Chicken French
This step-by-step recipe teaches you how to make a delicious chicken French dish with a tangy lemon butter sauce. It’s perfect for a weeknight dinner or special occasion.
This recipe is also known as Chicken Rochester or Chicken Francese. Growing up in the Rochester, NY region, I thought everyone on the planet knew of and enjoyed this amazingly delicious recipe.
There are several different accounts of where this Italian-American dish originated. Some credit immigrants bringing the recipe to the Rochester region from New York City.
Others suggest that Chef James “Vincenzo” Cianciola adapted it in the 1970s from Veal Francese due to picketing and calls for a boycott of his restaurant, The Brown Derby (because he was using veal). No matter its origin, it has stuck to Rochester. Thankfully.
It is a popular item on most Rochester restaurant menus, especially in Italian restaurants.
What you Need
- Chicken: Thinly pounded chicken breasts. We also use chicken thighs or legs, but breasts are traditional.
- Bread Crumbs: Finely ground bread crumbs work best.
- Flour: All-purpose flour and any gluten-free flour can be used.
- Spices: garlic powder, onion powder and oregano to flavor the breadcrumb mixture.
- Cheese: Pecorino romano and asiago cheese to flavor the bread crumb and also for melting on top.
- Eggs: Unlike the usual breading process, the chicken is dipped in the eggs after being dipped in the bread crumbs.
- Oil: Use olive oil to fry the chicken.
- Fresh lemon juice: Use fresh lemon juice to finish each piece of chicken.
For the Sauce
- Chicken broth: This will form the base of the sauce.
- Wine: Use a dry white wine like Sauvignon blanc or Pinot Grigio.
- Butter: We use unsalted butter.
- Garlic: Garlic provides an umami flavor to this rich sauce.
- Cheese: Pecorino romano and asiago cheese are traditional for melting on the top. Parmesan cheese can be substituted, but it’s not as good.
- Seasoning: Kosher or sea salt and black pepper to taste.
- Garnish: Garnish with lemon slices and freshly chopped parsley.
How to Make Chicken Artichoke French
- Pound the chicken breasts out between two pieces of plastic wrap.
- Prepare the breadcrumb mixture.
- Whisk the eggs.
- Press the chicken down into the breadcrumb mixture. Then, dip them in the eggs, allowing the excess to drip off.
- Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan. Brown the chicken pieces on both sides.
- After browning, place the pieces on a plate and set aside.
- Make the sauce in the same skillet. Add the chicken stock and wine to the skillet. Scrape up any browned bits in the bottom of the pan. Add the lemon juice and butter and let it cook for about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350°F. When the sauce is ready, add the chicken to it. Top chicken pieces with the remaining cheese. Bake until the internal temperature is 165°F.
The Artichoke French is usually served separately from the Chicken French, but we love the combination of the two in the same dish! The artichokes add such a pleasant tang!
More Chicken Recipes
Try this super easy chicken French today. You will love it!
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Enjoy. And have fun cooking!
Chicken Artichoke French
Ingredients
- 4 Artichokes in water canned
- 4 Chicken breasts, chicken cutlets or other meaty pieces
- ½ cup flour
- ½ cup fine bread crumbs
- ½ teaspoon garlic, granulated
- ½ teaspoon Onion powder
- ½ teaspoon oregano, dried
- ½ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon Pecorino romano
- 1/2 tablespoon Asiago
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons Olive oil for frying
- 1 lemon for adding juice at the end of the cooking process
For sauce
- 1½ cups chicken broth
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1½ tablespoon Butter
- ½ tablespoon garlic
- ½ cup Asiago
- ¼ cup Pecorino romano
- juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Combine the bread crumbs, flour, seasonings and cheese.½ cup flour, ½ cup fine bread crumbs, ½ teaspoon garlic, granulated, ½ teaspoon Onion powder, ½ teaspoon oregano, dried, 1 tablespoon Pecorino romano, 1/2 tablespoon Asiago, ½ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste
- Dredge the chicken and artichokes in the bread crumb mixture, pressing to adhere lots of cheese and crumbs.4 Artichokes in water, 4 Chicken breasts, chicken cutlets
- Dip them in beaten eggs seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper.2 large eggs
- Saute until brown in olive oil, on first side.2 tablespoons Olive oil for frying
- Be careful not to lose coating when you turn them.
- Remove the chicken from the skillet to a plate.
- Add the chicken broth and wine to the pan you browned chicken in. Scrape the bottom of the pan.1½ cups chicken broth, ½ cup dry white wine
- Add the butter and minced garlic cloves and simmer for about 10 minutes.1½ tablespoon Butter, ½ tablespoon garlic
- Add lemon juice and simmer for ten more minutes. Add the chicken back to the sauce. Check the internal temperature. It should be 165°F. If it is, add the cheeses to the top and bake until it's melted.1 lemon for adding juice at the end of the cooking process
- If not, bake it covered for about 10 minutes until the chicken is done.
- Uncover and top with both cheeses, especially asiago and bake uncovered until melted.½ cup Asiago, ¼ cup Pecorino romano
- Squeeze more lemon juice over top.juice of 1 lemon
- Goes well with mashed potatoes or pasta and a green salad.
See all of my favorite tools and gift ideas on my New Amazon Store!Check out Binky’s Amazon Store!Notes
Nutrition
Originally Published January 31, 2015. Updated November 12, 2024.
The detail about Chef Cianciola adapting the recipe from Veal Francese because of the boycott is something I’d never heard before — that’s a remarkable little story about how community pressure actually shaped a beloved regional dish. It tracks with how deeply food and place get intertwined in upstate New York; according to the James Beard Foundation, Rochester’s Italian-American culinary traditions are among the most distinct regional food cultures in the entire Northeast. I’ve made Chicken French at home a dozen times and somehow never thought to add artichokes, which now feels like an obvious omission I need to correct immediately (and probably apologize to my family for). Do you find the artichokes hold up better if they’re added to the sauce toward the end, or do they need that full bake time to really absorb the lemon butter?
Hi Adam. I thought that was interesting as well. I always add the artichokes at the beginning. They really absorb the flavors and the artichoke with the lemon butter is truly sublime! Thanks for checking out the recipe!
My boyfriend and I made this last night. Although it did taste good, we definitely will be using a different recipe next time. The directions left a lot to be assumed or simply just guessed. They were very unclear. The milk was mostly wasted. You do not need that much milk bc it falls right off so we wasted most of the milk. I did some research and found chefs saying that if you’re using breadcrumbs then you need to dip in egg first, then breadcrumbs and repeat it twice. It falls off if your using breadcrumbs and doing milk then breadcrumbs then egg. I’m not chicken French expert, but I’ve never seen a separate dredging with milk. I’ve only seen that some recipes add a very small amount to the egg dredge. This was stressful and overly complicated without any reason or payoff. My sister makes it often and I should have asked her for the recipe she uses. I don’t usually leave reviews but this was clearly written very poorly. It did taste good. It was just really not worth the hassle and the dredge looked so sloppy
We are sorry that you had trouble with the recipe. This is one of the first recipes that appeared on this site. It is in bad need of an update, so I’ve put it on our list to retry and tweak the recipe where needed. Thanks for bringing your difficulties to our attention.
Seriously Beth, this looks so amazingly delicious! Love the photos and the process shots!
Thank you so much, Elaine! High praise coming from you, my friend!
I love thighs but I have never tried dipping them into milk, bread crumbs, cheese and eggs. I can only imagine how tasty that is – thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Thank you Vladi! I appreciate your comment! You have to try this recipe, it is so tasty!