Chicken saltimbocca is a restaurant quality meal that’s super easy to make at home with just a few ingredients to pull together. It’s quick enough for a busy weekday dinner or fancy enough to serve up for a dinner party.
There are many variations of this dish, you can use veal, chicken and even pork, but basically the protein that you choose is smothered with fresh sage leaves and then wrapped with thin slices of prosciutto. No wonder saltimbocca means to ” jump in your mouth” because that’s exactly what you’ll want to do when you prepare this!
I like using chicken tenders, they’re the perfect size, all you have to do is pound them down a little thinner with a meat mallet, so I would recommend using them instead of a whole chicken breast that you would have to cut down and slice.
Some versions say to dredge the chicken into flour first, that step is not necessary at all, I never dredge it in flour I think it takes away from the texture of the chicken and the rich flavors of the sauce.
Speaking of sauce it’s a combination of garlic, deglazed white wine, lemon juice, zest, and chicken broth and butter to gloss it up and thicken it, when all of this gets reduced down magic happens!
Chicken saltimbocca is wonderful with a side of your favorite greens, broccoli, asparagus, potatoes, a salad, risotto or whatever your heart desires. I was lucky to find these pencil thin asparagus which I threw into my sauce for a couple of minutes to tender up and I also made a side of mashed cauliflower.
It turned out to be the perfect midweek dinner and the leftovers were just as good the next day!
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- chicken tenders, pounded gently with a meat mallet to get get a little flatter
- prosciutto, I like to slice each piece in half lengthwise
- a bunch of fresh sage leaves
- white wine
- garlic, 3 cloves grated finely with a microplane
- zest of 1 lemon
- juice of 1 lemon
- a cup or so of chicken broth
- unsalted butter
- Take your chicken and pepper each side, if you want to salt them do it sparingly because the prosciutto is salty enough.
- Lay one large or 2 small sage leaves on each chicken tender, take your meat mallet and tap it onto the chicken so it sticks.
- Wrap a slice of prosciutto around the tender covering the sage leaves but it's ok to have them peaking out. You might have to use one or two slices depending on how big your tenders are.
- When all the tenders are wrapped, put a knob of butter into a skillet and when the butter starts to bubble add the wrapped tenders sage side down first for about 3 minutes, the prosciutto will shrink and crisp up and hold that sage together on the chicken securely.
- Cook for a few minutes on that side then flip and brown the other side for another few minutes, be careful not to burn you want them golden brown.
- Remove chicken tenders and set aside under foil.
- In the same skillet add your garlic and cook until golden then deglaze with a good splash of white wine and let the alcohol cook down.
- Add the juice of 1 lemon and all the zest and a cup or so of chicken broth, let it reduce on a low flame then add in a good 2 tablespoons of butter to help the sauce thicken and get glossy, and I always add extra sage leaves for flavor infusion.
- Place the chicken back into the sauce and let it finish cooking and the sauce reducing. You never want to cover the chicken completely with sauce it should only be half way up the sides of the chicken and when it reduces it will be just enough to spoon over each tender and have exceptional rich flavor.
- Serve with your favorite side!
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
