Fried Chicken Cutlets in Lemon and Wine Sauce

Nancy Fox can be found over at her amazing website, Skinny Kitchen, where she shares an incredibly delicious way of cooking your favorite meals with less fat and calories. 

This fried chicken is phenomenal. I go so far as to refer to it as a gourmet recipe because there’s a lemon and wine sauce drizzled over the chicken that gives it a fantastic burst of flavor.

To keep it skinny, it’s fried in a very small amount of reduced-fat butter and olive oil. Each serving has only 224 calories, 6 grams of fat and 5 Weight Watchers SmartPoints. A must try!

Fried Chicken in a Lemon and Wine Sauce

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 14 minutes

Ingredients

4 (4 oz each) chicken breasts, boneless, skinless (1 pound total), see prep tip

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon flour

1 egg white (⅛ cup)

1 tablespoon fat-free milk

½ cup bread crumbs, I used Panko bread crumbs, see shopping tip

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated

2 tablespoons reduced-fat butter or Smart Balance Light, divided

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ cup white wine or reduced-sodium chicken broth, see shopping tip

Instructions

1. Place the chicken breasts on a plate. Season chicken with a little salt and pepper and lightly dust with flour.

2. Beat the egg white with milk in a shallow bowl. Toss breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese together in another shallow bowl.

3. Dip each piece of chicken in egg white mixture, coating both sides and dredge in bread crumb/Parmesan mixture and set aside. Continue with the rest of the chicken.

4. Coat a large nonstick pan with cooking spray. Add one tablespoon of butter and one teaspoon of olive oil and melt over medium-high heat. Add the four breaded chicken breasts, cover pan and cook for 4-5 minutes until browned and crispy. Turn chicken over, add remaining tablespoon of butter to pan and swirl around to melt. Cover pan, turn heat down to medium and continue to cook for 4-5 minutes until browned and cooked through. Remove chicken to a serving plate.

5. Add the wine and lemon juice to the pan and heat for about two minutes over medium heat until pan sauce is slightly reduced.

6. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Food Fact

Panko bread crumbs come from Japan and are typically used to coat foods for frying or sautéing. They’re coarser than most bread crumbs and create a crispier crust.

Shopping Tips

Panko bread crumbs are available in most supermarkets. I bought mine at Trader Joe’s.

No need to use an expensive wine for this recipe. I always keep a cheap bottle like Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw Chardonnay in my refrigerator for cooking. It’s about $3.99 a bottle.

Prep Tip

Today it seems most packaged chicken breasts weigh more than 4 ounces each. If the breast is too large or too thick, slice in half  lengthwise through the entire piece to create two breasts.

Weight Watchers SmartPoints 5
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 5

SKINNY FACTS: for 1 (4 oz) fried chicken breast with sauce
224 calories, 6g fat, 57mg chol, 28g protein, 7g carbs, 0g fiber, 344mg sod, 0g sugar