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.
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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.
I am excited to start receiving mail from you!
Wonderful recipe. My husband doesn’t normally try this kind of dish, but one bit and I heard yumm…it will be our next company dish.
Thank you for sharing your recipe!!! Such a hit with my family (I am from the Philippines)! ❤️
My husband and absolutely loved this dish!!! We want to thank you for the easy to read recipes, but so delicious!!!!! We have left overs of the chicken parm., and want to know the best way to reheat it? I have made your slow cooker butter chicken and slow cooker beef stew and they have been fantastic!!!!! I’m so happy I found your site while I am having the time to actually cook. Spreading the word to friends and family!!!!
Thank you Mary, I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying the recipes! For leftovers, defrost in the fridge overnight. I would place in a small casserole dish and bake at 375F until heated through. This can also be heated in the microwave in small portions.
Excellent and easy Chicken Parmesan!
I use Rao’s arrabbiata instead of marinara. Adds a subtle kick.
This was so easy and delicious. My husband, who is very picky, also loved it. This will definitely be going in our rotation.
Loved !!!! My husband loved it also.
Loved your recipe…so delish and easy to make.
Cook chicken each side, 4 mins. After 2 mins it was burnt. Wasted $60 on this. I want my money back
As you can see from most reviews of this recipe, readers have had great success. If the chicken was burned after 2 minutes, the temperature of the element was likely much too high.
This step in the recipe suggests to cook it 4 minutes per side or until golden so if the chicken is golden in color before 4 minutes, you’ll want to remove it from the heat. Hope that helps.
There is no way this recipe cost $60… nor could you burn something cooking it for 2 minutes unless you stuck it directly into a fire.
I agree with you Kate, there is always someone like this person in a group.
Found that the amount of bread crumbs, cheese and flour used to bread the chicken was way too excessive. The chicken did not need even half the time suggested, we kept a close eye and removed it once browned and bubbling. Great flavour and easy to make, no issues there!
Whew! Had this for dinner and I am stuffed! It was great! I roasted broccoli for a side so heating the oven yielded the entire meal. Thanks for another great dinner!
Best chicken parm I’ve ever made! Will definitely make again.
Love love all your recipes
Delicious!!! I made this last night and we loved it! I served over pesto tortellini with asparagus as the side dish. I will definitely be making this again. It is a great dish to have when having dinner guests.
Recipes are so easy
This was delicious. I didn’t use flour and only had plain breadcrumbs so I added some Italian seasoning and garlic powder and used the panko breadcrumbs. I served it over spaghetti with the remainder of the sauce. This is very similar to my mom’s recipe which was a family favorite but I couldn’t remember the exact details. I will definitely make again and again. Thank you for refreshing my memory of a family favorite.
Yum! Everyone liked this recipe! One of my sons claims Chicken Parmesan as his favorite. He’s had a challenging week and was thrilled to have this on the menu for tonight. I am thrilled that it was so easy to prepare. While the noodles cooked and the dish baked I cleaned up the prep area which is always nice to have done before we even sit down to eat.
Thank you!
This was awesome, my daughter and I prepared together. I used fresh mozzarella which made it even better!!
i love the fact that these recipes are very easy to follow;
My 1st time making Chicken Parm. I can’t order it in restaurants because they always use white meat (choke!), so I finally made it at home using DARK meat (yum!) along w/white for the hubby. Having now made this dish, here are my notes/suggestions: : I used 1 boneless breast and 2 boneless thighs. It was more than enough to fill a 9” x 13” pan to overflowing and literally feed 10 people because of the breading. I recommended only searing the meat in HOT oil only ~ 30 seconds on each side, just enough to turn coating golden/crisp to avoid drying out/over cooking the meat. Note to self, next time use 1 thigh & ½ a breast, and plan on that providing two meals (one to freeze). In my experience, there was not near enough of the coatings to coat the meat nor sauce to serve w/the dish. I suggest at least double or TRIPLE all of the ingredients except the meat. Otherwise, it turned out perfect. I’d call it a great experience/taste, esp for the 1st time around w/this classic. Thank you for the recipe.
Thanks for the tips Kim! Glad you enjoyed it.
I totally agree about cooking the meat way less…Four mins on each side is way over cooking the chicken. I overcooked my first piece of chicken …but corrected the time with the rest. Also as you said, you need ways more sauce. Thanks for the suggestions! Overall great recipe!