My family frequently requests this Chicken French dish, which I have been making for years. Serve with Italian-cut green beans and brown, wild, or rice pilaf. If desired, add lemon slices as a garnish.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour, or as needed
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- ¼ cup dry sherry
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons low-sodium chicken base
Instructions
- Mix together flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl. Whisk beaten eggs, sugar, and Parmesan cheese in another bowl until the mixture is thoroughly blended and the sugar has dissolved.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until the oil shimmers. Dip chicken breasts into the flour mixture, then into the egg mixture, and gently lay them into the skillet. Pan-fry chicken breasts until golden brown and no longer pink in the middle, about 6 minutes on each side. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
- In the same skillet over medium-low heat, melt butter, and stir in garlic. Add sherry, lemon juice, and chicken base. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and stir until smooth and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Be sure to dissolve any brown flavor bits from the bottom of the skillet as you stir.
- Return chicken breasts to the sauce, and gently simmer for about 15 minutes. To serve, place a chicken breast on a plate, and top with sauce.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 405 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 15 g |
| Cholesterol | 194 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 33 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 416 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 23 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This recipe makes sense and I always dip my chicken in flour before egg, it holds the crust on, do it twice for a thicker coat mmmmm. Made this recipe… delicious
Perfect recipe!
This recipe was amazing. I would not change a thing about it except maybe to double or triple the delicious sauce. The is a keeper!
Very satisfied with the flavor palette and simplicity of this recipe. My photos don’t do it justice, the sauce was perfect and the chicken was voila. Didn’t have any parsley for garnish, and left the lemon in the pan. Yum! Thank you.
I have never taken the time to rate a recipe but this was amazing. And although it took slightly more time being the first time I made it overall easy to redo. I added slightly more broth/Sherry and lemon juice to the simmering phase since the pan I choose was a little small and wanted to make sure I had enough juice for simmering the overlapped cutlets. And was able to buy thin cut cutlets which worked great Will make again for sure
THIS…WAS…A-MA-ZINNNG
Fantastic! Family favorite. Definitely double or even triple the sauce. I served mine with egg noodles and roasted broccoli. Delicious!! Thank you.
I followed the directions exactly (plus made extra sauce) .. it was Wonderful!! Thank you for sharing!! And Yes, I live in Rochester, NY
We love this recipe! I always make it for company and it’s a big hit. We double the sauce and I let it cook down a bit before adding the chicken back in and serve it over thin spaghetti! Yummy
This recipe is outstanding. I make this for my and have them over each Time. They can’t wait for it. Having it tonight
I’ve made this a few times and don’t change anything except that I pound out the chicken so that it’s thin. We eat this with pasta, so I always at least triple the sauce! My five year old has been eating it for years and adores it. And, as a Rochester native, I can attest that this is as good as, if not better than, a restaurant.
Unless I missed it I didn’t see anything about the Rochester origin and what makes the dish special. For others who might want to know the story, here is an except from a Democrat & Chronicle story by food writer Tracy Schuhmacher: Is Chicken French really a Rochester thing? The answer is yes, mostly. Former food and drink reporter Karen Miltner traced the origin story in 2005. Here are some key facts about the dish. 1. The “French” concept wasn’t created here. Vitello Francese is an Italian-American dish that was served in New York City after World War II, and is now served at restaurants around the country. When the dish made its way to Rochester, Rochesterians opted for the American translation, Veal French. 2. Rochester brought the chicken and the popularity. James Cianciola, who was also known as Chef Vincenzo, served Veal French at the Brown Derby, a restaurant on Monroe Avenue in Brighton. After anti-veal picketers urged a boycott of the restaurant in the 1970s, Cianciola put Chicken French on the menu. It was a popular offering, and the restaurant added Artichoke French, Cauliflower French, Haddock French and so on. Other Rochester restaurants followed suit, and the dish is now ubiquitous on Rochester restaurant menus.
This recipe is Delicious & Easy ! I found if you slice your chicken breast in three to four thin slices length wise and then move to the flour egg process you will not have any issues of the chicken falling apart . And be sure you use a couple tablespoons of olive oil each time you cook 3-4 pieces be sure it’s pretty hot so the batter does not fall apart – I use this recipe weekly ! Also try using Cream sherry or triple sec liquor which offers a better flavors and I also sauté thinly sliced onions
The whole family loved it and ask me to make it again and again.
I made a garbage plate instead!
I sliced each breast into 3 with a very sharp serrated bread knife. The browning was beautiful! I didn’t have any butter—cooked without butter in olive oil in my large uncoated All-Clad pan (with a lid—lid helpful after adding chicken back to sauce at end of recipe so sauce does not cook away.) It didn’t stick. Next time I’ll use less sugar. Sauce… more, more, more! More sherry. More lemon. More chicken stock. More flavor! Served with asparagus and mash.
no, this recipe is perfect,
This recipe hit every note! Tangy lemon, spicy garlic, touch of sugar brought out the Parmesan cheese- I’ll definitely be making this again!
I did artichokes French along with the chicken, everything turned out perfect! I always make a few cups of the sauce and I thicken it because we like it thick enough to stick to the pasta and chicken.
As a fellow Rochesterian who found this recipe a few years ago, I highly recommend. I’ve tweaked it a bit throughout the years such as doing about 4x the sauce but it’s because I could literally drink the sauce it’s soooo good!!! Haha! A tip with the chicken because I saw a bunch of people say “I’ll never use this recipe because the breading fell off”- I worked in restaurants for years and when you use bread crumbs it’s eggs then dip. When you want to use flour it’s flour, egg, then flour again and egg again. Put enough oil in the pan to where the chicken is almost submerged (think deep fryer style lol) and it’s important to heat the oil first, then lower it to medium heat (I use 4.5 on my stove) and cook the chicken for 6 mins on each side. Then while the chicken is cooking I get a pot and start making the sauce. After you cook it for about 10 mins, lower the heat to medium/small boil and let the chicken float around and cook in the sauce.
I’m from Rochester and this dish is spot on. One thing I note is that many of the recipes for this dish don’t use garlic, but to me it is part of creating that perfect blend between the lemon, the garlic, the wine, and the butter. Often some recipes favor one over the others so for each individual it may vary. This recipe has the perfect balance of all. Another favorite in the area is Artichokes French using the same basic recipe but substituting the tender artichoke hearts.