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Keeping things colorful and cozy today with this Sage Lemon Butter Chicken Piccata with Mashed Cauliflower. Lightly breaded chicken seared until golden with fresh sage, lemon, and butter. The chicken is finished in a simple white wine pan sauce with burst cherry tomatoes. It’s simple but mouthwatering. Especially when served over creamy mashed cauliflower hinted with garlic. This dish makes great use of those end of summer tomatoes. It’s the late summer dinner that everyone will love!

overhead photo of Sage Lemon Butter Chicken Piccata with Mashed Cauliflower

I’ve been waiting to share this recipe for far too long now.

I first made it a couple of weeks ago when I had one too many cherry tomatoes in my kitchen. I immediately fell in love with the recipe. But something about this dish just felt too cozy to share mid-August, so I waited until today. The second week of September feels like the perfect timing for this chicken piccata. It uses up all those end of summer tomatoes, but yet feels cozy with the addition of warming sage (my favorite fall herb) and super creamy mashed cauliflower…a new favorite side dish that I never expected to love as much as I do.

It’s the perfect transitional recipe to slowly step away from summer and head into the cooler fall days.

And most importantly, it’s just really good. The chicken soaks up all that delicious buttery pan sauce. It’s perfectly seasoned with fresh sage, thyme, and lemon. The mashed cauliflower is surprisingly satisfying, so creamy and so delicious.

When paired together, I could not love this hearty, but healthy…ish dinner more.

photo of raw tomatoes

Here is how you make this chicken piccata. It has a few steps, but comes together in under an hour.

First up, start with the chicken. If you’ve made chicken parmesan this is very similar. Just dredge the chicken through a mix of flour and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Then pan-sear it in a hot skillet. This allows the chicken to form a nice golden crust on the outside. Using thin chicken cutlets is key. The thin chicken cooks evenly and browns nicely in a short amount of time.

Tip: if your grocery store does not carry chicken cutlets, as a swap, try asking your butcher to pound out chicken breasts for you. This is a super easy task to do at home, but truthfully…it’s just not that much fun. The butcher can quickly pound out the chicken and save you the trouble…and the mess.

Also, you can easily make this chicken piccata gluten-free by replacing the flour with almond flour. Or your favorite gluten-free flour blend (I like cup4cup).

overhead photo of Sage Lemon Butter Chicken Piccata in skillet

Once the chicken has been pan-seared, add in some lemon slices and fresh sage. The lemon and sage infuse the butter while crisping up, becoming even more flavorful. Reserve these for topping.

In the same pan, add a splash of white wine and fresh cherry tomatoes. This creates a lemony tomato sauce with capers and fresh thyme. It’s not a traditional chicken piccata sauce by any means, but it’s quick, and it sure is good.

overhead photo of Mashed Cauliflower in pot

While the chicken is cooking, work on the mashed cauliflower. This is SO EASY.

Simply, boil some cauliflower florets, drain, and mash with a little cream cheese (mostly for extra creaminess), butter, and salt. I know it seems so simple, but don’t knock the mashed cauliflower until you try it. It’s ultra-smooth, so creamy, and really does taste like mashed potatoes, just a smidge lighter.

It’s the perfect healthy side dish to serve with the lemony, sage chicken. When served together, the two create a really delicious dinner that’s great for any night of the week!

Since everyone is in town for my brother’s wedding this weekend, I’m really excited to make this for them tonight. I already know this is going to be a new favorite. Nothing not to love!

overhead close up photo of Sage Lemon Butter Chicken Piccata with Mashed Cauliflower

If you make this sage lemon butter chicken piccata with mashed cauliflower be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

Sage Lemon butter Chicken Piccata with Mashed Cauliflower.

Author: Tieghan Gerard
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 756 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

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Ingredients

Mashed Cauliflower

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

  • 1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place the flour and parmesan in a shallow bowl and dredge the chicken through the flour mix, pressing gently to adhere.
    2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the chicken and sear on both sides until golden, about 3-5 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the skillet.
    3. To the same skillet, add the butter, sage, and lemon slices. Sear the sage until crisp, and the lemon until golden on each side, about 1 minute. Remove the sage and lemon from the pan and add to the plate with the chicken. 
    4. To the skillet, add the tomatoes, thyme, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook until the tomatoes begin to pop, about 4-5 minutes. Pour in the wine and lemon juice, cook 1 minute. Add the capers and season with salt and pepper. Return the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes or until warmed through.
    5. Meanwhile, make the mashed cauliflower. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add cauliflower florets and cook until tender, 10 minutes. Drain well.
    6. In a food processor, combine the cauliflower, garlic, cream cheese, and butter, season to taste with salt and pepper. Pulse until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.
    7. To serve, spoon the mashed cauliflower onto plates. Add the chicken, sage and lemon slices. Then spoon over the pan sauce and tomatoes. Top with fresh thyme.
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horizontal photo of Sage Lemon Butter Chicken Piccata with Mashed Cauliflower
This post was originally published on September 9, 2019
4.49 from 325 votes (252 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  2. 5 stars
    So so so yummy! I also made homemade
    Honey butter rolls with this and it got a little crazy..but this recipe is really easy and so so delicious. I hadn’t shaved Parmesan and it didn’t stick to the chicken 🙁 so I’ll make sure and get grated next time! I’ll definitely make this often. Thanks so much for sharing! ❤️

    Reply

  4. 5 stars
    Delicious! I love chicken piccata, but this recipes takes it over the top, lemon and capers and then tomatoes, it is amazing how it all works. Then, serve it over mashed cauliflower with butter and cream cheese, my new favorite. I also love the versatility. If I want to serve it over polenta, rice, orzo or any pasta, I love the options. Great job Tieghan!

    Reply

  5. This sounds delicious and I can’t wait to make it. I do not have a food processor and wondered if you can suggest another option for mashing the cauliflower? I know that a basic potato masher doesn’t work for cauliflower but what about an immersion blender?

    Reply

    1. Hey Sara! You can actually just use a potato masher OR an immersion blender. Either will work great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan

      Reply

  6. 4 stars
    Didn’t see lemon slices in ingredients. I added 4 slices. I have noticed a few of your recipes are missing ingredients, thought I would mention that But the recipe came out great! I did use three large garlic cloves for one medium cauliflower and would use less garlic next time. It was quite strong. I did use less butter. I love almost all of your recipes that I have tried. I am hoping this fall and winter you will maybe add more healthy options. Butter and cheese are super yummy, but would love to see flavorful recipes that are healthier. Can’t wait to get your cookbook!!!

    Reply

    1. Hi Donna! Sorry about that, I will try to fix the ones I notice! Also, I hope this turned out really well for you and I will try for some healthier options this Winter! xTieghan

      Reply

  7. Absolutely delicious. I roasted the garlic first to mellow out the flavor. It will be on regular rotation in my house.

    Reply

  8. 5 stars
    This is very tasty! I made this tonight and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Served it with a rustic sourdough which was great for dipping into the extra sauce. I made the mistake of using 3 very hefty garlic cloves for the cauliflower which made that flavor a little sharp, but I would definitely try it again. Overall, a delicious late summer/early fall treat.

    Reply

  9. 5 stars
    OK, so I was what, the fourth “no sliced lemons” comment, let me say the cauliflower is fantastic! The lemon slices are in the aroma is about to drown me from saliva release, and I will finish this comment after we eat

    *. *: *. *.

    Made one mistake, used three very small Russian Red hardneck garlic cloves and they were way to raw tasting. We eat about three heads of garlic a week but this was just too hot.

    Super recipe and it goes into our rotation for sure. I need to cut down on the butter next time, will try two tablespoons and two tablespoons. I am also going to try preserved lemons as well.

    For any diabetics out there, do the cauliflower. I love mashed potatoes but this may have surpassed them.

    Reply

  11. 5 stars
    I love your recipes and it is about time I leave a review to say so! This was absolutely amazing. I just made it for dinner tonight and my 3 year old and I both enjoyed it a lot. I did not modify anything except that I didn’t have the lemon slices but it was great regardless.

    Reply

  12. 5 stars
    Like all of your recipes, this was soooo delicious! The mashed cauliflower was so creamy and perfectly balanced out the acidity of the sauce (I usually don’t love chicken piccata since it can be very acidic imo).

    Reply

  13. Super yummy!! I didn’t put any of the butter in thee cauliflower, and added 1 peeled russet to the mix. It turned out so good. I also subbed half the cream cheese for Greek yogurt.

    Reply

  14. 5 stars
    This was FANTASTIC!! My family loved all the lemony goodness! Very few changes. I left out the capers and I had a bottle of Rose opened so that’s what I used. Instead of the Cauliflower Mash, I roasted baby cauliflower with olive oil, garlic and salt. I will DEFINITELY make it again! Thank you!

    Reply

  15. I haven’t tried this recipe yet – but can’t wait to try. I just discovered you and can’t wait to try all your recipes and I’m ordering your first cookbook once I get paid next month! You may already have this but do you have favorite knives and other cooking supplies that you can’t live without?

    Reply