When I think of comfort food, I always think of chicken parmesan. It’s everything I want in a cozy meal– crispy, saucy chicken topped with melty cheese! This one-pan chicken parmesan recipe is so easy to make and guaranteed to be a hit. Served over spaghetti and topped with a healthy dose of parmesan cheese, it’s a recipe I come back to time and time again.
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What Is Chicken Parmesan?
You’ll probably recognize Chicken Parmesan as a dish from every American-Italian restaurant menu. It is a dish that consists of breaded chicken breast covered in tomato sauce and mozzarella, parmesan, or even provolone cheese.
Ingredients Needed
Here’s what you’ll need to make chicken parmesan:
- Chicken Breasts: You’ll need 2 large chicken breasts for this recipe because each chicken breast will be sliced into 2 cutlets for 4 servings.
- Breadcrumbs: We’re using plain breadcrumbs so we can season them to our liking and create a crispy breading on the chicken.
- Grated Parmesan: You can use pre-grated or grate your own parmesan.
- Seasonings: Garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and freshly cracked black pepper season the chicken as well as the bread crumbs.
- Egg: Egg helps adhere the breading to the chicken.
- All-Purpose Flour: A bit of flour helps to thicken the sauce.
- Cooking Oil: Any neutral oil that you like to cook with is fine.
- Marinara Sauce: We like using our Homemade Marinara Sauce! But your favorite jarred sauce would work just fine.
- Mozzarella Cheese: We used pre-shredded, but you’re welcome to shred your own! Low moisture, whole-milk mozzarella will work best here, as fresh mozzarella has a bit too much moisture. You can even use provolone cheese if you like.
- Fresh Parsley: Totally optional, but it does add a lovely freshness at the end!
What To Serve With Chicken Parmesan
We recommend serving Chicken Parmesan with spaghetti marinara and a simple mixed greens salad. You can use store bought or our Homemade Marinara! You could also serve with Lemon Parsley Pasta and Homemade Garlic Bread.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Most chicken parmesan recipes will have you crisp up the chicken in a pan and then transfer it to the oven to finish cooking and melt the cheese. In this recipe, everything is done in the skillet to save time and clean up!
- Make sure your pan is big enough to accommodate all of the chicken pieces (we used a 12-inch skillet) and you’ll need a lid that will fit the pan in order to melt the cheese and warm the marinara.
- If you don’t have a lid or something to tent the pan with (tin foil should work as well!) You can transfer to a baking sheet lined with a rack and bake at 375°F for 10 minutes until the cheese is melted.
- You’re welcome to warm up your marinara sauce before adding it to the chicken, but I find that it warms up enough while the cheese is melting.
Chicken Parmesan
Servings 4Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 1.5 lbs) ($6.75)
- 1 cup breadcrumbs ($0.60)
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese ($0.67)
- 1 tsp garlic powder ($0.10)
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning ($0.10)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.02)
- 1 egg ($0.17)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour ($0.10)
- 1/4 cup cooking oil ($0.15)
- 1/2 cup marinara sauce ($0.35)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella ($1.25)
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, optional ($0.30)
Instructions
- Use a sharp knife to carefully filet the chicken breasts lengthwise into two cutlets, making 4 cutlets total. You can also use pre-cut chicken cutlets.
- Lightly season both sides of the chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.
- In a wide shallow bowl or container, combine the bread crumbs, parmesan, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper.
- In a separate wide shallow bowl or container, whisk the egg until smooth.
- In a third shallow bowl, add the flour.
- Dredge each piece of chicken into the flour, dusting off any excess. Then, dip in the egg mixture, making sure to fully coat the chicken and dripping off any excess. Finally, dip the chicken in the seasoned bread crumbs, again coating well on both sides.
- Heat the cooking oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the skillet and oil are very hot, add the chicken and cook on the first side until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
- Flip the chicken and turn the heat down to medium. Top each cutlet with 2 tbsp of marinara sauce and ¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese. Place a lid on the skillet to allow the cheese to fully melt, the marinara sauce to warm up, and the chicken to cook all the way through, about 5-7 more minutes.
- Top the chicken with fresh chopped parsley (optional) and serve with spaghetti and additional marinara.
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Nutrition
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how to make Chicken Parmesan – step by step photos
Use a sharp knife to carefully filet 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts lengthwise into two cutlets, making 4 cutlets total. You can also use pre-cut chicken cutlets. Lightly season both sides of the chicken with a pinch of salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.
In a wide shallow bowl or container, combine 1 cup breadcrumbs, 1/3 cup grated parmesan, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. In a separate wide shallow bowl or container, whisk 1 egg until smooth. In a third shallow bowl, add 1/2 cup all-purpose flour.
Dredge each piece of chicken into the flour, dusting off any excess. Then, dip in the egg mixture, making sure to fully coat the chicken and dripping off any excess. Finally, dip the chicken in the seasoned bread crumbs, again coating well on both sides.
Heat 1/4 cup cooking oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the skillet and oil are very hot, add the chicken and cook on the first side until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Flip the chicken and turn the heat down to medium. Top each cutlet with 2 tbsp of marinara sauce and 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese. Place a lid on the skillet to allow the cheese to fully melt, the marinara sauce to warm up, and the chicken to cook all the way through, about 5-7 more minutes.
Top the chicken with 1 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley (optional) and serve with spaghetti and additional marinara.
This chicken parmesan is the ultimate comfort meal!
I made this dish, and I was disappointed in the outcome. Ordinarily, the marinara sauce would be poured over the cooked chicken breasts, then topped with the mozzarella cheese, and placed in the oven. This recipe didnโt have enough sauce, in my opinion. I would also serve it with a side of spaghetti with marinara sauce.
Made this tonight for my picky husband and he thought it was great. He loves chicken parmesan and thought this ranked with his favorite Italian restaurant. Thanks for sharing.
Could I bake this instead of fry?
We only tested this one as a skillet recipe so I’m not certain how it would translate to the oven!
The best chicken parm recipe I’ve tried so far! <3
Actually, chefs bread it before and let it sit at least 30 min to allow the breading to adhere. Makes a big difference.
“Very hot” should be taken as some who thinks mint ice cream is too adventurous. Medium low heat is what you want. Any hotter it burns immediately. This goes for all types of fried chicken.
I made the chicken present toสป night it was easy to follow recipes and they were delicious ๐
This recipe was a hit! The picky 3 year old loved it! I did season my chicken heavily and it was not salty at all. I used the Raos brand marinara sauce and I did warm it and added some seasonings. I paired it with the spaghetti noodles and some green beans. We will be making again.
This is so delicious and easy to make – thanks for sharing this recipe! Will make it often :)
Amazing. Better than Olive Garden
This is delicious! I’d like to make this for an upcoming dinner party – could the chicken be breaded a day ahead of cooking?
I think it would be best to bread it right before, unfortunately!
Just made this, tastes delicious! I liked how straightforward it is compared to other recipes, and not too much mess!