This Pork Piccata is a restaurant quality dish you can make in under 30 minutes. There’s something about the combination of tender pork, a bright lemon sauce, and salty capers that makes pork piccata an enduring favorite. It’s a restaurant dish that’s surprisingly easy to make at home, perfect for a weeknight dinner that feels special.
Plus, it only takes 30 minutes from start to finish.
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This post is sponsored by Ohio Pork Council. All opinions are my own.
Why this Pork Piccata Recipe is a Keeper
Pork piccata comes together quickly, making it a perfect choice for busy weeknights. Serve it with pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes for a satisfying and delicious meal. And with its bright flavors and elegant presentation, it’s sure to impress your family or guests. So next time you’re looking for an easy yet impressive dish, give pork piccata a try!
- 30 Minute Meal: Make an elegant and impressive meal in minutes.
- Easy Ingredients: Only a few simple, clean, fresh ingredients to make this lemony pork dish.
- Family Friendly: It is so delicious and quick you can make it for a busy weeknight meal or an elegant couples dinner to serve guests.
- Adaptable: Can make it into a chicken piccata or a veal piccata if you wish.
If you’re looking for more pork recipes, try my favorite Italian Porketta Roast, Mongolian Pork (another 30 minute fave!) and my Korean Pork Chops.
Can I try this recipe with something instead of white wine?
Of course, you can use chicken broth or chicken stock, non alcoholic white wine or an alcohol replacement would be vermouth.
Ingredients you Need to Make Pork Piccata
- Boneless Pork Loin: You can also use pork cutlets, pork tenderloin or boneless pork chops.
- Shallots: Fresh diced.
- Capers: Salty, briny, with a slight tanginess, sometimes compared to green olives or pickles.
See the recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
Why We Love Pork
More than 3,500 family farms in Ohio raise enough pork to feed about 25 million people. So when you buy pork at he grocery store or the farmer’s market, you are supporting Ohio farm families that produce pork.
I used boneless pork loin for this recipe, but you could easily swap in pork cutlets, boneless pork chops or pork tenderloin.
Pork tenderloin is one of the leaner cuts of meat. You might be surprised to learn that pork tenderloin is as lean as boneless, skinless chicken breast.
Variations and Substitutions for this Pork Recipe
- Pork: You can use pork loin or sliced thick cut cops or even bone-in pork chops.
- Chicken Broth: You can replace the wine with chicken stock if you wish for the piccata sauce over pork chops.
- Sides: Place this easy to prepare pork over pasta, rice or even mashed potatoes.
Special Equipment Needed for Pork Piccata with Lemon and Capers
- Meat Mallet: This will help tenderize the pork and make it thin enough for quick cooking.
- Lemon Zester: Easily zest citrus with a rasp grater.
Pro Tip
Make sure you use a meat thermometer. The pork should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F. It’s safe to eat with a blush of pink in the center.
How to Make this Quick and Easy Pork Piccata
Imagine a sauce that’s bursting with flavor. The lemon cuts through the richness of the butter, and the capers add an intriguing salty-tart complexity. It’s a perfect balance of flavors that complements the delicate taste of pan-fried pork
These are the basic steps for making pork cutlet recipe. Refer to the full, printable recipe card below for detailed instructions. If this recipe looks good to you, give this recipe a review below.
1. Prepare Meat
Slice pork tenderloin into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place each slice between two sheets of plastic wrap and use the flat side of a meat tenderizer to flatten to 1/8 inch thickness. Season with all purpose seasoning.
2. Coat Pork and Place in Skillet over Medium Heat
Place the flour in a shallow bowl and dredge the pork in it. Shake off excess flour. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm olive oil. Add the pork slices in the pan and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
3. Remove Pork and Keep Warm
Repeat the steps with remaining pork. Transfer to a baking sheet and place in a preheated oven to finish cooking.
4. Make the Pan Sauce
Reduce the heat to medium and melt butter in the pan. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until golden brown, about 30 to 60 seconds. Deglaze the pan by adding the white wine, broth and lemon juice, increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the liquid is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
5. Combine Caper Sauce with Pork Picatta and Serve
Remove the pan from the heat and add butter, lemon zest, capers and parsley. Season with all purpose seasoning. Drizzle the buttery piccata sauce over pork and garnish with fresh parsley.
Pork Picatta Recipe FAQs
Expert Tips for Making This Pork Piccata and White Wine Recipe
Fresh ingredients are best. You want fresh squeezed lemon juice and freshly ground salt and pepper for this pork dinner recipe.
- Zest Lemon First: It’s easier if you zest the lemon before you juice it.
- No Shallots?: No problem. Swap in some finely minced onion.
- Garnish with Fresh Herbs: Fresh thyme or oregano can add an extra layer of complexity to the sauce. Or finish this easy recipe with lemon slices.
- Make it Creamy: For a richer sauce for your pork picatta, stir in a spoonful of heavy cream or grated Parmesan cheese at the end.
- Change up the Protein: While pork is traditional, chicken cutlets can be used as a substitute when you make this recipe.
- Vegetables: Try adding diced asparagus or sliced mushrooms to the butter sauce for the Pork Piccata.
- Make Extra Lemon Piccata Sauce: The sauce is so good, make sure that you make extra for on top of your side dishes.
What to Serve with Pork Picatta Recipes
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Pork Piccata
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Ingredients
- 1 ¼ pound Boneless pork loin, can also use pork cutlets or thin boneless pork chops
- 2 teaspoons All Purpose Seasoning Blend, divided
- ½ cup All-purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons Olive oil
- 3 Tablespoons Unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons Shallots, finely chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
- ½ cup White wine, or dry vermouth
- ½ cup Chicken broth
- 3 Tablespoons Lemon juice, about 1 medium lemon
- 2 Tablespoons Capers, drained
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon zest
- 2 Tablespoons Flat leaf parsley, minced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 ℉.
- Slice pork tenderloin into ½ inch thick slices. Place each slice between two pieces of plastic wrap and use the flat side of a meat tenderizer to flatten to ⅛ inch thickness. Season both sides with ½ teaspoon All Purpose Seasoning Blend.
- Place the flour in a shallow bowl and add ½ teaspoon All Purpose Seasoning Blend and dredge the pork in it. Shake off the excess flour.
- In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm two tablespoons of the oil.
- Place pork slices in a single layer in the pan (be careful not to crowd the pan) and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- Transfer to a baking sheet. Warm the remaining tablespoon of oil in the pan and brown any remaining pork slices. Transfer the pork to a preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 145 ℉.
- Do not clean the skillet. Reduce the skillet heat to medium and melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30-60 seconds.
- Add the white wine and chicken broth and stir while scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan. Zest the lemon and reserve 1 teaspoon of the zest. Squeeze the juice from the lemon into the pan and stir.
- Simmer until the sauce is reduced by half. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the remaining tablespoon of butter, lemon zest, capers and parsley. Season with remaining All Purpose Seasoning Blend.
- Drizzle the sauce over pork and serve immediately.
Christina’s Notes
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- Zest Lemon First: It’s easier if you zest the lemon before you juice it.
- No Shallots?: No problem. Swap in some finely minced onion.
- Garnish with Fresh Herbs: Fresh thyme or oregano can add an extra layer of complexity to the sauce. Or finish this easy recipe with lemon slices.
- Make it Creamy: For a richer sauce for your pork picatta, stir in a spoonful of heavy cream or grated Parmesan cheese at the end.
- Change up the Protein: While pork is traditional, chicken cutlets can be used as a substitute when you make this recipe.
- Vegetables: Try adding diced asparagus or sliced mushrooms to the butter sauce for the Pork Piccata.
- Make Extra Lemon Piccata Sauce: The sauce is so good, make sure that you make extra for on top of your side dishes.
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- Scale the recipe: Simply adjust the serving size in the recipe card and the ingredients will update automatically.
- Make your own All Purpose Seasoning: When a recipe calls for All Purpose Seasoning, you can use my homemade All Purpose Seasoning recipe or substitute salt and pepper to taste.
- Meat doneness: I always use a meat thermometer to test for doneness when cooking meat.
- Use unsalted butter: I use unsalted butter so I can control the salt level in the recipe.
- Preheat the oven: Unless otherwise noted, always preheat your oven before baking.
For more helpful information about this recipe, such as variations, substitutions and other pro-tips, check out the blog post.
Love this easy dinner recipe!