Chef John's Chicken French Recipe

So good! just want to thank the last reviewer for speaking up about the origin of the recipe. My European family has been eating this for many generations. I have my Nonna's hand written recipe which was handed down from her Nonna. It is almost exactly ( my Nonna didn't use cayenne) this recipe but it is called Chicken Franchese. SO GREAT Like several of the other reviewers, I too would cut back on the lemon, and disregard the cayenne. Also keep your chicken stock handy in case the sauce gets too thick while heating. *We always make extra sauce, and serve it over pasta so every taste of the delicious sauce can be enjoyed. thank you FYI My Nonna was born in the Amalfi region of Italy (southern) where this recipe is a staple for all kinds of dishes i.e. mostly veggies like eggplant, but also used for chicken, veal, and pork that's pounded into thin cutlets. The style of preparation is called "indorato" which translates to "encased in gold"

Hubs and I really enjoyed this Chicken French last night! Having said that, let me say that I did make a few changes, but nothing drastic. The amount of flour indicated in the recipe is a ridiculous amount! For two small chicken breast halves (about 5 oz. each), I used just 2 T. of flour and 1/4 t. of salt and pepper, along with the pinch of cayenne, and I still didn’t use it all! I beat one egg and the milk in a pie plate, dredged the chicken in the flour mixture and dunked it in the egg. I covered the pie plate with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator about an hour before dinner, as Chef John mentions in the video. I browned the chicken for 4 minutes on a side over medium heat and removed it to a warm oven. For the sauce, I had to use chicken broth, but kept the other ingredients the same, except the lemon juice, which I cut way back, using just 1 t. for my version. The sauce didn’t thicken for me, so I did add a little cornstarch/water, just enough to give it some nice body and “cling,” which really helped. The only thing I would change from my version next time, would be to put the parsley in at the very end. It tended to darken after the chicken was added back in and reheated. Next time, I will add the parsley after plating the chicken, but before spooning the sauce over the top. All and all, a great recipe, and one we’ll be making again! Thanks, Chef John!

Halved the recipe for 2 of us. Added 4 thin lemon slices and a minced garlic clove to the pan after removing the browned chicken, sauteed for a minute or two before adding liquids and reduced the lemon juice to about 1/4 lemon. I also waited until the last minute before adding the parsley, to keep it from wilting too much. It was delicious! Just lemony enough without overpowering everything else.

Very good, fast, inexpensive and tasty! everything Chef John says it is. Husband loved it, added benefit. Will make again soon. Thank you Chef for the recipe. Made again but used only one small lemon juiced. First sauteed 8 oz mushrooms - reserved to a plate, then proceeded. Also refrigerated chicken for two hours after breading in egg and flour. Chose to thicken sauce with 1 TBLS corn flour and 1 TBLS water. Added shrooms and chicken to final simmer. Oh So Good!!

Agree with other poster who said there was too much lemon juice in this recipe, so I added more vegetable stock, caramelized onions and Marsala wine, even though I originally used Dry Sherry. These additions made the sauce even more flavorful and delectable.

As others have said, this is a lovely presenting dish that is easy to prepare. The egg coating fries up beautifully and gives a much richer flavor to the chicken. It is helpful, though, to have all of your ingredients ready to go since it is such a quick dish. I try not to stray from the original recipe the first time I make it, but since so many people mentioned that it was too lemony, I did cut back on the lemon and the amount of flour. I love lemon, but I'm glad I did - in fact, I will cut back on the lemon a bit more when I make it again - and I will definitely make it again! Like others, my sauce did not thicken, so next time I think I will add a cornstarch slurry to help with this. I also sauteed some mushrooms to serve with this dish. It just seemed right! You really should give this one a shot!

Rave reviews from my family! I followed the recipe closely. A few tweaks - I marinated the chicken breasts in italian dressing overnight. I used only 2 eggs and 1 tbsp milk for the egg wash (and still had plenty extra). I doubled the broth and sherry for the sauce, while only using the juice of 1 lemon. This was served with roasted brussel sprouts and rice, to absorb the extra delicious sauce. Next time, I intend to use a meat tenderizer and flatten the chicken prior to browning. It's been added to my menu rotation for sure!

Will definitely make again. Did as others suggested and reduced the amount of flour (1/3 of a cup was plenty for 2 pounded chicken cutlets) and used the juice of only one lemon. Didn't have any Dry Sherry on hand so used Madeira in lieu of. Easy to make (essential for me). The flavor and tender chicken made it a delight to eat.

Delicious! Another fantastic recipe from Chef John! - I used pounded chicken breasts, dried parsley and cooking sherry (gasp!) I also used 1 lemon instead of 2. I think it could still be good with the juice of 2 lemons, but I knew my picky husband and daughter would object if I did so. As with many recipes (not just Chef John's), I found that the prep+cooking took waaay longer than the estimates. Also, it is messy: frying always is. You may want to make this on a day when you are not in a rush. When I make this again, I will still use the cooking sherry (it worked great!), I'll stick to the reduced lemon, and I will add a bit of corn starch to the sauce. Oh......I'll also triple the sauce so I can have leftovers to put on anything and everything I can think of. I might even drink it.

Delicious. I agree a bit too much lemon. Next time I’ll reduce it to 1 1/2 lemons. I also added 1/4 cup of Corn Starch to help thicken up the sauce. This dish was given two thumbs up by all.

After reading some of the reviews, I cut the lemon juice in half. I added parsley flakes into the lemon juice & sherry mix and let it reduce by two-thirds, then added a tablespoon of flour to thicken the sauce. Delicious!

My husband loved it! Great flavor and worth it. I encourage people to try this recipe. I did only use one lemon and I did follow directions and use the fresh parsley. In my opinion I think using two lemons would have made the flavor too pronounced. I doubled the sauce and added cornstarch to thicken it up. For the chicken thickness, I use Perdue Perfect Portions chicken breast and I think they were thin enough. Loved this dish!

Generally I love Chef John's recipes. Unfortunately this is not one of them. The chicken is great. It's the sauce that needs tweaking. Waaaay too much lemon! 2 lemons made a lot of juice and I had my misgivings but added it anyway. We couldn't eat it and I couldn't figure out how to fix it.

Was easy and delicious for a work-night supper!

Easy peasy weeknight- delicious sauce.

This recipe is at least 10 years "young"! Happy Anniversary. May I suggest that future commentors take the time to specify what tweaks that they suggest by including the amount of the ingredient(s). It would be a great way to turn a useless comment into a helpful one ! IMO! Happy cooking!

Quick, easy, and ridiculously tasty.

I made this with gluten free flour, dairy free butter, and oat milk as I have gluten and dairy issues every thing else was as per recipe. I think it was great! One question- do I put a lid on after making sauce?

Tasted like something from a fancy restaurant.

Made this on the stove top, was excellent. The breading was a bit messy in the sauce but the taste was fantastic.