Name: Parmesan Crusted Chicken
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 large chicken breasts (cut in half lengthwise); 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; Salt & pepper (to taste); 1/4 cup flour; 2 eggs (beaten); 2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs; 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese; 1/2 heaping teaspoon Italian seasoning; 3 tablespoons olive oil (divided)

Ultra crispy parmesan crusted chicken

If you've made my Chicken Parmesan recipe, you might have thought that the breaded chicken would be fantastic on its own. And you'd be right! Learning how to bread chicken is a great kitchen skill to have, and it's easy to make golden, crispy chicken that uses only a handful of pantry ingredients.

In my home this is one of our favorite ways to jazz up chicken since it's got an insanely tasty crunch from the crispy parmesan coating yet stays juicy and tender on the inside.

The kids will love it too since this parmesan crusted chicken is basically the restaurant quality, dressed-up version of chicken tenders! You'll enjoy that it takes only 30 minutes to make, so busy weeknights can be a little less stressful.

What you'll need to make parmesan crusted chicken

Chicken breasts - cutting them into four smaller cutlets keeps them juicy, and they cook faster and more evenly

Garlic powder - you're not going to want to leave out this extra burst of seasoning!

Flour - to dredge the chicken cutlets

Egg - the egg mixture is for binding the parmesan breading to the chicken

Panko breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, and parmesan cheese - this delicious trio makes up the crispy breading. Make sure to grate your own parmesan!

Olive oil - for frying up the chicken to dreamy, crispy perfection

How to make parmesan crusted chicken

This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.

preparing breading ingredients for making parmesan crusted chicken

Preheat oven to 400F. Cut the chicken in half lengthwise so that you end up with four smaller cutlets. Season them on both sides with salt & pepper and garlic powder.

dipping chicken cutlet into flour and then egg for parmesan crusted chicken

Dredge each chicken cutlet in flour, followed by dipping into the egg wash.

a hand dipping chicken cutlet into panko breading for parmesan crusted chicken

Finally, dip each piece into the panko breadcrumbs and parmesan mixture. Cooking the chicken in two batches, pan fry until golden brown. Arrange all four cutlets in the oven-proof skillet, and finish them off in the oven.

Breading tips

Make sure that you dry off the chicken before getting started. Simply pat it with paper towels.

During each step of the dredging process (flour, egg, breadcrumbs), be sure to shake off any excess and that the chicken pieces are fully coated for each step.

Don't add all the chicken to the skillet at once. I do two pieces at a time to give them plenty of room. Make sure the pan is hot prior to adding the chicken.

Don't move the chicken around the skillet. Once it's in there, resist the urge to touch it until it's time to flip it over!

Tools for this recipe

Tongs make flipping the chicken in the skillet really easy.

This recipe uses an oven-proof skillet. It's something that I think every cook should own. They're very versatile and come in a range of price points. For this recipe I used my 10.25" Le Creuset (you can see it was a little small since I happened to buy rather large pieces of chicken, but a little overlap for the last part of the recipe is fine). I also love my Lodge cast iron (a more affordable option).

If you don't own an oven-proof skillet, transfer the chicken to a baking dish for the last step.

Use an instant read meat thermometer to quickly check if chicken is done.

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