30-Minute Chicken Saltimbocca with Prosciutto

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Classic chicken saltimbocca in less than 30 minutes! This recipe pairs thinly sliced (or butterflied) chicken breast cutlets, crisp slices of prosciutto, and sage with a buttery white wine sauce. It’s an easy, classic Italian-style chicken dinner that looks and tastes like a restaurant-worthy dish. Instructions for butterflying a chicken breast into thin cutlets included.

Classic chicken saltimbocca is a tasty Italian chicken recipe that’s so easy to make at home, right up there with stovetop chicken cacciatore. One of our absolute favorite simple chicken dinner recipes the dish features tender chicken breast cutlets topped with thin-sliced prosciutto and fresh sage leaves.

With white wine and butter, the light pan sauce has a bright, acidic edge with just the right amount of nutty, buttery flavor. It’s an unbeatable combination!

Chicken prosciutto is an easy weeknight or date-night dinner that looks and tastes like a restaurant dish, right up there with baked chicken breasts topped with mozzarella.

Fun fact: Saltimbocca is so good it literally means to leap or “jump into the mouth” in Italian. The dish originates from Rome and is traditionally prepared with veal and sage leaves wrapped in prosciutto.

• How to butterfly chicken breasts
• Key recipe steps
• Chicken and prosciuto serving ideas

About the ingredients

• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts: Traditional saltimbocca is cooked with thinly sliced (scaloppine) veal or pork, but chicken is a wonderful, mild-tasting meat to use for thin cut chicken breast recipes, like crunchy baked breaded chicken breast cutlets. It pairs well with the tangy sauce and salty taste of the ham. To cut down on prep time, buy prepared chicken cutlets at the grocery store, or try butterflying whole chicken breasts yourself (see directions below).
• Prosciutto: A type of fresh Italian ham that’s cured with salt and allowed to air-dry. It has a sweet, mildly salty flavor. In the oven, the thin slices of prosciutto crisp up into delectable chips.
• Sage: Fresh sage leaves have a pronounced piney flavor and aroma — a little goes a long way. In saltimbocca, sage tempers the richness of the sauce and the prosciutto.
• White wine: Use a good-quality white wine that you don’t mind sipping while you cook 🙂 — I recommend a pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc. The wine cooks down, leaving the sauce with a bright note of acidity.
• Chicken broth: Use a lower-sodium stock or homemade chicken broth if possible because the prosciutto is already salted.
• Butter: When combined with olive oil, the butter adds a nutty flavor to the sauce without burning over high heat.
• Olive oil: Use a good everyday extra-virgin olive oil.
• Shallot: You can use an equal amount of very finely chopped yellow onion if you don’t have shallots.

Weeknight chicken saltimbocca

There’s a reason this is one of my all-time favorite 30-minute chicken recipes. When you’re rushing to get dinner on the table, the thought of making a traditional saltimbocca — which means pounding meat with a mallet and fussing with toothpicks — is a big turn-off.

I still crave often chicken breast recipes for dinner, and the flavors and textures of a good saltimbocca with light, crisp chicken cutlets, so I simplified the method for faster prep time.

• The first step is to sear the floured chicken breasts on top of the stove, then cover each breast with a piece of prosciutto and a few sage leaves.
• Pour in wine and chicken stock and bring to a boil.
• Pop the whole pan in the oven to finish cooking, which reduces the sauce slightly while crisping the prosciutto and sage to perfection. So good!

Prep the chicken breasts

Cooking steps

Serving ideas

• You can substitute veal or pork (loin or tenderloin) sliced 1/2-inch thick. Cooking time will be about the same.
• Serve this skillet chicken breast recipe with risotto, dairy-free mashed potatoes, buttered rice or pasta noodles to soak up the tasty pan sauce.
• Add a side of wilted spinach or broccoli sauteed with garlic.
• If you love melted cheese on baked Italian chicken, top each chicken breast with a thin slice of provolone, fontina or mozzarella cheese as soon as it comes out of the oven.