Veal Piccata
intro
Tender thin-cut veal in a bright, tangy lemon-caper butter sauce—an elegant, restaurant-worthy dish ready in under 30 minutes.
Ingredients
Steps
Prep and pound veal
Place veal cutlets between two sheets of plastic wrap on a wooden cutting board. Use a meat mallet or heavy rolling pin to pound each cutlet to a uniform 6mm (1/4 inch) thickness. Season both sides of each cutlet evenly with 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
Dredge veal in flour
Spread all-purpose flour in a wide, shallow dish. Dredge each pounded veal cutlet lightly in the flour, shaking off all excess to leave only a thin, even coating—thick flour clumps will turn gummy in the finished sauce. Set coated cutlets on a clean plate for 2 minutes to allow the flour to adhere to the meat surface.
Sear veal cutlets
Heat 2 tablespoons (30ml) extra-virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter in a large heavy-bottomed stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat until butter foams and turns pale golden, about 2 minutes. Work in 2 batches to avoid crowding the pan: add 2 cutlets at a time and sear for 1.5 minutes per side, until light golden brown on both surfaces. Transfer seared cutlets to a clean plate, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and repeat with remaining cutlets, adding 1 extra tablespoon (15ml) olive oil if the pan appears dry.
Build pan sauce base
Lower stovetop heat to medium. Pour dry white wine into the same used skillet, using a wooden spoon to scrape up all browned flavorful bits (fond) from the pan bottom. Simmer the wine for 3 minutes until reduced by half, then stir in chicken broth, remaining 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and simmer for 2 additional minutes.
Finish lemon-caper sauce
Stir fresh lemon juice and rinsed, drained capers into the reduced liquid, then lower heat to medium-low. Whisk in the remaining 6 tablespoons (85g) of cold unsalted butter 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting until each piece fully melts and incorporates before adding the next, to create a smooth, emulsified sauce over about 2 minutes total. Do not let the sauce boil after adding butter, as high heat will cause the sauce to separate.
Warm veal and serve
Return seared veal cutlets and any accumulated juices from the resting plate back to the skillet, spooning sauce over the top of each cutlet. Let the veal warm through in the sauce over low heat for 1 minute, then transfer cutlets to a warm serving platter. Sprinkle with chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, garnish with reserved thin lemon slices, and serve immediately.
Tips
2.Always rinse capers under cool water before adding them to sauce to wash away excess pickling brine, which can make the finished dish unpleasantly salty.
3.Use cold butter straight from the fridge when emulsifying the pan sauce—cold butter melts slowly and creates a silkier, more stable sauce than room-temperature butter.
OMG this was SO good! I made it for our Sunday family dinner last night and even my super picky 10 year old who hates all ‘fancy grown up food’ cleaned his plate and asked for seconds. The lemon caper sauce is an absolute game changer— I didn’t have white wine on hand so I used a splash of chicken broth with a tiny squeeze of extra lemon and it still turned out perfect. 10/10 will be adding this to our weekly rotation!
Full transparency, I’ve never cooked veal before in my life and was super nervous I’d mess it up, but this recipe was so straightforward! 25 minutes total cook time is no joke, I had it on the table faster than I can run to the local Italian takeout spot. The only tweak I made was adding a little extra butter at the end to make the sauce extra silky, no regrets.
Brought this to our neighborhood potluck over the weekend and people were lined up for seconds! I prepped the veal cutlets the night before and made the sauce right before we headed over, and it held up so great even after sitting on the buffet table for an hour. Multiple neighbors asked for the recipe, so I sent ‘em all this link! Only note is make sure you pound the cutlets nice and thin so they cook evenly, learned that the hard way on my first batch.
Wait I made this for my girlfriend’s birthday dinner and she thought I ordered it from the fancy Italian place downtown 😂 I burned the first two cutlets a little ‘cause I had the heat too high, but once I turned it down to medium it was smooth sailing. The capers hit so hard, 100% will make this again for date night.
Super easy to make gluten free! I swapped the regular all purpose flour for a 1:1 GF flour blend and you literally couldn’t tell the difference. The bright lemon flavor doesn’t get weighed down at all, it’s so light and perfect for summer dinners on the patio. My husband said it’s better than the veal piccata we had on our trip to Rome last year, wild!
Meal prep win! I made a double batch on Sunday, portioned it out with some roasted broccoli and orzo, and it reheated perfectly for lunches all week. No soggy breading, the sauce still tasted bright even after being microwaved at work. I was worried veal would be too fancy for quick weeknight meals but this is so low effort it’s going in my regular lunch rotation for sure. SO good.