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Perfect Chicken Parmesan is full of flavor, takes minutes to cook, and is my favorite chicken dinner recipe!
Boneless skinless chicken breasts are tenderized, lightly breaded, and cooked to crispy perfection. Once they are smothered in your favorite marinara sauce and melted cheese, the most delicious dinner is ready for your consumption!
Why this recipe works:
Any recipe that coats chicken in a wonderful crispy outside like my chicken tenders or buttermilk fried chicken is a winner in my book. And the fact that this is such an easy recipe will have you making it on a weekly basis.
Because the chicken breasts are tenderized before cooking, no knife is required. This recipe is made extra easy by using bottled pasta sauce and you can even use pre-shredded cheese.
Chicken parm is possibly my favorite dinner… especially when served with homemade pasta! If you’re wanting a vegetarian version, you can’t go wrong with eggplant parmesan! Also, if you enjoy this recipe, you’ll want to make my Chicken Cacciatore.
Here’s how to make it:
- First step is to tenderize the chicken (more information on why that is important below) and season with salt and pepper (photo 1).
- The crumb coating I use when making this easy chicken parmesan is a 2:1 mixture of bread crumbs to parmesan cheese plus some herbs. Dredge the chicken in the flour, then coat with egg, then coat with the bread crumb mixture (photo 2).
- Brown the chicken on both sides in olive oil (photo 3).
- To finish off your chicken parm, all you need to do is top those crispy seasoned chicken breasts with a healthy portion of amazing tomato pasta sauce (photo 4) and then top that with some slices of fresh mozzarella (photo 5) along with some grated parmesan. Finish the whole thing off in the oven to get the cheese all nice and melted (photo 6).
Why tenderizing is important:
You want your chicken breasts to be thin for several reasons:
- First, when you pound the meat with a mallet or roll it with a rolling pin, you break up the tissue and it makes it more tender. So much so that you can easily cut it with the side of your fork. I prefer to pound my meat over rolling it because its fun.
- Second, you want your chicken to be of uniform thickness so that it cooks evenly.
- And third, the thinner the meat, the faster it cooks. During school and sports season, we all need meals that can be cooked quickly.
Cooking tips:
- I always choose to put my crumb mixture in a rectangular dish that’s the exact size of the chicken breast. It makes coating the chicken easy.
- If you’re wondering how do you keep chicken parmesan crispy, you must cook the coated breasts in very hot oil in a single layer. This will give them a crispy golden outside and won’t leave them soggy.
- I served my parmesan chicken up with some basil pasta that I tossed in some of the reserved pasta sauce.
Did you make this recipe? Please leave me a comment below to let me know what you think!
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Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless chicken breasts skinless
- salt & pepper
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese divided
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 25 ounces pasta sauce Rao's is my favorite
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Using a large plastic bag or plastic wrap, cover 1 pound boneless chicken breasts and flatten to half inch thickness using a meat pounder or a rolling pin.
- Sprinkle salt & pepper on both sides of chicken.
- Add 1/2 cup all purpose flour to bowl. Beat 1 egg into another bowl. Combine 1 cup panko bread crumbs with half of the 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (reserving the other half for later) along with the 1 teaspoon dried basil and 1 teaspoon dried oregano in a dish large enough for the chicken breasts.
- Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a very large skillet over medium high heat.
- Dredge chicken in flour, then coat with egg, then cover with bread crumb mixture. Press coating onto chicken to get as much as possible to stick. When the oil is very hot, just below the point where it begins to smoke, add your coated chicken. Continue with the remaining chicken breasts.
- Cook each breast until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and transfer to baking dish. Any remaining oil can be strained and refrigerated for future use, if desired.
- Cover the cooked chicken breasts with 25 ounces pasta sauce as well as a couple slices of 8 ounces fresh mozzarella and the remaining 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese. You may reserve some of the sauce to serve with pasta on the side, if desired.
- Cook in preheated oven until cheese has melted, about 5-10 minutes.
Notes
- I used a combination of olive oil with avocado oil because it tolerates high temperatures better
- I always choose to put my crumb mixture in a rectangular dish that’s the exact size of the chicken breast. It makes coating the chicken oh-so-easy. The crumb coating I use when making this easy chicken parmesan is a 2:1 mixture of bread crumbs to parmesan cheese plus some herbs like fresh basil.
- If you’re wondering how do you keep chicken parmesan crispy, you must cook the coated breasts in very hot oil in a single layer. This will give them a crispy golden outside and won’t leave them soggy.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was originally created in September 2015 and has been updated with additional photos, cooking tips, and helpful information. Don’t worry – I didn’t change the recipe!
Can this be made ahead of time and placed in refrigerator until baking?
Yes! If it’s cold when you put it in the oven, you’ll likely need to extend the cooking time. Keep the cheese nice and melty by covering with foil.
Amazing recipe!!! I have made it several times & always turns out perfect!
I made this for Christmas dinner! Oh my gosh it was so delicious! My daughter and my husband could not get enough of it! So tender u donteven need a knife!
Thank you!
Thank you so much! Even my picky grans ate this! Followed the recipe to the letter. They said it was soooooo goooood!
This is the first time I’ve commented because of them. All of your recipes I’ve tried have been so delicious! My favorite is the salmon patties. The chicken parm was a hit though because they ate the leftovers and still enjoyed it! Thank you for all do!
Going to try for sure
I made this for the first time a few weeks ago and it was the best! I have tried other recipes before but this one knocked it outbid the park !! My husband is requesting it again so we plan to make again tonight !!
Love love love.
That’s Italian!
Hey was wondering is one serving 714 calories ?
Yep, that’s what my nutrition calculator figured. Lots of cheese.
This was Delicious My whole family loves it thanks for sharing 😊
This was so wonderful! I went by directions & even used the recommended sauce. My family LOVED it! I did need to cook my chicken about 10 min longer in the oven, but I probably should have pounded then a little thinner to cook in the recommended time. It was no biggie though…still so tender and moist. Thank you for sharing!
I tired this tonight and it was absolutely amazing! I cooked the chicken in the oil for about 2.5 to 3 minutes on each side, and it was completely cooked perfectly. We could have eaten it straight out of the skillet. But added sauce and cheese and cooked it in the oven for 10 minutes, and it was awesome! Thank you for posting this recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the great comment! Krissy