%
Vitamin C 15.5mg19%
Calcium 39mg4%
Iron 1.8mg10%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Olive Garden Chicken PIccata
Chicken PIccata Copycat from Olive Garden

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Hi. I have to make this every week! My husband loves it and so do I. I’m sending a printed copy to my friend across the U.S. and I posted it on Facebook. Thank you!

  2. Hi. I really want to make this for dinner tonight but we are using tilapia. Can I substitute the chicken for tilapia?

  3. I made this tonight. It was so delicious! I used Kalamata olives in place of capers and two Roma tomatoes diced in place of sun dried and whole milk in place of heavy cream. A little onion in place of shallots. And a little grated Parmesan cheese to thicken sauce. A little improvising lol so beautiful and delicious! I will definitely making this again! Thank you for this awesome recipe ?

  4. I made this today for my husband’s lunch. I didnt use tomatoes or cream didnt have them on hand. I was quite impressed. I served dish with crusty bread, salad n carrots. Will make again. Thanks

  5. This was the best main dish I have ever made! The additional time and ingredients to make the sauce was well worth it. Thank you for such a great recipe. My guests absolutely loved it. PS this is the first time I have ever posted a review on any recipe ever.

    1. You’re so welcome, I’m so glad that you enjoyed it and so much to let me know! I feel honored 🙂 Hope to see you around in the comments of other recipes too!

  6. D-Licious! I saved this recipe a while ago, and recently made it for company. I doubled the recipe, since I didn’t think that 1/2 of a chicken breast would be an adequate serving for one person. I’m glad that I did, since everyone had 2 pieces. I was quite concerned with the sodium content, so I used low-sodium chicken broth. The canned tomatoes had quite a bit of sodium, but I couldn’t do anything about that. WE love capers, but even if you rinse them, they still have quite a bit of sodium. All in all, this was a huge hit with our guests, so I saved this recipe in my “Dinners for Company” file. It was truly quite special.

    1. I’m so glad you were able to customize it to your liking. I appreciate the 5 star rating, Angelina.

  7. This recipe turned out amazing. Followed the recipe exactly and then added Parmesan and doodles at the end. So delicious and a beautiful plate.

  8. I just found your page today. Your copycat recipes look very close based on your ingredients. As a photographer I am enjoying the photos the most.

    1. This recipe was a big hit in my household! Everyone absolutely loved it! It made such a beautiful dish and so delicious! Definitely a family favorite! Thank You for sharing!

    1. Sorry I don’t have the nutritional facts for recipes on the site but I know there are a lot of free resources on the internet from when I’ve cooked for clients with low calorie diets.