This unique chicken Parmesan starts with juicy marinated chicken. Breaded for a crispy golden Parmesan-panko crust, a bright tomato marinara sauce, and a generous layer of melted mozzarella cheese. Finished with your favorite toppings.
This recipe is made the classic way of shallow frying and then oven baking. However, there are other variations, such as grilled chicken Parmesan, seared chicken Parmesan, and baked chicken Parmesan, to suit your preference. No matter which variation you choose, the flavorful marinade penetrates the chicken throughout, creating a well seasoned, juicy cutlet with Parmesan flavor in every bite.
Ingredients for Chicken Parmesan
Chicken Breast, Marinade (Water, Neutral Oil or EVOO, Parmigiano, Chicken Powder, Sea Salt, Lemon Juice, Onion Powder, Black Pepper, and Paprika), Seasoned Flour (Flour, Sea Salt, Black & White Pepper, and Cayenne Pepper), Egg Wash (Egg & Water), Panko Crust (Panko Flakes & Parmigiano), Mozzarella Cheese, and Basil Tomato Sauce (Passata, Water, Onion, Garlic, EVOO, Sea Salt, Black Pepper, and Fresh Basil).
Chicken Breast
If your chicken breast has the tenderloin attached, trim this away and save it for chicken fried rice or chicken noodle soup.
Slice chicken breast in half to create two fillets per chicken breast and pound out to an equal thickness. Once you have all the chicken fillets ready, they are marinated to really drive some flavor into the chicken and boost the parmigiano into the chicken itself by adding parmigiano to the marinade.
The fillets should be about 1/2 inch or less and pounded out. Thicker than this, and not only does it take longer to cook through, no big deal. But it also retains more moisture that will steam the crust when the chicken is resting. That’s not to say you can’t do whole chicken breast; I sometimes do. Thin chicken cutlets are ideal and allow you to stretch out your chicken breast for the number of servings you can make.
Chicken Parmesan Marinade
The flavor hitter, or what sets this chicken parmesan apart from all others, is the chicken marinade. It seasons the chicken throughout and adds an extra layer of Parmesan flavor right into the chicken.
Combine all the marinade ingredients together and whisk. Add your chicken fillets and marinate the chicken for at least 1 hour.
Spicy Chicken Parmesan
Spicy or angry chicken Parmesan uses Sriracha or hot sauce that is included in the marinade. Optionally, with more black & white pepper or cayenne in the seasoned flour. Another option for an even spicier dish is to add red chili flakes or chopped hot peppers into the marinade.
The heat source can also be added to the tomato marinara sauce. It’s entirely up to you what type of heat and where you want to place the heat.
Panko Chicken
Panko chicken is chicken breast run through a breading station of seasoned flour, egg wash, and panko flakes. They are then shallow-fried on the stovetop and can go with various sauces and toppings. Here for chicken parmesan, we prepare the panko chicken pretty much the same way and top it with mozzarella cheese and serve it crispy with a tomato sauce.
Seasoned Flour
The seasoned flour is flour, barley flour, and corn flour with salt, black and white pepper, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. You can opt to use 1 cup of flour instead of 1/3 cup of each type of flour in the seasoned flour mix, and I often do for chicken parmesan as well as dropping the measurements in half for 4 fillets.
It’s also here that you can add additional seasoning such as Italian herbs or poultry seasoning. Combine these ingredients together and whisk. The marinated chicken will go straight from the marinade to the seasoned flour.
Egg Wash
The chicken will come out of the marinade and get coated with the seasoned flour. Then placed in the egg wash before being coated in panko flakes. Combine 1 egg and 1-2 Tbl of cold water and whisk well. This is enough for about 4 chicken fillets.
Panko crust
The last breading is panko flakes mixed with freshly grated parmigiano.
In the oven-baked chicken parmesan, where shallow frying is skipped altogether. Melted butter is added to the Panko Flakes. Which assists in browning and crisping the chicken while it is baking in the oven. For the Classic Parmesan Chicken, just the panko flakes and freshly grated Parmigiano.
TIP: To help the breading stick, especially where the chicken was marinated and ran through the breading station right from the marinade, refrigerate it and let it rest to allow the breading to form and adhere at least 30 minutes.
Chicken Parmesan Tomato Sauce
There are a few options here as well. While I use either the Basil Tomato Sauce or the Quick Tomato Sauce, replacing the beef stock used in the quick tomato sauce with chicken stock. Other tomato-based sauces can include Passata Pizza Sauce or tomato-based pasta sauces.
TIP: Keep the pot of tomato sauce over the back burner where the oven vent is to keep it warm while baking the cutlets.
Frying Chicken Parmesan
Chicken Parmesan is either shallow fried for about 2-3 minutes per side or deep fried for about 5 minutes or, in both cases, until a golden crust is formed. In both cases it’s important that the oil is not too high or too low. Too high and the crust browns too much, and too low you get a greasy crust. The ideal temp is between 325°F and 350°F. From here they go into a preheated oven to cook through and then, with cheese layered on top, back in the oven to just melt the cheese.
Baking Chicken Parmesan
I very much enjoy the crunch the breading has to offer and choose to add the sauce to the plate and place just the crispy chicken cutlets with cheese on top to melt and then place them on top of the tomato sauce on the plates to ensure crispy chicken parmesan.
After the chicken has been shallow-fried or deep-fried, transfer them back to the pan into a preheated oven at 400F-450F, uncovered, for about 10-15 minutes or until an internal temperature of at least 157F. Top with sliced mozzarella cheese and back into the oven just until the cheese melts. Remove and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
TIP: While you can use shredded cheese, sliced mozzarella cheese really is better. Slice it about 1/8 inch thick and set it on top of the cutlets. You can also add a small amount of shredded provolone cheese or garnish with more freshly grated parmigiano.
Chicken Parmesan Variations
Okay, so you have the chicken marinating to really boost the flavor throughout the chicken. Next is the type of chicken parmesan you want. While the main recipe card uses the classic version with coating in panko and frying in oil before placing it into the oven to finish cooking. Followed by cheese and placed back in to melt it. There are a few other options outlined below, depending on what you’re after.
Grilled Chicken Parmesan
The grilled chicken Parmesan is a healthy version, as there is no breading or deep frying. The marinated chicken is grilled instead. With that fantastic tomato sauce and cheese blend on top. This version is also really quick. Producing a meal in about 15 minutes once the chicken has been marinated.
Grill the chicken until done, about 5 minutes per side or until an internal temp of 157°F is reached. Ladle the hot tomato sauce on the plate and/or on top of the chicken with cheese and broil a few minutes in the oven.
If you miss the crunch that the classic version has with the panko crust. Add deep-fried onions or onion rings on top. A nice side of salad can also assist in delivering the crunch aspect.
Seared Chicken Parmesan
This version sears the chicken breast until done. Sliced mozzarella cheese is placed on top while the chicken is still in the pan and covered to let the heat build up and melt the cheese. You can also finish in the oven on broil until the cheese is just melted. Plate hot tomato sauce and set the seared chicken breast with melted cheese on top.
Oven Chicken Parmesan
This method skips the frying of the panko chicken, still producing a crispy coating due to fat being added to the panko coating that browns and crisps in the oven.
Melt 1/4 cup of butter or ghee/clarified butter and pour it over the panko crumbs. Mix really well and use this as the final breading for your chicken.
Instead of frying in fat, go straight to baking at 350°F, flipping over halfway through for about 20 – 30 minutes or an internal temperature of 157°F. Place cheese on top and broil until just melted. Remove and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Lazy Chicken Parmesan
The lazy method is to purchase already breaded chicken breast, premade tomato marinara sauce, and sliced provolone and/or mozzarella. Cook the breaded chicken breast according to instructions. Top with mozzarella and/or provolone cheese slices and optionally broil just until the cheese is melted. Plate hot tomato sauce and place the chicken cutlet on top. It serves as a quick and easy no-fuss dinner.
Chicken Parmesan Toppings
Diced tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, salsa, or a mix of tomatoes, basil, lemon juice, garlic, and oil. Olives are another good topping. Optionally, a squeeze of lemon juice to bring some zing or a bit of gremolata. It’s really open for interpretation. Add what you like.
Chicken Parmesan Side Dishes
Parmesan chicken goes so nicely with any pasta side dish, really, and the pasta dish can be prepared at the same time the chicken parmesan is in the oven. Whether you make Cacio e Pepe, Carbonara, Fettuccine al Burro, Alfredo, Garlic Butter Pasta, Pesto Pasta, or just serve the leftover basil tomato sauce with pasta. A side of Caesar salad or other salads is very nice too. Especially with grilled or seared chicken parmesan.
For most pasta dishes, start boiling the pasta water before frying the cutlets. Place the pasta into the boiling salted water at the same time you place the cutlets into the oven. The pasta will be ready at about the same time as your chicken parmesan.
Ingredients
- 2 Chicken Breast - Sliced in half for 4 fillets and pounded out to an even thickness
- As Needed Oil - For shallow frying the chicken, enough to come up halfway on the fillets
- As Desired Mozzarella Cheese - Sliced about 1/8 inch. Optionally with a bit of shredded provolone on top.
Marinade
- 1/2 C Water
- 1/4 C Oil & freshly grated Parmigiano - each
- 1 tsp Chicken Powder & Sea Salt - each
- 1/2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1/4 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/8 tsp Black Pepper & Paprika - each
Seasoned Flour
- 1/2 C All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Tbl Sea Salt - or a bit less
- 1/8 tsp Black & White Pepper - each
- Pinch of Cayenne
Egg Wash
- 1 Whole Egg
- 1 Tbl Cold Water
Panko Crust
- 1 C Panko Flakes
- 1/4 C Freshly grated Parmigiano
Tomato Sauce
- 680 ml Passata
- 1/2 C Water - place into the bottle and emptied into the pan
- 1/2 C Onion
- 1/4 C Light-Tasting EVOO
- 2-3 Cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 28 g Fresh Basil - Torn or chopped, added very last
Instructions
- Prep: Combine into a bowl all the ingredients for the marinade and whisk. Slice the chicken breast in half horizontally to create 2 thinner chicken breast fillets. Pound the chicken to get an even thickness across. Place the chicken in the marinade for at least one hour, refrigerated.
- Breading Station: Combine all the ingredients for the seasoned flour into a bowl. In a small bowl add the egg and water and whisk. In another bowl place the panko flakes & freshly grated parmigiano. From the marinade, place each cutlet into the seasoned flour, dip into the egg wash, and finally coat with panko and parmigiano, pressing it in. Set aside on a baking sheet until all chicken is breaded. Then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Tomato Sauce: Prepare the tomato sauce and any toppings desired for the Parmesan chicken.Place onions & garlic into the sauce pot with EVOO over medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until golden. Do not let the onion or garlic brown. Add passata and then 1/2 cup water inside the passata bottle to get all the tomato sauce and pour it into the sauce pot along with salt & pepper. Mix well, bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low. Keep a gentle simmer partially covered for 30 minutes or longer until the sauce is thickened. Mixing about every 10 minutes or so. When the sauce is just about done, add torn pieces of basil and adjust the seasoning.
- Frying Chicken Parmesan: Remove the breaded cutlets from the fridge to rest on the counter and preheat the oven to 425°F with the rack in the middle position. Heat a frying pan over max heat with enough oil so that it covers half or a bit more of the breaded chicken when placed in. Let the oil get hot, about 335F-350F, before placing the chicken in and cooking for 2-3 minutes per side or until light golden and crisp. Transfer the chicken back on the baking sheet and repeat until all the cutlets are fried.
- Baking Chicken Parmesan: Place the fried chicken cutlets in the oven and cook for 10 – 15 minutes, or until an internal temperature of 157°F is reached. Place mozzarella cheese on top and back into the oven until the cheese is just melted, about 5 minutes. When done, remove and let rest for 5 minutes.Sauce the plate with hot tomato sauce and place the chicken on top of the sauce. Optionally with desired toppings and serve.
Notes
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