Chicken Paillard in Sherry Caper Sauce

Let’s make Chicken Paillard for diner! While it sounds posh, chicken paillard is nothing more than chicken cutlets pounded with a meat mallet to tenderise them and to speed up  the cooking time.

Then tender chicken cutlets can be either pan fried and served with a sauce or grilled. For this recipe, we are sharing a lively sherry caper sauce brightened with oranges.

For more ideas of how to serve chicken paillard, check my Chicken Marsala recipe along with proper techniques and photos to illustrate of how to cut and pound chicken into cutlets.

I love eating complicated French recipes in a restaurant but when I cook I want them to be easy and straightforward while tasting sublime. Tall order? Perhaps, but this chicken paillard in a tangy sherry caper sauce is just that! 

 This chicken breast recipe takes no longer than 20 minutes but the end result will wow and impress your guests. 

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What sauce to serve

A winning combination of delicate shallots and garlic gently sautéed in butter with a splash of sherry wine, blood orange juice, more butter and capers creates a beautiful sauce you’d want to put on everything.

This sauce is quite thin as no flour or corn starch was used to thicken it as we were trying to keep the recipe light. However, if a thicker sauce is desired add 1 tablespoon of flour right before adding the sherry. 

Yes, apart from chicken, this sauce is also lovely with fish or pork chops!

How to prepare chicken breasts

• Cut chicken breasts in half horizontally into two thin slices. 
• Place all chicken cutlets on a large cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. 
• Pound with a meat mallet, rolling pin or a large heavy skillet until no thicker than 1/2 inch all the way across. It’s important that all chicken cutlets are the same thickness as it ensure they cook at the same time. 

Substitutions

• Like I mentioned earlier this sherry caper sauce will be delicious with pork, veal or fish. You can treat the meat the same way as chicken but leave fish alone as it doesn’t need tenderising.
• I’ve used blood oranges but regular oranges or lemons could be substituted. 
• Not a fan of capers? No problem, use olives in their place, they will add a similar briney flavour to the sauce. 
• Finally any dry white wine could be used in place of sherry.

Can this chicken dish be frozen?

Absolutely! This Chicken recipe freezes and reheats beautifully, so could be made well in advance. Make sure to serve it with good bread to soak up the juices. 

More Chicken Breast Recipes

• Chicken Provencal
• Chicken Chasseur
• Bacon Wrapped Chicken Stuffed with Mushrooms
• Moroccan Chicken Tagine
• Chicken Forestière

5 from 4 votes

Chicken Paillard in Sherry Caper Sauce

By Julia Frey of Vikalinka

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 10 minutes mins

Total: 20 minutes mins

Servings: 2

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This Chicken Paillard recipe is chicken cutlets pounded thin, then quickly pan fried and served with sherry and caper sauce. 

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Equipment

• This is an affiliate link.Cast iron casserole dish

Ingredients 

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• ▢ 1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.olive oil
• ▢ 2 chicken breasts cut in half making 4 cutlets
• ▢ 3 tbsp butter, divided
• ▢ 2 shallots
• ▢ 1 clove garlic
• ▢ 60ml/1/4cup dry sherry
• ▢ 1 orange, 1/2 orange juiced, the other half sliced
• ▢ 4 tbsp capers
• ▢ salt to taste
• ▢ fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

Instructions 

• Place chicken breasts on a cutting board and with a sharp knife slice them in half horizontally. Then cover them with a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper and pound with a meat mallet or a rolling pin until they are no more than 1/2 inch thick throughout. Then remove the plastic wrap and season them with salt and pepper on both sides. 
• Juice half an orange and slice the other half. Peel and chop the shallots and slice the garlic cloves. In a frying pan heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and brown the chicken cutlets for 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate and set aside. 
• Add 1 tbsp of butter to the pan and saute the shallots and sliced garlic for 3 minutes over low heat, then add the dry sherry and let it simmer for a couple of minutes until slightly reduced. Then add the orange juice, the remaining butter and capers, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and return the chicken to the pan. Baste the chicken with the sauce and top with orange slices. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if needed and let the chicken warm through in the pan for a few minutes, then sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve. 

Nutrition

Calories: 522kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 49g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 190mg | Sodium: 893mg | Potassium: 941mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 593IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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