This chicken parmesan recipe is an elegant weeknight favorite. Tender chicken breasts are lightly fried until crispy, then baked in a rich marinara topped with two kinds of golden, melty cheese.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: This dish is full of seasoned crispy chicken, tangy marinara sauce, and rich, melty cheese.
- Skill Level: This recipe is perfect for new cooks, using simple ingredients and straightforward steps.
- Recommended Tools: Use a meat mallet to pound the chicken and a meat thermometer to tell if it is cooked through (it should read 165°F in the thickest part).
- Serving Suggestions: Serve it over a pile of buttered noodles, seasoned rice, zoodles, or your favorite pasta.
Easy Ingredient Tips
- Chicken: Pick equally sized chicken breasts, or pound them to an even thickness so they cook evenly and stay juicy. To keep your meat mallet clean, place a plastic wrap on top of your chicken before pounding. If your chicken breast is large, you can also slice it in half horizontally.
- Seasoned Crust: Panko and breadcrumbs are the perfect combo for a crispy crust with lots of flavor. Use stale bread to make your own breadcrumbs.
- Marinara: Buy or DIY your own marinara (save the extra for pizza and lasagna). Add freshly minced garlic or a dash of red pepper flakes to zest up jarred or homemade marinara.
- Cheese: Don’t skimp on the mozzarella and parmesan if you want that cheesy Italian bistro flavor. For maximum melt, shred the cheese from a block. Pre-shredded cheese contains anti-caking agents that don’t melt as nicely.
How to Make Chicken Parmesan
- Prep and brown the chicken (full recipe below).
- Place the chicken on top of the marinara, spoon on a little more sauce, and top with cheese.
- Bake, then garnish with fresh basil and serve over pasta.
Savor the Flavors
- Storing: Keep leftover chicken parmesan with the sauce in a covered container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheating: Warm portions in the air fryer, or reheat and sprinkle on extra Parmesan, then broil until the top gets crispy again.
- Freezing: Cooled portions can be frozen in zippered bags for up to a month. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
- Leftover Lunch Idea: Try it cold as a sammie on a ciabatta bun or wrapped in a tortilla with crisp lettuce for a hearty lunch!
More Crispy Chicken Recipes
Did your family love this Chicken Parmesan recipe? Leave us a rating and comment below.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts about 5oz each
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup Panko bread crumbs
- ⅔ cup seasoned bread crumbs
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt divided
- ½ teaspoon black pepper divided
- 4 tablespoons olive oil or as needed
- 24 ounces marinara sauce homemade or jarred
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil for garnish
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Place the flour in a shallow dish. Place the eggs in a second shallow dish and beat with a fork.
- In a third shallow dish, combine Panko breadcrumbs, seasoned breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Using the flat side of a meat mallet, pound the chicken breasts to ½-inch thickness. After pounding, if they're very large, you can cut them in half. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.
- Dip both sides of the chicken into the flour and shake to remove any excess. Dip chicken in beaten eggs, then into the breadcrumb mixture and gently press to adhere.
- Preheat the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Brown the chicken for about 2 minutes per side or until golden, it does not need to cook through.
- In the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish, add 1 ½ cups of marinara sauce. Add the browned chicken. Top each piece of chicken with 2 tablespoons of marinara sauce in the center. Top with mozzarella and shredded parmesan.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and bubbly and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F with an instant-read thermometer.
- Sprinkle with fresh basil and parsley and serve over pasta.
Video
Notes
- Chicken breasts can vary from 5 oz to 10 oz. If using larger breasts, you may only need 2, and they can be cut in half horizontally to make 4 thinner chicken breasts. Chicken cutlets can be used in place of chicken breasts.
- Ensure the oil is shimmering before adding the chicken for a better crisp.
- Don’t add too much sauce to the baking pan; you can heat extra sauce on the side if desired.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 647 | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 46g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 199mg | Sodium: 2318mg | Potassium: 1098mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1429IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 394mg | Iron: 5mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
The only thing I would change about this recipe is the amount of time the chicken cooks on the stove. 4 min is excessive
Awesom recipe! What temperature should I set the oven to??
Set the oven to 425°F (step 1). :) Enjoy the recipe!
Delicious! I have never made chicken parm because I was intimidated to try it, feeling it could never be as good as in an Italian restaurant Made this gluten free and it was soooooo good! I did not have gluten free Italian bread crumbs on hand so just added Italian seasoning and used some thicker almond flour along with GF panko. So good!!!
Luv this receipe
Hey, I just wanted to say how I love your combination of ingredients used.
My chicken was very drywhat did I do wrong?
It sounds like they may have been overcooked, Debby. To check if they are done we recommend using a meat thermometer to test that the internal temperature reaches 165°F. If your chicken breasts were thinner they may not take as long as ours did to reach that temperature!
I made your chicken Parmesan it was the best . my husband & I loved it thank you
debbie peck
East Jordan, MI
Thanks so much Debbie! So glad you enjoyed it :)
Absolutely Devine. Followed directions and it came out perfectly! Very fast and easy.
Great chicken parm recipe! Follow the recipe as it’s written and everything will taste perfect!
This is by far the best Chicken Parmesan recipe. Followed the recipe with no changes. So tender and tasty!!! Will make this over and over!!!
It would be really helpful for novice cookers to know what temperature to bake at.
Preheat an oven to 425°F (per step #1). Enjoy!
I have made this a few times and it is great! I am not a real fan of cooking, however, this recipe is simple, quick and delicious. So glad I found it, along with MANY other Spend With Pennies recipes. Thank you!
So glad you loved it Stacy!
I would love to try every recipe
This looks wonderful !!!
I haven’t tried this yet, but I have looked at other chicken parmesan recipes and this is the first one that I have wanted to try.
Hope you love it Cheryl! Let us know how it goes. :)
I have watched the video 4 times and still do not know where you used flour. I see flour in the ingredients and in the directions but not the video. Do you need flour?
Hi Tracy, you could skip the flour step if you like, but we do dip the chicken in flour then the egg mixture followed by the breadcrumbs.
The breading will adhere to the chicken much better if you first dip the chicken into the flour, followed by the egg, then the breadcrumbs. This ‘3 step breeding method’ ALWAYS works best.
I fine that to be true also. Flour, egg then bread crumbs.
Haven’t tried it yet
Tastes good but I would make it with half the amount of bread crumbs in the future. I found I had way too many leftover. Otherwise, halve the crumbs part of the recipe and put it in a container and freeze it for the next time you want to make this recipe.
Omigosh! This recipe is ridiculous! I have never been a fan of chicken parmigiana, but my daughter requested it. I had made your Beef Stew recipe and loved that so, when I saw you had one for this, it was a no-brainer to use this recipe. I just used plain old Marinara in a jar from Aldi as I already had enough going on otherwise, and it was great. I’m toying with the idea of starting the chicken on a charcoal grill for a very few minutes to give it a tiny bit of smokiness. I guess I’m gonna have to look through your recipes in detail to see what other shenanigans you can start with me. You’re 2-2!
LOL!! Yay, so glad you loved it Drew! Love the idea of a hint of smoky flavor… perhaps even some grilled cherry tomatoes added to the sauce!
You could throw a little smoked paprika on the chicken or in the sauce.
Looking forward to getting to be a better cook