Chicken Parmesan

Chicken Parmesan is an amazing classic Italian-American dish that makes a comforting dinner any time of the year. Juicy chicken breast is breaded and oven-fried for that special crispy touch and topped flavorful marinara sauce and Mozzarella cheese. Serve it over pasta or with a side of mashed potatoes and vegetables.

For the best taste, use homemade spaghetti sauce to to off this crispy chicken and if you want to try a something a little different, try my Chicken Parmesan Roll Ups.

CHICKEN PARMESAN

This is probably the best known and most loved chicken recipe. Knowing how to make the best chicken parm right at home means you will never have to order another one from the restaurant. Homemade will always taste so much better because you will be able to put your own special touches to this family dinner.

Originally, Chicken Parmesan is made with crispy fried chicken but I prefer to bake it in the oven. You can still get the crispy chicken bite without having to fry it. I also love to add freshly grated Parmesan cheese right into the bread crumb mixture so that every bite of this chicken dish is infused with Parmesan flavors. 

What takes this classic dish to a whole new level is the homemade sauce. As good as some store-bought pasta sauces can be, none of them compare to a homemade sauce. Great news is that you can make marinara sauce a day or two ahead of time and then use it when ready to make the chicken. 

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HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN PARMESAN

Prepare Chicken:

I treat chicken breast differently each time I make it, especially the one that needs to be breaded. If the chicken breasts are large, you can slice them in half, width-wise. For medium chicken breasts, place each one in a zip-lock bag and pound it a little with a meat tenderizer. For small, thin chicken breasts, you don’t need to do anything to it.

How to Bread Chicken:

The biggest problem that people have when breading the chicken is keeping the coating from falling off. The way to fix it is to bread it in the right order. There are three parts to the coating on the chicken and as long as you do them in the right order, the coating will stay on nicely. 

Prepare three separate shallow, wide bowl for dipping the chicken. Combine flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in the first one. Whisk egg with some salt and pepper in the second bowl. Mix Italian bread crumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper in the last bowl. 

First the flour – Dip each chicken breast in flour mixture to lightly coat it all over. 

Second is the egg – Dip flour coated chicken breast in egg mixture on both sides.

Third is bread crumbs – Place chicken breast into the bowl with bread crumb mixture and flip it over a few times. Gently pat as you’re flipping the chicken to make sure the bread crumbs get onto the chicken nicely.

Repeat with remaining chicken cutlets. 

Cooking Chicken Parmesan:

Preheat the oven to 400° and lightly grease a rimmed baking sheet.

Bake chicken for 18-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of chicken breasts. Take the baking sheet out of the oven (close the oven door to keep the heat in) and spoon marinara sauce over each chicken breast. Use as little or as much as you want, just make sure to cover the whole top evenly. 

TIP: warm up marinara sauce if it’s cold.

Spread shredded Mozzarella cheese over the top of each chicken breast and sprinkle some oregano over cheese. 

Place the baking sheet back in the oven and cook for about 7 more minutes, until all the cheese is melted. 

WHAT SIDES CAN I SERVE WITH IT?

The most common side that you will see with Chicken Parmesan is pasta like spaghetti or fettuccine. 

For a comforting dinner, you can also try mashed potatoes. Nothing is better than soft, fluffy homemade mashed potatoes to make the dinner cozy and comforting.  

Try mashed cauliflower if you want to keep the meal comforting but make it lighter. 

Vegetables are always a great light side dish options. Vegetables like roasted asparagus, roasted vegetables, cauliflower, broccoli, or green beans all go great with this dish.

Make a Chicken Parmesan Sub sandwich with leftover chicken. Spread a little marinara sauce inside a sub roll, slice cooked Chicken Parmesan into slices and add in to the sub. Sprinkle some more Mozzarella cheese over chicken. Bake in the oven at 350° for about 10 minutes, or until chicken is hot.

FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS

Yes you can! You can freeze the leftovers or double the recipe and freeze half of it. 

To freeze cooked Chicken Parmesan, make sure it’s cooled to room temperature and place it into aluminum pan. You can use one pan and fit all the chicken breasts into it or divide it among two smaller pans. 

Wrap the whole pan in two layers of plastic wrap and press gently as you’re wrapping to get the most air out. Wrap the whole pan into a layer of aluminum foil and label. For extra protection, you can place smaller pan into a freezer zip-lock bag. 

Place the pans into the freezer and freeze for up to 2-3 months. 

Thaw frozen chicken by pulling it out of the freezer and onto the refrigerator the day before you need it. 

Take off all plastic wrap before reheating chicken. Reheat in the oven at 350° for about 15 minutes, until chicken is hot throughout. 

Note: after freezing and defrosting, chicken won’t be crispy but it will still be delicious.

CAN I MAKE IT GLUTEN FREE?

Absolutely! Make just a couple simple substitutions to make this chicken dish. 

Substitute regular flour for gluten free all purpose flour.

Substitute Italian bread crumbs for gluten free Italian bread crumbs. Note that Italian style gluten free bread crumbs are not widely available so you may need to get plain gluten free crumbs and add dry parsley, dry oregano, dry basil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper to get the flavors into it.

SOME MORE RECIPES TO TRY:

Chicken Marsala

Shrimp Alfredo

The Best Lasagna

Chicken Cacciatore

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Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on March 16, 2011. Updated July 12, 2019