Lunch / Dinner
Light Chicken Francese
Chicken francese [frahn-CHEZ], meaning “in the French style,” basically refers to food dipped in flour and egg, then fried and dressed in a lemon-wine sauce. It can tilt the scales and be a little on the heavy side. Switching to egg whites only and cutting back on fats lightens up this version. With its robust sauce, it’s still every bit as tasty as the original.
Ingredients
FOR THE CHICKEN, COMBINE:
FOR THE SAUCE, HEAT:
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200° with a baking sheet topped with a rack inside.
For the chicken, combine flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Place egg white mixture in another shallow dish. Pound chicken pieces inside a resealable plastic bag with a ½ tsp. water with the flat side of a meat mallet to ¼-inch thick to form cutlets.
Dredge cutlets in flour mixture; shake off excess. Evenly coat cutlets in egg mixture, allowing excess to drip off. Dredge cutlets again in flour mixture; shake off excess.
Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high. Cook cutlets until golden on both sides, about 6 minutes total, then transfer to prepared rack in oven to keep warm.
For the sauce, heat oil in same skillet over medium; add onion and cook until softened, 2–3 minutes. Add flour and cook 1 minute.
Whisk in broth, wine, and lemon juice. Increase heat to medium-high and bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat to medium and cook, whisking occasionally, until mixture reduces slightly and thickens.
Add butter to skillet; swirl to emulsify. Add half the parsley and season with salt and pepper; add lemon slices to coat with sauce. Serve cutlets with sauce and lemon slices; top with remaining parsley.
To keep chicken breasts from tearing or sticking, add a little water to the plastic bag when pounding them.
Help the coating stick by dredging the chicken in flour twice, before and after dipping in egg mixture.
Nutritional Facts
Nutritional Facts
Per serving
Calories: 315
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 13g 20%
Saturated Fat 3g 15%
Cholesterol 80mg 26%
Sodium 619mg 25%
Carbs 17g 5%
Fiber 1g 4%
Protein 29g
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.