Easy Chicken Parmesan Recipe

Hey, I’m John Canel and today we’re making an easy, delicious chicken parmesan. So, let’s get started. First off, set your oven to 425 so it’s nice and hot. And I want to grate a cup of Parmesan cheese that’s about 56 g. By the way, chicken parmesan is an Italian-American dish. Eggplant parm more Italian. But here, there was just more meat available and it was cheaper in the US. So, Italian-American immigrants modified recipes from back home to use meat. This classic dish is something that everybody loves. My kids are obsessed with it. And as a bonus, it’s super easy to make. Just about a cup. I’m going to set this aside and chop some parsley to finish my prep. You’ll want about 3 tablespoons of flat leaf parsley that’s been nicely chopped. Set that aside. And now we can prep our chicken.

Preparing the Chicken

I have three boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I’m going to cut these down the middle so I have six thin fillets. If the thickness isn’t super even, you can pound them out so they’re nice and flat. This will let them cook evenly. Just going to cover these up with some parchment paper and give them a little pound. Today we’ll be pan frying the chicken and then finishing it in the oven. My chicken’s all prepped, so I’m going to set this aside, wash my hands, and set up my dredging station.

Setting Up the Dredging Station

Grab three shallow bowls or pie pans. And in the first, we’re going to crack two eggs. We’re going to season these with a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. And then just give them a nice mix. Okay. To our second dish, we’ll add 1/3 of a cup or 40 g of all-purpose flour, a teaspoon of salt, and half a teaspoon of pepper. Give that a stir so everything’s nicely distributed. In the last dish, we’re going to add half a cup of the shredded parm, half a cup of Italian breadcrumbs, 1 cup or 120 g of panko breadcrumbs. These give you so much texture. I love using them. And our finely chopped parsley. You could definitely add some red pepper flakes here for extra heat. Or if you only have panko breadcrumbs, just use all panko breadcrumbs or all Italian breadcrumbs. It doesn’t need both. One will be still delicious. My dredging station’s ready. And right now I’m measuring a cup of olive oil out just so I have it at the ready.

Dredging and Pan-Frying

Now we can start dredging. So grab your first piece of chicken and we’re going to cover that with our flour. Shake the excess off. Give that a dip in your egg. Allow the excess to drip off. And then we can coat that in our breadcrumb cheese situation. Press it down so it gets all of that topping. One done. We’re going to repeat this for the remaining chicken. And you could do this in batches or prep all the chicken out and have it on a baking sheet ready to go. I’m dredging the first three pieces of chicken. And once those are ready, we’re going to get our oil nice and hot and get to cooking. And while they cook, you can finish dredging the rest. One cup of olive oil right into our pan. I did not want to eyeball it this time cuz I don’t usually add a cup of olive oil to my pans. It’s usually 2 tablespoons. And we’re going to pop this over medium-high heat and let the oil heat until it’s nice and shimmering. My oil is hot and shimmering, so we’re going to add our chicken pieces in. And you’re going to do two to three, depending on the size of your pan. I think mine’s big enough for three. It’s big enough for two pieces. This will cook for about 4 minutes per side or until it’s golden brown. So, give it a check every once in a while. Once it’s golden, flip it over. And then you’re going to place that onto your baking sheet and complete the rest of the chicken pieces. That was golden in two minutes. You’ll also want to adjust the heat as needed because pan might cool down, it might get too hot. It really depends on your cook top. Mine runs very hot. My first two are done. So, I’m placing those onto a paper towel lined baking sheet just to absorb some of the oil. And we’re going to continue on with the next batch. If you want to step this out, you could make the chicken ahead of time and then just add the marinara and cheese later. This reheats really easily.

Adding Sauce and Cheese

Once your last piece of chicken has been cooked, we’re going to top these up and pop them into the oven. It’s so quick. 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of marinara for each of these guys. Just get a nice dollop towards the center. This makes like a good family-sized portion. You can scale the recipe up pretty easily. or if it’s too much for you, this makes really great leftovers. All you have to do is air fry them for a few minutes and it crisps and warms back up really nicely. I also have two cups of low moisture shredded mozzarella. And I’m just going to give each piece of chicken a really nice pile of that. If you’d like, you could use provolone instead of mozzarella. It’s really any melty, delicious cheese. I’m also going to add a tablespoon of shredded parm right on top for each of these pieces. My chicken parm is ready to go into the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese is all melted and the chicken’s been cooked through. Remember, we browned the chicken. It’s not necessarily cooked all the way through yet.

Serving Suggestions

While that’s baking, we’ll make some pasta and get this all together. So, I think chicken parm goes with everything, but the classic combination is with some spaghetti. So, if you’d like that classic combination, get one pound of pasta and cook it in some salted boiling water until it’s al dente. Then, we’re ready to combine. Top with some parsley. And just like that, you’re ready to enjoy. The chicken is tender on the inside, but so crunchy and crispy on the outside. With the mozzarella and that lovely sauce and some pasta, how could you go wrong? I hope you get a chance to make this delicious and easy recipe.