Chicken Francese (Rochester-Style Chicken Cutlets With Lemon Pan Sauce)

This lemony chicken dish, with French roots and Italian-American flair, has long been a staple of Rochester's red-sauce dining rooms.

By Laila Ibrahim
Published January 08, 2026
Chicken Francese served in a pan with lemon slices and sauce

Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine

Why It Works

  • Pounding the chicken into thin, even cutlets ensures quick, consistent cooking.
  • Adding the lemon juice off heat keeps the flavor bright and vibrant.
  • Swirling cold butter into the reduced pan sauce emulsifies it into a smooth, glossy consistency.

What do the garbage plate, white hots, and chicken Francese have in common? All three hold a prominent place in the culinary lore of Rochester, New York.

Rochester, a mid-sized city in upstate New York with a large Italian-American population, grew around manufacturing and the imaging industry—most famously Kodak—and developed a food culture defined by local classics like this one. The city has long been home to a concentration of Italian-American restaurants, many of them family-run and decades old. Chicken Francese remains a fixture on their menus, sharing space with old-school staples like baked ziti and chicken parm.

Often simply called chicken French, chicken Francese is strongly associated with Rochester, though its exact origins are debated. Versions appear in Italian-American kitchens across the Northeast and beyond. The name has less to do with France than with a mid-20th-century American habit of borrowing French culinary language to signal refinement, though in this case there is some actual Frenchness to the dish: It likely traces its origins to the French escalope, a term for a thin, pounded cutlet cooked quickly, with that technique adapted and popularized in Italian-American kitchens. This Italian-American dish with faint French roots may be confusing in name, but it's elegant in practice.

A dish of chicken Francese in a pan with lemon slices and sauce on a woven placemat on a light blue surface

Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine

Chicken Francese is easy to confuse with other cutlet-based dishes, but the distinction matters. Chicken paillard and piccata are typically dredged only in flour and often finished with capers. Chicken Francese, by contrast, is coated in both flour and egg before being pan-fried. That extra egg layer creates a tender, lightly custardy exterior—one that clings to the lemony sauce instead of letting it slide off—giving the dish its signature richness.

With the chicken sliced thin and pounded evenly, the cutlets cook through in just a few minutes per side, browning gently without drying out. The technique delivers tenderness and richness without the commitment of breading or deep frying—one reason chicken Francese feels restaurant-worthy but works just as well on a weeknight at home.

Chicken Francese being cooked in a pan hand spooning sauce over chicken

Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine

Once the chicken is out of the pan, the sauce comes together in the same skillet. Lemon slices are briefly cooked in butter until they lightly caramelize, adding subtle complexity. Shallot goes in next, followed by white wine and chicken broth to form a base that thickens just enough to coat the back of a spoon. Off heat, lemon juice perks the sauce up, and a final knob of cold butter gives it sheen and silkiness. The warm cutlets go back in and get spooned with the sauce, finished with the caramelized lemon slices on top.

Chicken Francese feels polished but relies on familiar ingredients and a short timeline. While it's no trip to Paris, it comes together quickly, tastes rich and lively, and feels special enough for a date night.

Recipe Details

Chicken Francese (Rochester-Style Chicken Cutlets With Lemon Pan Sauce)

Prep 10 mins
Cook 45 mins
Resting Time: 15 mins
Total 70 mins
Serves 4
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Ingredients

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 to 8 ounces each) (see notes)

  • Kosher salt

  • Freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (4 1/2 ounces; 128 g), plus 1 1/2 tablespoons (12 g)

  • 4 large eggs

  • 3 tablespoons (45 ml) whole milk

  • Neutral oil, such as vegetable oil, for frying

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (28 g), plus 1 tablespoon chilled (1/2 ounce; 14 g)

  • 1 medium lemon, cut into 1/8-inch rounds, plus 2 tablespoons (30 ml) fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon 

  • 1 medium shallot (about 65 g), finely chopped

  • 1 cup (240 ml) homemade chicken stock or store-bought low-sodium chicken broth

  • 1/2 cup (120 ml) dry white wine

  • 1/4 cup (10 g) chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

  1. Working with one chicken breast at a time, place chicken on a cutting board. Hold it steady with the palm of your non-cutting hand and use a sharp knife to slice horizontally into two even cutlets. Repeat with remaining breasts. Cover cutlets with plastic wrap and use a meat mallet or rolling pin to pound them to about 1/4-inch thickness.

    Slicing a raw chicken breast on a wooden board with a knife

    Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine

  2. Season chicken evenly on both sides with salt and pepper and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.

    Chicken breasts on a cutting board being sprinkled with seasoning preparation for Chicken Francese

    Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine

  3. While chicken sits, place 1 cup (4 1/2 ounces; 128 g) flour in a shallow dish. In a second shallow dish, beat eggs with milk.

    Two bowls one with flour and one with beaten eggs arranged side by side for cooking preparation

    Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine

  4. Fill a large stainless steel skillet with about 1/4 inch of oil and heat over high heat until shimmering. Working with two cutlets at a time, lightly dredge chicken in flour, shaking off excess, then dip in egg mixture, allowing excess to drip off. Carefully place chicken in hot oil and cook, undisturbed, until lightly browned and nearly cooked through, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook until lightly browned on the second side and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 160°F (71°C), about 2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and season with salt to taste. Repeat with remaining chicken, adding more oil as needed.

    Fourstep process of breading and frying chicken cutlets in a pan

    Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine

  5. When all chicken is cooked, carefully discard frying oil and wipe the skillet clean. Return skillet to medium heat and add 2 tablespoons (28 g) butter. After butter is melted, add lemon slices and cook until lightly golden, about 30 seconds per side; transfer to a plate.

    Lemon slices being sauted in a stainless steel skillet on a stove

    Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine

  6. Add shallots to remaining butter in skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 2 minutes. Whisk in remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons (12 g) flour and cook, whisking constantly, until lightly golden and aromatic, about 2 minutes.

    Twostep cooking process of garlic in a pan and adding flour mixture with a whisk

    Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine

  7. Gradually whisk in broth and wine. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until sauce is lightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Off-heat, whisk in lemon juice, and chilled butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Return chicken to skillet and spoon sauce over cutlets. Cook over medium-low heat until chicken is warmed through, about 2 minutes. Top with reserved lemon slices and parsley. Serve.

    Stepbystep preparation of Chicken Francese in a fourimage collage showing sauce making sauce whisking chicken cooking and garnished dish

    Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine

Special Equipment

Meat mallet or rolling pin, large stainless steel skillet, instant-read thermometer

Notes

Pre-pounded chicken cutlets are widely available in many supermarkets; 8 can be used in place of the 4 whole chicken breasts.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Chicken breasts can be sliced and pounded up to 2 days in advance. Refrigerate cutlets in airtight containers until ready to use.

Chicken Francese is best eaten right after it's made, as the chicken cutlets will get soggy as they sit. Leftovers can be safely refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
605 Calories
20g Fat
53g Carbs
51g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 605
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 20g 26%
Saturated Fat 7g 35%
Cholesterol 306mg 102%
Sodium 341mg 15%
Total Carbohydrate 53g 19%
Dietary Fiber 7g 25%
Total Sugars 12g
Protein 51g
Vitamin C 112mg 559%
Calcium 132mg 10%
Iron 5mg 30%
Potassium 911mg 19%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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