Chicken Francese – Gluten Free

Chicken Francese is a classic Italian-American dish that originated in upstate New York. This is comfort food at its best with a luscious lemon-wine-butter sauce that is so good you want to sop up every drop. It is delicious, quick, and easy to make for a weeknight meal yet fancy enough for dinner parties.

When you cook for your family every night, it is easy to get into a routine of making the same dishes over and over. If you tend to get in cooking ruts, joining an online cooking group that pushes you a little is a terrific way of having to be creative in the kitchen. I have belonged to several groups that stretch my imagination and I love them.

Chicken Francese is similar to Chicken Piccata. Francese has an egg and flour batter whose flavor really follows through to the finished product. There are no capers but there is a lemon-wine-butter sauce. I love both dishes and this is a nice change of pace from the ordinary chicken dinners we make regularly.

One of my favorite things about this particular recipe is that there is plenty of lemony buttery sauce to go around. I hate when you have to ration out how much sauce goes with each plate. You don’t have to be careful with the sauce.

I like to serve this Chicken Francese with garlic creamy mashed potatoes to help get every last drop of the delicious sauce. It certainly would go great with rice or pasta as well. The presentation of the lemon slices over the chicken is fancy enough for a dinner party and welcome as a weeknight meal.

It is very important to have all of your ingredients prepped before you start cooking. This recipe moves quickly. If your chicken is nice and thin, they it will cook up in a matter of minutes. You don’t want to chance overcooking your chicken just because you had to run back to the fridge for one more ingredient. With this recipe you’ll have a delicious dinner on the table in no time at all!

To tell when the chicken is done and ready to pull off the fire, use an instant-read thermometer. My personal favorite is a Thermapen from Thermoworks. (https://www.thermoworks.com/classic-thermapen/) They are expensive but they are absolute workhorses, last for many years, and pay for themselves with the delicious, perfectly cooked meals you share with you family and friends. This is not an affiliate link; I just really love their quality products and use them daily!

Give this Chicken Francese a try and I’ll bet your family and friends will be requesting it on a regular basis. It is so comforting but still light so you won’t feel uncomfortably full when you’re done. Plus it is good any time of the year – truly a winner, winner, chicken dinner!!

If you try this recipe, let me know! Please leave a star rating in the recipe card, comment below, and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it @theheritagecook on Instagram! Seeing your creations makes my day and I love hearing from you!

 

Ingredients needed for Chicken Francese:

• Chicken breasts or thighs, GF flour, salt, pepper, eggs, olive oil, lemons, white wine, chicken broth, butter, parsley

 

PRO Tip:

Set up your dredging station next to the stove so you can easily coat the chicken and get it into the hot oil without messing up your counter too much.

 

PRO Tip:

If you cannot have corn and must avoid cornstarch, you can use tapioca starch, potato starch, or gluten-free flour blend in its place.

 

PRO Tip:

If you are using a large lemon and the sauce gets too tart, you can whisk in some sugar or honey, a bit more butter, and/or more chicken stock to balance the flavors. Stir it in and taste. Keep adding and tasting until you have the flavor you want. If needed, add a little more butter/cornstarch mixture to rethicken the sauce.

 

How to make Chicken Francese:

1. Flatten the chicken to about 1/4-inch thick (6mm) and season with salt and pepper. Put the flour in a shallow plate and season well with salt and pepper. In a second shallow plate whisk eggs with water; set both plates next to the stove.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet. Dredge both sides of the chicken in the flour and dip each one in the egg wash, coating completely. Fry the chicken in the hot oil 3 to 5 minutes per side until golden brown and cooked through. Work in batches if the chicken doesn’t all fit in the pan. As they are done transfer to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
3. Add lemon slices to the pan and cook 1 minute. Add the wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken stock and lemon juice; simmer for 5 minutes until slightly reduced.
4. In a bowl, using a fork, combine 2 tsp cornstarch with the butter and mix until completely incorporated. Add the butter to the pan sauce and whisk in until it starts to thicken. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
5. Return chicken to the pan to re-warm and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer chicken to serving plates, pour some of the sauce over, top with the lemon slices and sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

 

PRO Tip:

When pounding the chicken, use the smooth side of the meat mallet. The rough side tears up the delicate poultry and should be reserved for when you are specifically tenderizing meats.

 

PRO Tip:

If you decide you don’t want to pound the chicken flat, you can cut the breasts in half horizontally (along the long edge) and open like a book. This is much easier to do if the chicken is partially frozen. The chicken will be firmer and safer to cut. Lay the palm of your hand on top of the chicken breast and cut along the long side until you can open it like a book. Then you can cut them into two pieces. Place the chicken halves in the refrigerator to safely finish thawing.

 

Recommended Tools (affiliate links; no extra cost to you):

• Kitchen scale
• Chef’s knife and/or paring knife
• Meat mallet (for pounding the chicken)
• Citrus reamer
• Large skillet
• Instant read thermometer

 

Gluten-Free Tips:

* You can adjust any baking recipe to gluten-free by using 120 grams per cup of my favorite gluten-free flour blend. If you are using another brand of gluten-free flour, whisk the mix, spoon it lightly into a measuring cup until mounded, level off the top with the back of a knife, and weigh the flour left in the cup. Use that weight as your standard per cup of that specific flour. Do this for each flour blend you use. Commercial blends such as Pamela’s All-Purpose Artisan Blend, Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1, or King Arthur Measure for Measure are all good choices.

** The major gluten-free organizations have declared that distilled alcohols are gluten free. Wine is also considered safe. For some very sensitive people wine may cause issues. In a few rare cases, wine makers may use barrels that have minute amounts of gluten in the caulk. If you have issues with wine, look for a winery that uses only stainless steel containers to age their wines.

You will get the best results by using a digital kitchen scale and weighing your ingredients, especially when you are baking.

All recommended ingredients are gluten-free as of the writing of this article. Always check to be sure the products haven’t changed and are still safe to consume.

 

 

 

 

 

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