Chicken Parmesan

This easy Chicken Parmesan recipe is restaurant quality with breaded chicken, marinara sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese. It's simple, comforting, and will impress any guest!

This chicken parm recipe ranks right up there with some of my other favorite American-Italian foods including: Tuscan Garlic Chicken, and homemade Manicotti.  Don't forget to serve it with the easiest homemade marinara sauce and tiramisu for dessert!

Why I love this meal:

My husbands favorite thing to order from an Italian restaurant is chicken parm which may be why this recipe is one of the very first recipes I ever shared on my blog, back in 2010! There's something almost “fancy” about it, but it's very easy to make from your own kitchen. The key is in the ingredients. Please take the few extra minutes to make the homemade marinara sauce, rather than store-bought, and garnish the dish with fresh basil. You could even make the marinara sauce a few days in advance to save time.

How to Make Chicken Parmesan:

Butterfly Chicken: Cut your chicken breasts in half horizontally. Place one hand on top of the breast and carefully run a knife through the center of the meat so you have two even, thin pieces of chicken. Pat chicken dry and season well on both sides with salt and pepper.

Dip Chicken: Add eggs to a shallow bowl and beat well. Add breadcrumbs, parmesan and garlic powder to another shallow bowl and stir to combine. Dip each piece of chicken into the egg, and then breadcrumb mixture, pressing the crumbs to adhere.

Brown Chicken: Add oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add breaded chicken and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until golden, but not cooked through.

Assemble: Pour a little marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9×13” baking dish. Add browned chicken to the pan and add a spoonful of marinara sauce over the chicken, followed by a sprinkle of mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.

Bake and Serve: Bake at 450 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly and chicken is cooked through.  Garnish with fresh chopped basil. Serve this baked chicken parmesan recipe over hot cooked spaghetti noodles, with extra marinara sauce, if desired.

Freezing and Cooking Instructions:

To Make Ahead: Make the marinara sauce several days in advance. Butterfly and bread the chicken, and store covered in the fridge a few hours ahead of time.

To Freeze: Follow the recipe directions up to step 5 (dredging) and place the breaded chicken in a greased, freezer safe foil  pan.  Add all chicken pieces and cover tightly.  Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw completely, then brown chicken in skillet and bake, as directed.

Recipe Variations:

• Skip the Breading: Skip the breading all together or choose whole wheat breadcrumbs.
• Veggies: Serve with roasted vegetables.
• Cut the Cheese: Cheese adds a lot of saturated fat. Choose to add less cheese or leave it off all together and let the marinara sauce do the talking!
• Serve over zoodles, instead of pasta.
• Chicken Parmesan Sandwich: Serve the chicken parmesan inside toasted sandwich bread or rolls.

Sides for Chicken Parmesan:

• Classic Wedge Salad
• Roasted Vegetables
• Easy Homemade Breadsticks
• Bruschetta
• Panna Cotta

Recipe

4.95 from 241 votes

Chicken Parmesan

This easy Chicken Parmesan recipe is restaurant quality with breaded chicken, marinara sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese. It's simple, comforting, and will impress any guest!

Print Pin Review

Author Lauren Allen

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Servings 6

Calories 378

Cost 8

Prep 30 minutes mins

Cook 15 minutes mins

Total 45 minutes mins

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Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts , cut in half horizontally to make 6 breast halves*
• ▢ ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese , divided
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• ▢ 1 cup Italian style bread crumbs , or panko
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 3 Tablespoons oil
• ▢ 24 ounces marinara sauce , or HOMEMADE
• ▢ 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• ▢ fresh basil leaves , for serving

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• Butterfly chicken breasts: Place one hand on top of the breast and carefully run a knife through the center of the meat to create two, even, thin breast halves.
• Pat chicken dry and season well on both sides with salt and pepper.
• Add eggs to a shallow bowl and beat well. Add breadcrumbs, parmesan and garlic powder to another shallow bowl and stir to combine.
• Dip each piece of chicken into the egg mixture, and then press into breadcrumbs, coating on both sides.
• Add oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add breaded chicken and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until golden, but not cooked through.
• Spoon a thin layer of marinara sauce into a 9×13’’ baking pan, to cover the bottom of the pan. Place breaded chicken on top.
• Add a spoonful of marinara sauce over the chicken, followed by a sprinkle of mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly and chicken is cooked through (165 degrees F).
• Garnish with fresh chopped basil. Serve over hot cooked spaghetti noodles, with extra sauce, if desired.

Notes

Chicken Breasts: If they are not thick enough to cut into halves you could place them between two pieces of plastic wrap and use a meat mallet or rolling pin to gently pound them evenly to ½ inch thick.

To Make Ahead: Make the marinara sauce several days in advance. Butterfly and bread the chicken, and store covered in the fridge a few hours ahead of time.

To Freeze: Follow the recipe directions up to step 5 (dredging) and place the breaded chicken in a greased, freezer safe foil  pan.  Add all chicken pieces and cover tightly.  Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw completely, then brown chicken in skillet and bake, as directed.

Variations:

• Skip the Breading: Skip the breading all together or choose whole wheat breadcrumbs.
• Veggies: Serve with roasted vegetables.
• Cut the Cheese: Cheese adds a lot of saturated fat. Choose to add less cheese or leave it off all together and let the marinara sauce do the talking!
• Serve over zoodles, instead of pasta.
• Chicken Parmesan Sandwich: Serve the chicken parmesan inside toasted sandwich bread or rolls.

Nutrition

Calories: 378kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 26gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.04gCholesterol: 113mgSodium: 1092mgPotassium: 656mgFiber: 3gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 785IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 246mgIron: 3mg

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I originally shared this recipe in October 2010. Updated August 2019 and March 2023.

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