This version of panko-breaded chicken with white wine lemon butter sauce is one of our all time favorite chicken dishes! You'll absolutely love the Crunchy Chicken with White Wine Lemon Butter Sauce.
Most people have had breaded chicken in some form or another at least once in their life. Maybe close to everyone has! But how many times is it underwhelming (assuming you are over the age of 14)?
I can remember at various times eating a dish like this and having tasteless chicken, soggy breadcrumbs, a breading that completely separates from the chicken and a dryness in the chicken that screams for a sauce just to give my mouth something that doesn't resemble West Texas in the middle of July.
Well, all of those problems and many more have been solved! Our version of crunchy chicken with white wine lemon butter sauce is amazing. This dish combines simple ingredients, simple techniques, great flavors and a perfect texture.
And, the fact that Crunchy Chicken will accompany about 100 side dishes or more as well, you really can’t go wrong! We love it with creamy mashed potatoes, such as THESE, and some green beans, but really anything you like will work well with this.
The Best Breaded Chicken You Will Ever Eat
So, what makes this Crunchy Chicken so good? There are several things, but let’s start with the breadcrumbs.
Breadcrumbs.
Panko bread crumbs maintain a great crunch throughout the cooking process and even if there are leftovers, they re-crisp perfectly. These days they are quite easy to find, so make sure you use Panko for the breading. We prefer THIS kind, but try a few and figure out your favorites.
And guess what! You can even use Gluten Free Panko bread crumbs if gluten is your enemy and you still want to enjoy panko breaded chicken. We have done this a few times and hardly notice the difference. You're welcome gluten free fam!
Seasoning.
Season the chicken! You don’t have to go crazy with the seasoning but put something in there and you’ll be rewarded. We like to use lemon pepper and salt only, since the lemon pepper will complement the lemon butter sauce.
Feel free to experiment with the seasoning. The most important part is that the seasoning goes on the chicken BEFORE you coat it in flour, egg, and panko bread crumbs.
Breading Technique.
The third thing that makes this work well is just a basic technique. Make sure you coat the chicken with flour, coat the flour with a slightly water-diluted egg and coat the egg mixture with the breadcrumbs. IN THIS ORDER! This will ensure your coating will stay right on the chicken and you’ll get the maximum out of this dish.
How do I make the White Wine Lemon Butter sauce?
Finally, the sauce completes the deal here. This white wine lemon butter sauce, also known as lemon beurre blanc, is the perfect accompaniment to this chicken. Making a beurre blanc requires a little bit of technique, but follow our instructions below and you should be perfectly fine.
Something we do is reduce the white wine and lemon down to almost nothing - well two tablespoons. This gives the sauce an extreme amount of flavor and makes it a thicker consistency once you add the butter.
If you prefer a bit thinner of a sauce, it's super easy to do at the end - just add a touch of water and whisk a bit more to make it thinner. But thinning it out after the butter is added is slightly more challenging, so reducing the wine and lemon first will help you later on in the process to achieve the perfect consistency.
The other important thing to remember when making the sauce is that you want to use cold butter cut into 1 tablespoon pieces. You should remove the reduction from the heat before slowly adding each tablespoon of butter.
There is a lot of whisking to make this perfect, because the key is for the butter to emulsify to become creamy. Although the sauce looks creamy, traditional beurre blanc sauce does not have ANY cream in it. It is the process of whisking in the butter slowly to emulsify it that gives it that creamy, silky texture!
This sauce is absolutely delicious and will leave you running back for more! We promise you this! But, really, anything works (even plain old ketchup) with this Crunchy Chicken, just in case you have picky eaters or children (or both).
Enjoy!
We hope you enjoy this Crunchy Chicken recipe! We are not lying when we say it is one of our favorites! If you give it a try leave us a comment below or tag us on Instagram @cooking_with_wine!
If you like this recipe, check out a few of our other favorites below:
- Coq au Vin – Chicken in Red Wine
- Saltimbocca alla Romana
- Veal and Beef Shepherd’s Pie
- Summer Pasta (Pasta D’Estate)
- Farmhouse Ranch Smashed Potatoes
📖 Recipe
Crunchy Chicken with White Wine Lemon Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon lemon pepper
- 3 cups panko bread crumbs
- 2 eggs + 1 tablespoon water, whisked
- ⅔ cup all purpose flour
- 6 tbs ghee or olive oil
Lemon Beurre Blanc
- ½ cup dry white wine (Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio work well)
- 6 black peppercorns
- 1 small shallot, chopped
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 8 tbs (¼lb) cold unsalted butter - cut in 8-10 pieces
Garnish
- Chopped Parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to warm (180°F or lowest setting available)
- Sprinkle salt and lemon pepper to both sides of chicken cutlets. Whisk egg and water in a bowl, place flour in a bowl or sealable bag and spread the breadcrumbs on a large plate or sheet pan.
- Coat chicken in flour, then dip each piece in egg mixture, then cover in breadcrumbs. Press the breadcrumbs into the chicken to coat thoroughly. Set aside
- Heat ghee/olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When ghee/olive oil is hot, carefully add two pieces of chicken and cook for 5-6 minutes per side to achieve a nice brown and crunchy crust while cooking the chicken through. Remove to a plate and keep warm in the oven. Repeat the process with the rest of the chicken. Add more ghee/oil if necessary if the pan gets dry during the cooking process. While the chicken browns, begin your lemon beurre blanc.
- For the lemon beurre blanc, combine the wine, peppercorns and shallot in a small skillet or frying pan over medium. Bring to a gentle boil and reduce the liquid in half. Once the liquid has reduced by half, strain the solids through a sieve and return the strained sauce to the pan. Add the lemon juice and reduce to about 2 tablespoons of liquid. Once reduced, keep warm on low until your chicken is ready.
- Once your chicken is ready, keep it warm in the oven while you finish the sauce.
- To finish the sauce, remove the pan from the heat completely and let cool for a minute or two. You do not want the pan to be hot, but warm so the sauce doesn't break. Whisk in the butter one piece at a time, emulsifying the mixture. If you need to return the pan to the burner (on low) you can do that briefly for about 30 seconds, but don't let your sauce get too hot during this process. Once all the butter has been incorporated, you are ready to plate your dish.
- Plate your chicken with the sauce drizzled on top (and an extra bowl on the side if desired), then sprinkle with parsley and enjoy!
Ann Davis-Rowe says
Ok, so the one thing Flat 493 is v. bad at is frying. This was such an easy and accessible way to try. Hampton added capers to the beurre blanc Bc capers and we served it with roasted asparagus and basmati rice cooked with the end of some miso French dip au jus. So looking forward to leftovers for breakfast this coming week.
Angela and Mark says
So glad you liked it!
Madeline says
Absolutely delicious! New favorite recipe
Angela and Mark says
So glad you liked it! This is one of our all time favorites as well!
Ethel says
The best tasty chicken ever
Angela and Mark says
Thanks, Ethel! This is a family favorite!
Angela says
Definitely one of our favorite to make! The sauce is so delicious with the nice crunch of the chicken