Thin, crispy, and juicy chicken breasts are topped with a robust homemade marinara sauce and melted mozzarella cheese in this easy Chicken Parmesan recipe. This classic entree is easy to make and always delicious!
An Easy Chicken Parmesan Recipe
When we serve this Chicken Parmesan for dinner, everyone around the table is a member of the clean plate club. It’s impossible not to finish every last bite of this chicken dinner! Between the seasoned, crispy chicken breasts to the homemade marinara sauce with gooey melted parmesan cheese, there’s a whole lot to love about this timeless dish.
If you’ve never made Chicken Parmesan before, this is a great recipe for you! There are no frills to be found – just clear and concise steps that always yield delicious results. Sometimes, a twist on a classic dish is fun! But when it comes to Chicken Parmesan, we don’t like to mess with the tasty elements that make this dish such a classic.
While you can certainly grab a jar of store bought marinara sauce and call it a day, we recommend using our homemade recipe! Our favorite Homemade Marinara Sauce takes only 20 minutes to whip up and lends the most incredible flavor to this dish.
Ok, ok, enough with the chit chat. Let’s get cooking!
Ingredients Needed
You will only need a handful of ingredients and a few are pantry stables ingredients that you probably already have on hand!
- Chicken – You’ll need boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Trim off the fat as needed.
- Eggs – We prefer pasture raised organic eggs that have a deep golden yolk.
- Breadcrumbs – Using a combination of Panko style breadcrumbs and traditional breadcrumbs are the key to getting that perfect crunchy consistency to the breading.
- Parmesan Cheese – If possible, grate the cheese yourself for the best flavor and consistency.
- Seasonings – Garlic Powder, Italian Seasoning, Kosher Salt, and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper, for best flavor.
- Olive Oil – Try to make sure you have a good quality olive oil that’s green in color. If you don’t have olive oil, a good substitute is avocado oil.
- Marinara Sauce – While a store bought jar of sauce will yield tasty results, our homemade marinara sauce is always so much more flavorful. If you decide to use store bought, we suggest Rao’s brand as we have found it is the closet to homemade!
- Mozzarella Cheese – Just like with the parmesan, it’s always best to shred/grate mozzarella cheese yourself. You can also use slices of mozzarella.
Kitchen Tools Needed
- Meat Tenderizer: I really recommend a meat tenderizer as the little teeth dig in and help tenderize the chicken breasts, but you can use a rolling pin or can of something (like canned beans, vegetables, etc) to pound the chicken.
- Oven Safe Skillet: You can also start the chicken in a skillet on the stove and then move it into an oven safe casserole dish.
How to Make Chicken Parmesan
Preheat. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Slice and pound the chicken. Slice the chicken breast in half to make two thin pieces of chicken. Place the chicken on a cutting board and using a meat tenderizer pound the chicken on both sides.
Create the dredging stations. Place beaten eggs in a large shallow bowl and set aside. In a separate shallow bowl, combine the Panko Italian bread crumbs, regular Italian bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stirring until well combined.
Dredge the chicken. Place one piece of the pounded chicken breasts into the egg. Then transfer the breast into the bread crumb mixture, making sure to completely coat the chicken. It’s best to press the breadcrumbs into the chicken to make sure they stick. Set the breaded chicken aside and continue until all chicken is thoroughly coated. Let the breaded chicken rest for 10 minutes before moving to the next step.
Sear the chicken. In a large skillet, over medium heat, add olive oil. Once the oil is hot, carefully add as many chicken breasts as you can fit into the pan without them overlapping. Gently move the breast in the skillet so it doesn’t stick, but do not flip it. Let the chicken cook on each side for 3 minutes, until golden brown. The chicken does not have to be fully cooked through, as it will finish cooking in the oven.
Prepare the chicken for baking. If your skillet is not oven safe, transfer your chicken to a baking dish. If your skillet is oven safe, you can keep your chicken right in the skillet.
Assemble the dish and bake. Top each piece of cooked chicken with marinara sauce and then sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese on top. Bake chicken for 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through, cheese is brown and bubbled.
Enjoy! Serve immediately with pasta, vegetables or a salad!
Tips For Best Results
Here are a few tips and tricks to make sure your chicken parmesan comes out perfect!
- Preheat the oil. For extra crispy chicken, make sure the oil is hot before adding breaded chicken to the skillet.
- Bread it perfectly. To get a really good bread crumb coating on the chicken breasts, rub/press in the breadcrumbs using your fingers and then add more and again press the breadcrumbs into the chicken.
- Let the chicken rest. Allow the chicken breasts on the counter for 10 minutes, after breading them, and before frying. This helps the breadcrumbs stick to the chicken breasts.
- Don’t flip too much. Try not to flip the chicken too much. Let the breast cook for about 2 -3 minutes on each side and only flip once. The chicken will finish cooking in the oven.
- Prevent the chicken from sticking. When you add the breaded chicken to the pan, gently push it around a tiny bit after 30 seconds. This helps to keep the chicken from sticking to the bottom of the skillet.
- Tenderize the chicken. The very best Chicken Parmesan is made with thin and tenderized chicken! Don’t skip this very important step! You don’t want a thick piece of chicken for chicken parm!
What To Serve With Chicken Parmesan
There are quite a few delicious side dishes you can serve with chicken parmesan.
- Salad: A light and fresh Italian salad always goes great with Chicken Parmesan, but you can also do a cesear salad. Or go for extra easy with your favorite bagged salad and add our favorite homemade Greek Salad Dressing.
- Garlic Bread: Anything from garlic bread to bread sticks go great. Or fresh Italian bread with butter!
- Veggies: Lots of different vegetables will go with this chicken: broccoli, asparagus, green beans, etc. These Air Fryer Brussel Sprouts would also be tasty.
- Pasta: And of course, a hearty side of pasta is always great! Go traditional with spaghetti or angel hair noodles tossed in our Homemade Marinara Sauce, or walk on the wild side with some fettuccine alfredo.
How To Store Leftovers
If you have any leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator or up to 5 days. I recommend reheating it in the air fryer, if you have one. Reheated pan-fried chicken will never be as crispy as it was fresh, but the air fryer helps a ton. I reheat mine at 400°F for about 2 to 3 minutes, until warmed through.
Can I freeze the leftovers? Yes! Although, it is admittedly not as good as fresh. To freeze, I wrap each chicken breast with cling wrap and then place them in a freezer friendly ziplock bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
More Easy Dinner Ideas
Lucky for you, that is our goal here…to give you the best Easy Dinner Ideas! Here are a few more of our favorite easy chicken recipes:
- Crockpot French Onion Chicken
- White Chicken Lasagna Rollups
- Lemon Pepper Chicken
- Crockpot Mexican Chicken
- Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
- Baked Chicken Legs
- Crockpot Mexican White Chicken Chili
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup Italian Panko bread crumbs
- ½ cup Italian bread crumbs
- ⅓ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ cups marinara sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Slice the chicken breasts in half to make two thin pieces of chicken out of each breast. Place the chicken on a cutting board and using a meat tenderizer, pound the chicken on both sides.
- Place beaten eggs in a large shallow bowl and set aside. In a separate shallow bowl, combine the Panko Italian bread crumbs, regular Italian bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stirring until well combined.
- Place one piece of the pounded chicken breasts into the egg. Then transfer the breast into the bread crumb mixture, making sure to completely coat the chicken. (I press the breadcrumbs into the chicken to make sure they stick).
- Set the breaded chicken aside and continue until all chicken is thoroughly coated. Let breaded chicken rest for 10 minutes before frying. (This will help the breadcrumbs stick to the chicken when frying.)
- In a large oven safe skillet, over medium-high heat, add olive oil. Once the oil is hot, carefully add as many breaded chicken breasts as you can fit into the pan without them overlapping. Gently move the breast in the skillet so it doesn’t stick, but do not flip the chicken yet.
- Let the chicken cook on each side for 3 minutes, until golden brown. (The chicken does not have to be fully cooked through, it will finish cooking in the oven.) If you couldn’t fit all the chicken in your skillet at once, repeat the process to cook any remaining chicken.
- If not using an oven safe skillet, remove chicken from the skillet and place in an oven safe dish (like a casserole dish). If using an oven safe skillet, you can keep the chicken in the skillet.
- Top each piece of chicken with marinara sauce and then sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top. Bake chicken for 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and the cheese is brown and bubbling.
- Serve immediately with garlic bread, pasta, vegetables and/or a salad!
