Chicken Paillard | The Modern Proper (2024)

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September 23, 2024

Lemony chicken paillard is the kind of recipe that’s so genius for a weeknight because it requires zero shortcuts. Like most classic bistro dishes, it’s quick and efficient by nature.

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  • Gluten Free
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Need a Quick, Restaurant-y Dinner? Say Hello to This Chicken Paillard!

With classic French flavors as the inspiration, and a simple, time-tested culinary technique at play, this delicious chicken paillard recipe is so easy to love. Succulent pan-fried chicken, pounded to a perfect thinness and dressed with a super traditional buttery shallot-lemon chicken paillard sauce tastes like something you’d order at a restaurant—and served with this fresh, bright arugula salad—it’s also a speedy, healthy dinner that you know everyone will love. Just how speedy can something as elegant and delicious as chicken paillard be? How about ready-in-under-an-hour speedy? Plus, pounding the chicken breast pieces into “paillards” is a lot of fun—you might even be able to enlist some help and make this fast recipe go even faster.

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What Is Chicken Paillard?

“Paillard” is a French word that refers to a piece of meat—”paillard” doesn’t only apply to chicken—that’s been pounded thin. Whether you’re working with pork or chicken or even veal, pounding the meat thin tenderizes it and cuts down on your cooking time, too! Plus, honestly, all that pounding is pretty fun to do. You don’t need a special tool to pound chicken breasts into chicken paillards. If you have a meat mallet, this is its moment to shine, but if not, a regular old rolling pin will work just fine.

Everything You’ll Need to Make Our Lemon Chicken Paillard Recipe

A creamy lemon chicken paillard sauce is the classic way of finishing off this beloved chicken recipe, and we’re not here to mess with that succulent, buttery perfection. Making this simple sauce is easy—it’s just a basic pan sauce, really. You’ll use what’s left in the skillet after pan-frying the chicken—chicken-y bits, butter and oil—to create a super flavorful shallot-lemon sauce that’s a natural fit for the chicken paillards. Here’s all you’ll need to make it:

  • Butter

  • Shallots

  • Lemon

  • Chicken stock

  • Garlic

  • Chives

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Chicken Paillard | The Modern Proper (8)

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How To Make Our Easy Lemon Chicken Paillard Recipe

The meal that most of us imagine when we hear the phrase chicken paillard is exactly this—juicy-tender chicken pieces, thin and buttery, golden-brown from a pan-fry, topped with a lemon-butter sauce and served with a simply-dressed arugula salad. It’s what bistro food is about! Comforting simplicity, approachability and un-fussy goodness. Maybe grab a good baguette and open a bottle of wine you love and clink those glasses as you sit down to one of the best, simple meals ever. A votre santé! Here’s how easy it is to make chicken paillard:

  1. Make the chicken paillards! Pound the chicken breast pieces to ¼-inch thickness.

  2. Cook the chicken paillards! Warm some olive oil and butter and cook the pounded, seasoned chicken paillards for about two minutes per side, until the chicken is cooked through. You’ll likely need to work in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan.

  3. Make the lemon chicken paillard sauce! This is a classic French pan sauce—creamy, buttery, simple. Sauté shallot, then add garlic, lemon juice and chicken stock. Simmer until the sauce reduces by half. Stir in more cold butter and simmer just until it has melted. Add lemon zest and chives. Our Lemon Butter Chicken uses a similar formula for delicious results.

  4. Finish the dish! Place the cooked chicken pieces in the sauce to warm through.

  5. Serve with this green salad for a gorgeous & classic supper of chicken paillard salad!

  6. Once you’ve mastered the trick of pounding chicken breasts into tender cutlets, you may want to try our creamy chicken marsala, which relies on the same preparation method to make a super succulent, delicious chicken dinner.

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Chicken Paillard | The Modern Proper (12)

Tools You’ll Need

More Easy Chicken Breast Recipes to Try

  • Chicken Piccata

  • One Pan Honey Mustard Chicken and Vegetables

  • Lemon Chicken

  • Greek Chicken Freezer Meal

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Good Evening, Welcome to Balthazar Your Own Dinner Table

Bistros like NYC’s Balthazar—one of the most iconic places to order chicken paillard—are great all all, but here at home, there are no reservations needed and no wait. And, of course, the company can’t be beat. This chicken paillard recipe is proof that quick and easy doesn’t have to mean compromising at all on deliciousness, and we hope you love it as much as we do! If you make it, let us know how you like it! Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!

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Chicken Paillard | The Modern Proper (2024)

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