piccata

noun

pic·​ca·​ta

pə̇ˈkätə,

-ätə

plural piccatas

: thin slices of meat (such as veal) that are dredged in flour, sautéed, and served in a lemon and butter sauce

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The menu nearly doubled in size, with many of the daily specials like chicken parm vodka and veal piccata getting a permanent place on the menu. —Sarah Blaskovich, Dallas News, 25 Apr. 2023

When used to describe food, piccata refers to meat that’s pan-seared and then sautéed in a sauce of butter, lemon and spices. —Robin Miller, The Arizona Republic, 12 Apr. 2023

Flour, for example, can be kneaded into biscuits to serve alongside simply seared fish or act as the secret ingredient that turns chicken stock into a silky sauce for chicken piccata. —Dawn Perry, CNN, 11 Apr. 2023

Buffet menus vary at each location but include classics like chicken piccata, pasta, omelet station, Dearborn ham, salads and more. —Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press, 5 Apr. 2023

His restaurant, La Famiglia Giorgio’s, is one of several on Salem and Prince streets in the challenging position of having their outdoor dining set-ups in parking spaces across the street, meaning Lepore has to cross a lane of Boston drivers to bring diners their chicken piccata. —BostonGlobe.com, 17 July 2021

The chicken piccata is also banging. —Ali Francis, Bon Appétit, 29 Mar. 2022

Chicken piccata for $17.99. —Rod Stafford Hagwood, sun-sentinel.com, 17 Mar. 2021

Land and sea mains run the gamut from fillets topped with cacio e pepe raviolo or spicy crab cannelloni to scallops piccata. —Tori Latham, Robb Report, 14 Feb. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Italian, slice of sautéed veal flavored with lemon and parsley, from piccata, feminine of piccato, past participle of piccare to lard (meat), probably from French piquer, literally, to prick

First Known Use

1949, in the meaning defined above