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This Chicken Parmesan is our family’s favorite and it’s a true and classic Italian comfort food! Juicy and tender pan fried breaded chicken breasts, then topped with marinara sauce, lots of Mozzarella cheese and baked to perfection.
This Chicken Parmesan is a classic and a favorite all around! We’re talking crispy breaded chicken breasts topped with marinara sauce and lots of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. What’s not to love? It’s worth every second it takes to make this!
What is Chicken Parmesan
Chicken Parmesan or Chicken Parmigiana is a popular Italian-America dish. It usually consists of breaded chicken breast, pan fried, then topped with fresh tomato sauce, then Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and baked until the cheesy is bubbly. It is usually served over pasta or with a side salad.
Eggplant Parmigiana is the original Italian recipe. Same as chicken, eggplants are lightly breaded, pan fried, topped with fresh tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese, and then baked. It is believed that the switch to chicken in the United states might have been because Italian restaurant owners saw that Americans preferred meat over eggplant.
What Ingredients Are in Chicken Parmesan
Main Ingredients
- Flour – all-purpose flour is what you need, though you can use whole wheat flour.
- Breadcrumbs – I love to use a combination of regular Italian breadcrumbs and Panko breadcrumbs because they make the chicken extra crispy. However, you can stick to using just Italian breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs can be the plain ones or the ones that come pre-seasoned.
- Cheese – we need lots of mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. I also love using a little bit of grated parmesan cheese for the breading to give some extra flavor to it.
- Eggs – you’ll need a couple large eggs.
- Vegetable oil – for pan frying the chicken.
- Marinara sauce – I usually buy a good organic marinara sauce but you can also make your own if you prefer.
- Basil – to garnish at the end. Fresh basil is the best. If you don’t like the taste of basil, you can skip it.
For Topping
- Mozzarella cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh Basil
How to Make Chicken Parmesan
This is one of the tastiest, easy to make and probably most popular Italian recipes based on chicken. Perfect for a nice and not very heavy dinner! This is such a great dinner to make ahead as well!
Here are the steps:
- Cut the chicken breast in half, horizontally. Alternatively, you can pound each breast with a meat ballet by placing it between two pieces of parchment paper. Pound it until it’s fairly thin, about 1/2 an inch.
- Place the flour in a shallow dish. Place the eggs in a second dish, season with salt and pepper and beat with a fork.
- Combine Panko, breadcrumbs, grated parmesan, fresh parsley, salt and pepper to taste in a third shallow dish.
- Dip chicken into flour and shake to remove any excess. Dip chicken in beaten eggs and then into breadcrumb mixture. Press to adhere.
- Preheat oil in a large pan. Brown the chicken on each side, about 4 minutes per side or until golden. It does not need to cook through as it will continue to cook in the oven.
- Alternatively, you can air fry the chicken in an air fryer at 380F for 7 minutes, flipping it over half way through.
- Place 1 1/2 cups of marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 dish or a baking sheet. Add browned chicken. Top each piece with a couple tablespoons of marinara sauce, mozzarella and parmesan.
- Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden and bubbly and chicken reaches 165°F. Sprinkle with fresh basil and serve over pasta.
What to Serve With Chicken Parmesan
The best way to serve Chicken Parmesan is over a bed of spaghetti! Side of Italian green beans or steamed broccoli is also a great option. As well as a side of tossed salad with some garlic bread. Also, spinach, kale, or some other green vegetable sautéd in garlic and olive oil are great options as well.
How Do You Store Leftovers
If it is fully prepared and cooked with the sauce and cheese on top, you can refrigerate it for about 3-5 days. In my house, we don’t keep leftovers longer than a couple days. The chicken parmesan would probably store longer if you kept the sauce separate from the chicken breasts. The breading tends to become saturated and soggy from the sauce when you reheat it in the microwave or oven.
Can You Freeze Chicken Parmesan?
I would freeze chicken parmesan, sauce and cheese separately. Bread the chicken and fry it as instructed, let it come to room temperature then place it on a baking sheet and transfer it to the freezer. Freeze it for a couple hours until it freezes completely. Take the chicken out of the freezer and transfer it to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Freeze the sauce in a separate airtight container and the cheese in a freezer bag.
When ready to serve, take the frozen chicken out of the freezer and follow the recipe instructions for baking, that is layer some sauce in a baking dish, place chicken over sauce, top with more sauce and cheese. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes. It will take a bit longer to bake since cooking chicken from frozen.
More Delicious Recipes To Try
- Easy Alfredo Pasta
- Cheesy Taco Pasta
- Parmesan Chicken Strips
- Asian Style Pepper Steak
- No Knead 1 Hour Cinnamon Rolls
- Monterey Chicken
- Creamy Chicken Piccata
- Italian Style Hamburger Steak
- Air Fryer Chicken Katsu With Tonkatsu Sauce
- Crockpot Crack Chicken
- Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Skillet Chicken Parmesan
Chicken Parmesan
Video
Ingredients
Chicken
- 4 chicken breasts boneless and skinless cut in half horizontally to make 8 pieces
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- ½ cup breadcrumbs Italian style, or regular
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 2 tablespoon parsley fresh, chopped
- 3 tablespoon vegetable oil for frying
Toppings
- 24 ounce marinara sauce (1 jar)
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 2 tablespoon basil fresh, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven: Preheat your oven to 425°F.
- Prepare breading ingredients: Place flour in a shallow dish. Place the eggs in a second dish, season with salt and pepper and beat with a fork.
- Combine Panko, breadcrumbs, grated parmesan, fresh parsley, salt and pepper to taste in a third shallow dish.
- Prepare chicken: Dip chicken into flour and shake to remove any excess. Dip chicken in beaten eggs & then into bread crumb mixture (press to adhere).
- Fry chicken: Preheat oil in a large pan. Brown chicken on each side, about 4 minutes per side or until golden (it does not need to cook through as it will continue to cook in the oven). Alternatively, you can air fry the chicken in an air fryer at 380°F for 7 minutes, flipping it over half way through.
- Assemble chicken parmesan: Place 1 1/2 cups of marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 dish or a baking sheet. Add browned chicken. Top each piece with a couple tablespoons of marinara sauce, mozzarella and parmesan.
- Bake: Bake 10-15 minutes or until golden and bubbly and chicken reaches 165°F.
- Garnish and serve: Sprinkle with fresh basil and serve over pasta.
Tips & Notes:
- Serve: Serve over a bed of spaghetti! Side of Italian green beans or steamed broccoli is also a great option. As well as a side of tossed salad with some garlic bread. Also, spinach, kale, or some other green vegetable sautéd in garlic and olive oil are great options as well.
- Leftovers: If it is fully prepared and cooked with the sauce and cheese on top, you can refrigerate it for about 3-5 days. In my house, we don’t keep leftovers longer than a couple days. The chicken parmesan would probably store longer if you kept the sauce separate from the chicken breasts. The breading tends to become saturated and soggy from the sauce when you reheat it in the microwave or oven.
