Easy Chicken Parmesan

Chicken Parmesan has been a classic dish for many years. It’s so delicious to have chicken cutlets breaded, fried and smothered in tomato sauce and covered with mozzarella cheese and Parmesan, then serve with pasta or on a bun.

We love the chicken parmesan. It’s made with breaded, fried cutlets that are smothered in tomato sauce and covered with mozzarella, Parmesan, and other cheeses, so once the cheese has melted and bubbled, it must be roasted for another 15-20 minutes.

This dish is comfort food. It’s similar to my mother’s parmesan-breaded chicken nuggets (chicken breasts coated in breadcrumbs and baked).

It’s one of those everyone-should-know-how-to-make recipes. The recipe is easy to make and can be made quickly. It’s actually hard to mess it up! It’s also the best way to use boneless and skinless chicken breasts.

How to Make Chicken Parmesan

• Use a meat hammer, mallet, rolling pin or even a heavy empty wine bottle to pound the chicken pieces into an even thickness of 1/4-1/2 inch. Use a meat mallet, rolling pin, or heavy wine bottle as a weight to pound the chicken pieces into an even thickness between 1/4 and 1/2 inch.
• You can save time by grating the onions instead of cutting them. Use the larger holes on a box grator. Do not cut the onion in half. Instead, grate half a whole onion. This will help the onion cook faster, release more juices and make your sauce come together quicker.
• Purchase the best canned tomatoes. Your sauce is only as good as its tomatoes. It’s easy to get used to Muir Glen crushed tomatoes (whether they are basil-tomato or fire-roasted).
•  San Marzano tomatoes from Italy are also good. If crushed tomatoes aren’t readily available, you can use canned whole tomatoes and blend them in a food processor or blender (with their liquid).
• Create your breadcrumbs. Use stale French loaf and blend or process it.

What goes with chicken parmesan?

Serve the chicken parmesan over pasta or in a sub-roll as a sandwich. The chicken parm is great served with a Caesar salad, wedge salad or green vegetables like broccoli or Brussels sprouts.

Easy Chicken Parmesan

Preparation Time10 minutes

COOK TIME40 minutes

TOTAL TIME50 minutes

Servings4

Use a high-quality canned tomato to make your sauce. We prefer the Italian San Marzano or Muir Glen brand (fire-roasted or with basil).

It is quicker to grate the onion than chop it. This will produce smaller pieces of onion and more onion juice.

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Ingredients

For the sauce:

• About 3/4 cup grated yellow onion (do not cut the onion in half; grate one half).
• Extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup
• 2 medium cloves of garlic, minced
• Can of crushed tomatoes (28 ounces)
• Oregano dried, 1 teaspoon.
• Red pepper flakes pinch
• Pinch sugar

The chicken:

• Four chicken breast cutlets (between 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 pounds).
• Salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup panko, homemade or breadcrumbs
• Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• Extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup
• Fresh basil leaves thinly sliced, 2 tablespoons
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced

To serve:

• Sub rolls or cooked spaghetti

Method

• Start the sauce. Heat the olive oil on medium-high heat in a pan. Add the onions, and cook for 2 to 3 mins. Add the minced garlic. The mixture should be fragrant after another minute or two.
• Add the oregano and red pepper flakes. Reduce the heat and bring to a simmer. While you prepare the chicken, cook uncovered (about 10-12 minutes).
• Pre-heat oven to 400degF
• Cutlets can be pounded to a thin thickness.
• Place each chicken cutlet between two layers of plastic wrap or waxed paper, then use a meat mallet, rolling pin, or heavy wine bottle as a weight to roll or pound the chicken pieces into an even thickness between 1/4 and 1/2 inch. Sprinkle salt on the cutlets from both sides.
• Prepare the breadcrumbs and the eggs for dredging.
• Mix the breadcrumbs with 1/2 cup Parmesan and a pinch of salt in a shallow bowl large enough to coat the cutlets, then in a shallow bowl, whisk the eggs.
• Cutlets dredged in flour and browned:
• Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil on medium-high heat in a large saucepan until it shimmers (not smokes) and a slice of bread is sizzling.
• Dip each cutlet in the egg mixture, then roll it in the breadcrumbs. Place the cutlets in the pan. Work in batches to avoid crowding the pan.
• Reduce the heat to medium, and gently fry each chicken cutlet until it is golden brown. This should take 3-4 minutes per side.
• Prepare the chicken to be baked:
• Spread enough tomato paste to cover the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish or casserole, so after the cutlets have been browned on both surfaces, place them on top of the tomato sauce.
• Spread tomato sauce on each cutlet, then sprinkle sliced basil on top. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan on top of each cutlet.
• Bake:
• Bake the mozzarella in the oven for 10-12 minutes at 400degF or until it begins to brown.

SIMPLE TIP

• A meat thermometer should show 165degF or 74degC as the internal temperature, and the chicken can be baked longer if necessary to reach the desired temperature. The faster the cutlets bake, the thinner they are, so the longer it takes to bake thicker cutlets, the more time they will require.
• Serve:
• Serve with the pasta and remaining sauce or in a large bun.
• FAMILIES DINNERS
• BREADED CHICKEN
• SPAGHETTIS
• ITALIAN

NUTRITION FACTS (per serving)

1045 Calories

60g FAT

57g CARBS

69g PROTEIN

View the full Nutrition Label

The nutrition information calculated is based on an ingredient database, so it should be considered an estimation. Nutritional information is calculated based on the first ingredient listed in cases of multiple alternative ingredients, then the nutrition of optional ingredients and garnishes is not included.