Enjoy one of your favorite restaurant meals at home with this copycat version of The Cheesecake Factory's Chicken Costoletta. Boneless chicken lightly breaded in a Panko and lemon crust, fried; then topped with a lemony cream sauce.
We don't dine often at the Cheesecake Factory, usually once or maybe twice a year. But whenever we do, my daughter and I always get the same thing: Chicken Costoletta; which is basically a chicken cutlet with a creamy lemon sauce.
I think she's a lot like me in the sense that we don't like to have a lot of choices. Give me 3-5 things to choose from and I'll pick one. Give me 100, I go for the simplest thing I can find.
If you've never been to their restaurant, their menu is huge with a lot of different varieties of food to choose from. Each time we go, we'll spend some time looking at the menu and then always wind up getting the same thing we normally do.
My daughter and I always say that we're going to split one entree, but we always wind up ordering our own so that we can have leftovers.
So recently I decided to surprise her for dinner one night and make our favorite Cheesecake Factory dish at home. This recipe for Chicken Costoletta was definitely a close second to the original.
It has all of the same flavors we love. On the healthy scale? Not so much, but I'm a sucker for anything lemon.
Ingredients needed
For this recipe you'll need:
- chicken tenderloins
- all purpose flour
- eggs
- panko breadcrumbs
- lemon
- grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- extra virgin olive oil
- butter
And for the sauce you'll need:
- extra virgin olive oil
- all purpose flour
- minced garlic
- milk
- heavy cream
- chicken broth
- lemon juice
- butter
How do you make Chicken Costoletta?
Using a meat mallet, flatten the tenderloins so that they are even in thickness. Gather three bowls. Place the flour in one, the eggs in the second; then whisk them with a fork.
In the third bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, lemon zest and cheese. Coat each piece of chicken first in the flour, then the eggs, and then the breadcrumb mixture.
Heat a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat and add the oil and butter. Once melted and hot, add the chicken to the pan and fry on both sides until cooked through; approximately 3-5 minutes per side depending on the thickness.
You may need to do this in two batches. Remove chicken from the pan and drain on paper towels to absorb any excess oil. Set aside and make the sauce.
Start by melting the oil in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat and add the garlic. Saute 1-2 minutes then whisk in the flour. Whisk in the milk, heavy cream, chicken stock and lemon juice and bring to a boil over medium-high heat until the sauce has thickened; approximately 3-5 minutes.
Next, stir in the butter and pour desired amount of sauce over the chicken. Most of the ingredients I already had on hand in my pantry except for the heavy cream; which I usually don't purchase unless I know I'll be making a recipe that calls for it.
If you want to lighten this up a bit, I'm sure fat free half and half would work just as well. My family really loves this crispy Cheesecake Factory Chicken Costoletta recipe, I hope yours does too.
Serving Suggestions
The Cheesecake Factory usually serves this with asparagus and mashed potatoes, but you can sub out any other vegetable like green beans or spinach.
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More Copycat Recipes
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Visit the recipe index to search for more recipes by category.
Chicken Costoletta (Cheesecake Factory Copycat)
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 8 - (2-ounce) chicken tenderloins
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- zest from 1 lemon
- ¼ cup grated pecorino romano cheese
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
For the Sauce
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ¼ cup milk
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
For the Chicken
- Using a meat mallet, flatten the tenderloins so that they are even in thickness.
- Gather three bowls. In one, place the flour. In the second, add the eggs and whisk them with a fork. In the third, combine the breadcrumbs, lemon zest and cheese.
- Coat each piece of chicken first in the flour, then the eggs, and then the breadcrumb mixture.
- Heat a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat and add the oil and butter. Once melted and hot, add the chicken to the pan and fry on both sides until cooked through; approximately 3-5 minutes per side depending on the thickness. You may need to do this in two batches.
- Remove chicken from the pan and drain on paper towels to absorb any excess oil. Set aside.
For the Sauce
- Melt the oil in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat and add the garlic.
- Saute 1-2 minutes then whisk in the flour.
- Whisk in the milk, heavy cream, chicken stock and lemon juice and bring to a boil over medium-high heat until the sauce has thickened; approximately 3-5 minutes.
- Next, stir in the butter and pour desired amount of sauce over the chicken.
Nutrition
Kelli U. says
My husband and I are not fans of breast meat chicken. We prefer thigh as it is juicier and more favorable. Can I substitute boneless skinless thighs? That's what looks like is in your pictures. They don't look like breast tenderloins.
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
They are chicken tenderloins that have been pounded flat or I use thin sliced chicken breasts. You can try to use skinless thighs, but you'll have to slice them to 1/2-inch thick pieces and I'm not sure they'll hold their shape. Let me know how it works!
Allysa C. says
Awesome recipe, thank you! Only thing I added was salt and pepper.
Donna Calhoun says
Phenomenal recipe! My husband gave it a 10 1/2!! No need to go to Cheesecake Factory!
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
Fantastic, I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Cindy says
WOW!! Made this for dinner this evening and it was wonderful. I did not have tenderloins so I used three chicken breasts cut into strips instead. I think the only thing I will do different next time is to add more lemon zest to panko crumbs and more lemon juice to the sauce, but only because I LOVE lemon! Definitely took me longer to make than I thought it would and is pretty messy, but worth it!
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
I'm so glad you liked the recipe!
Corina says
Omg it came out so good! Tastes just like the restaurant sauce; my husband loved it! Thank you so much! I didn't need to thicken the sauce it was perfect!
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
Great! I'm so glad you liked the recipe!
Corina says
can I use 2% milk instead? Or the person who used light cream, did they use it for both the milk and heavy cream measurements? I really want to make it tonight!
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
Yes you can use 2% milk but you may need to thicken the sauce more. You can either add 1 more tablespoon of flour or use equal parts cornstarch and water. Just add a little at a time until it gets to the right thickness.
Dianne says
Fabulous!! I used gluten free bread crumbs and light cream in place of the heavy cream and milk because that was what I had on hand and I couldn’t wait to make it. It was so so so delicious.
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
I'm so glad you liked the recipe!
Mary Slanker says
Wow. Amazing recipe. I would love to try this.
Deb says
I make this because I don’t like capers that are in piccata, but instead of cream I use garden vegetable cream cheese. Adds wonderful flavor!
Denise Layne says
I am on a comolete grain free diet. Has anyone tryed this with Almond or cocout four?
Chris David says
Really delicious recipe. I love it yummy!!! It's really awesome
Sabra says
I just made the Chicken Costoletta and for the first time in my life my eyes rolled up into my hairline over a chicken dish! 🤣😂😅
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
I'm so glad you liked the recipe Sabra!
Karin Burton says
I've never had this dish at CF but it looks so interesting I'd like to try it. Do you think it would be good if I sauté some baby spinach and add it into the sauce? Just for nutritional value and ease of eliminating a side veg/salad.
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
If you'd like to you can, but it may not taste the same.
Nicole Moore says
My favorite item to order at Cheesecake Factory. So happy to have come across this copycat recipe! My kids love it as much as my husband and I do. It's party of our regular meal rotation. Making it again for dinner tonight and my mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
I'm so glad you like the recipe!
Terri says
What a wonderful recipe! I loved this at the restaurant, but I loved this more with your recipe. Next time, I will add lemon zest on top of the lemony sauce over chicken for garnishment. It would be so pretty and fancy. Thank you Carrie! This would be a great dinner to serve our guests.
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
I'm so glad you liked the recipe Terri, thanks so much for giving it a try!
Carmelita says
Thank you so much for your recipe! I’ve made this twice already and I’ve gotten better at preparing it every time. My boyfriend loves it from Cheesecake Factory so he loves when I make it from home now! He even helps prepare it too! Loved!!!
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
You're welcome Carmelita! I'm so glad you like it!