Chicken Parmesan

4.94 from 15 votes

This Chicken Parmesan recipe has crispy breaded chicken breasts that are tender on the inside and baked to melty, cheesy perfection with mozzarella cheese over a layer of marinara sauce.

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

Total Time40

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian American

Keyword: chicken parmesan recipe, crispy chicken parmesan, how to make chicken parmesan

Servings:

Author: Natasha Bull

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
1.5 cups marinara sauce see note
3 tablespoons olive oil divided
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
8 ounces spaghetti or other pasta optional
Fresh basil optional, to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400F. Move the rack to the top third of the oven. Boil a salted pot of water for the pasta if that's what you're serving it with. Cook the pasta al dente according to package directions.
Cut the chicken in half lengthwise so you have 4 thinner pieces. Pat it dry with paper towel. Sprinkle it with the garlic powder and some salt & pepper (both sides).
Prepare 3 bowls: one with the flour, one with the eggs (beat them with a fork), and the third with the panko + parmesan + Italian seasoning (mix it all together).
Add the marinara sauce to a saucepan and warm it over low heat (it needs to be hot for step 8).
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to an oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Let the pan heat up while you're doing the next step.
Meanwhile, coat the chicken pieces in the flour. You will then dip each piece in the egg, followed by the breadcrumb mixture (shake off any excess at each of the 3 steps). I find it easiest to do the dipping with one hand and leaving the other one free (or your hands get messy and it's all harder to work with). You may need to press the chicken into the breadcrumbs a bit to make them stick.
Add 2 chicken pieces to the skillet (give them lots of space) and cook for about 2-3 minutes/side (should be golden and crispy). I use tongs to easily flip it. Transfer the chicken to a plate, and for the second batch, add another tablespoon of oil to the pan. Once you've fried all the chicken, take the skillet off the heat and arrange all 4 pieces inside. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 5 minutes.
Take the skillet out of the oven. Turn the broiler onto high. Spoon a bit of hot marinara sauce over top of each piece of chicken (I top each piece with about 2 tablespoons of sauce and reserve the rest for tossing with the pasta). I don't add too much sauce because then the breading will go soggy (don't put so much that it runs off). Top the chicken with the mozzarella cheese and return the skillet to the oven. Let the cheese melt/go bubbly (this will only take a few minutes - watch it carefully so it doesn't burn). Meanwhile, toss the drained pasta with the remaining marinara sauce.
Serve immediately with pasta on the side and some fresh basil if you wish.

Notes

This recipe assumes you're making chicken parm with pasta. If you're not, only warm up about 1/2 cup of marinara sauce. If you want lots of sauce on the pasta or you're making more pasta than suggested, you may want to go up to 2+ cups sauce.
See blog post for more tips if you've never breaded chicken before (the breading will be less likely to fall off). I also included handy process photos of each step within the blog post.
You can transfer the chicken to a baking dish for step 8 if you don't have an oven-proof skillet.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information. Nutritional info just includes the chicken + 1/2 cup marinara sauce. I left the extra marinara sauce and pasta out of the calculation (it's about 660 calories with 2 oz. dry pasta/person + the extra marinara).

Nutrition