This Chicken Parmesan recipe is a simple yet delicious chicken parmesan recipe that is made with homemade breading and baked to golden brown perfection to create the best chicken.
If this is the first time you are making chicken parm this is an easy chicken parmesan recipe to start with. It will give you step-by-step instructions on how to create a dredging station and prepare the chicken dinner recipe.
Of all the chicken recipes this is by far one of our family’s favorite recipes and a delicious comfort food recipe that will give you the best baked chicken parmesan with simple ingredients just like at a local Italian restaurant.
Recipe Ingredients:
- Protein: you will need to have boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Seasoning: be sure to have salt and black pepper
- Breading: to make the breading you will need flour, panko breadcrumbs, grated parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning
- Combining agent: use an egg to help the breading combine and stick to the chicken pieces
- Sauce: use your favorite brand of marinara sauce
- Cheese: for the best results use freshly grated mozzarella
- Herbs: use fresh basil for a simple garnish
How To Make Chicken Parmesan:
- Pound the chicken:
Place chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap on a chopping board. Pound the chicken with a meat mallet to ½-inch thick. Preheat your oven to 400℉. - Season the chicken:
Pat dry chicken filets with paper towels and season to taste with salt and pepper. - Prepare the breading station:
Gather your breading ingredients: add theflour to the first dish that is a shallow wide dish. Whisk egg with salt and pepper in a second bowl to taste. Combine Panko breadcrumbs, half the parmesan, and dried Italian herbs in a third bowl.
Coat your chicken: coat the chicken with flour, just dust it lightly. Shake any excess flour. Then, dip chicken into eggs, letting the excess eggs drip off. Finally, dredge the chicken through the mixture of breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. - Cook the chicken:
Fry the chicken: heat 2 inches of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breast filets to the heated oil. Fry the chicken until golden on both sides, for 2 minutes.
Bake the chicken: transfer the chicken to a baking dish. Spread marinara sauce over the chicken. Add the fresh mozzarella on top and the remaining parmesan. Bake the chicken 18-20 minutes in a 400℉ oven or until the temperature of the chicken reaches 165℉. - Serve the chicken:
Serve: serve parmesan chicken warm, garnished with fresh basil if desired.
Frequently Asked Questions about Making Healthier Baked Chicken Parmesan:
Classic chicken parmesan is breaded chicken breast baked in the oven or fried on the stovetop in oil until browned and served with a red sauce and topped with mozzarella cheese.
Often chicken parmigiana is served with fresh pasta and homemade marinara sauce as well.
For this recipe, we used plain panko bread crumbs but if you choose, you could use Italian bread crumbs in its place. However, if you choose do to that, omit the added Italian seasoning.
For the best results, you should pound the chicken into an even thickness. This allows the chicken to bake evenly and not get dried out.
Be sure to degree the piece of chicken in the egg mixture before the bread crumbs. Then firmly press the bread crumbs into the egg layer creating nice breaded chicken breasts where you don’t even see the chicken underneath.
The chicken might be soggy from using too much sauce or from the juices coming out of the chicken.
To prevent soggy chicken parmesan, do not add any sauce under the chicken, just on top. Also, you can bake the chicken on top of a wire rack, positioned over a baking sheet.
Expert Tips:
- For extra crispy chicken: once you coat your chicken with breadcrumbs, leave it on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes to dry out before frying.
- I recommend using marinara sauce over plain tomato sauce as it is more flavorful.
- For some extra flavor, you can combine mozzarella cheese with provolone cheese.
- When pounding chicken with a meat mallet, make sure you are using a flat side. The pointy side of the mallet is for tougher pieces of meat, while the chicken is more tender. If you are using a pointy side of the mallet, the chicken may tear.
Storage & Reheating Instructions:
Fridge: Any leftover crispy chicken should be placed in an airtight container to eat the next day and stored for up to 5 days.
Reheat: For the best results, reheat the chicken in either the oven or air fryer at 350℉ for 5-7 minutes or until warmed to your liking.
Side dish recipes to serve:
- Garlic Parmesan Skillet Rolls
- Easy Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe
- Olive Garden Fresh Garden Salad Copycat Recipe
- Olive Garden Breadsticks Copycat Recipe
Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breast filets
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ⅓ cup grated parmesan, divided
- ½ teaspoon dried Italian herbs
- ¼ cup marinara sauce
- ½ cup grated mozzarella
- Fresh basil, for garnish
Instructions
Prepare the chicken:
- Pound the chicken:
- Place chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap on a chopping board. Pound the chicken with a meat mallet to ½ inch thick. Preheat your oven to 400℉.
Season the chicken:
- Pat dry chicken filets with paper towels and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Prepare the breading station:
- Gather your breading ingredients: add the flour to a shallow wide dish. Whisk egg with salt and pepper in a separate bowl to taste. Combine Panko breadcrumbs, half the parmesan, and dried Italian herbs in a third bowl.
- Coat your chicken: coat the chicken with flour, just dust it lightly. Shake any excess flour. Then, dip the chicken into eggs, letting the excess eggs drip off. Finally, dredge the chicken through the mixture of breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese.
Cook the chicken:
- Fry the chicken: heat 2 inches of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breast filets to the heated oil. Fry the chicken until golden on both sides, for 2 minutes.
- Bake the chicken: transfer the chicken to a baking dish. Spread marinara sauce over the chicken. Add the mozzarella on top and the remaining parmesan. Bake the chicken 18-20 minutes or until the temperature of the chicken reaches 165℉.
Serve the chicken:
- Serve: serve parmesan chicken warm, garnished with fresh basil if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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