Whole 30 Compliant Chicken Piccata

Chicken piccata is a fave of mine.  Beast makes it almost every year for my birthday and he made it the first night we brought our Ladybug home.  Typically it is served with a buttery sauce (not Whole 30 compliant) over or with noodles of some sort (also not Whole 30 compliant).  I was having a little craving for a lemony sauce one night when we were doing Whole 30 and were planning to make grilled chicken salads.  This is the dish I made instead and it wound up being a big hit.

It is very close to a typical, unbreaded chicken piccata using ghee instead of butter and serving it on a bed of spinach instead of noodles.  The spinach gets lightly sautéed when you top it with the warm sauce and works really well with the salty, lemony capers.  We gave the kids some steamed frozen veggies to have with the chicken in addition to a small amount of spinach so it worked for everyone.  Enjoy!

Searing chicken in small batches to make sure you get a sear and not a steam.

Seared chicken set aside.

What may look dirty is actually flavor.  Add the chicken stock and all those brown tasty bits will come off.

Chicken simmering in the sauce.

Final product.

Happy Cooking!

Mel

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Whole 30 Compliant Chicken Piccata

by Mel from Served With Love in Colorado September-18-2017

This is a great way to get the taste of the dish you love while being compliant with the Whole 30 program. Add as much lemon and capers to your taste, the 2 Tablespoons each here is the minimum. I typically use 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice and 4 Tablespoons or more of capers. The warm sauce lightly cooks the spinach it tops so it is much more like eating lightly sautéed spinach than raw spinach. 

Ingredients

• 3, sliced to 1/4 inch thick chicken breasts
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2+ Tablespoons lemon juice
• 2+ Tablespoons capers
• 1 Tablespoon ghee
• 4 cups spinach

Instructions

1. Slice the chicken in 1/4 inch long slices2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper 3. Heat olive oil in cast iron pan or dutch oven with sides4. Sear chicken on 2-3 minutes each side in small batches5. Put chicken to the side once seared6. Add chicken stock to pan and scrape brown bits with wood spoon until clean7. Add 2 Tablespoons lemon juice and at least 2 Tablespoons capers8. Bring sauce to simmer for 5 minutes until it somewhat thickens9. Add ghee and stir to mix10. Taste sauce and add any additional lemon or capers to your taste (I typically add an additional Tablespoon of lemon juice here)11. Add chicken to the sauce and leave uncovered on low heat for 5 minutes12. Split spinach between large bowls13. Add several slices of chicken to bowls as well as a ladle of sauce and capers

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 4 servings