It is a wonderful company recipe great for casual dining and conversation with wine. I have used it several times as the evening meal before a major holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas.
I always judge an Italian restaurant on their Chicken Parmesan and frequently find them lacking. Usually dry and tasteless covered by a sauce to hide their sins. I’m very picky. But I really like mine. This is a modified version a CI recipe called Lighter Chicken Parmesan. It is excellent and not too hard to make at home.
It is a wonderful company recipe, and I have used it several times as the evening meal before a major holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Great for casual dining and conversation with wine.
Rating
Another easy 5. I love this.
Notes:
You can do it. If you are a beginner, try it soon since it goes a lot better if you have done it before. I find a freshly shredded Parmesan adds a lot of taste.
This is one of my favorites and a buff up of one of my first posts with a different sauce and a few other improvements.
Feel free to substitute any marinara sauce you want but this goes well plus is simple and tasty.
Start by making a simple marinara sauce.
Chop one medium onion and over medium high heat with 1 tsp of oil cook until clearing. About 3 minutes. Add 4 cloves of crushed or minced garlic and cook one more minute.
Add one large can crushed tomatoes (28 oz), one small can tomato paste (6 oz) plus 6 oz water,1 t basil, 1 t salt and 1/2 t pepper. 1/8 t crushed red pepper optional. Let simmer over low heat until needed.
Preheat oven to 450 convection. Prep baking sheet with aluminum foil and a rack. Spray with PAM. Over medium heat with 2 t oil, brown 1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs until brown. About 2 minutes. Remove to cool.
Prepare the chicken cutlets by patting dry three large skinless boneless chicken breasts. Trim and then cut into cutlets.
Cook until internal temp of 160. About 20 minutes depending on the thickness of chicken.
Remove from oven and top with about 2 T of your sauce and mozzarella cheese.
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Chicken Parmesan – An Easy Company Feast
Ingredients
Simple Marinara Sauce
- 1 onion - medium medium chopped
- 4 cloves garlic - crushed or minced
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 6 oz tomato paste - plus 6 oz water
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper - optional
Chicken
- 3 skinless boneless chicken breasts - large trimmed and cut into cutlets
- 1/2 cup AP flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella - shredded
Instructions
- Chop one medium onion and over medium high heat with 1 tsp of oil cook until clearing. About 3 minutes. Add 4 cloves of crushed or minced garlic and cook one more minute.
- Add one large can crushed tomatoes (28 oz), one small can tomato paste (6 oz),1 t basil, 1 t salt and 1/2 t pepper. 1/8 t crushed red pepper optional. Let simmer over low heat until needed.
- Preheat oven to 450 convection. Prep baking sheet with aluminum foil and a rack. Spray with PAM. Over medium heat with 2 t oil, brown 1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs until brown. About 2 minutes. Remove to cool.
- Prepare the chicken cutlets by patting dry three large skinless boneless chicken breasts. Trim and then cut into cutlets.
- In three shallow pans prepare dredge line. In pan one place 1/2 cup AP flour with 1 1/2 t garlic powder, 1 t salt, and 1/2 t pepper. Pan two: two eggs with 1 T water- whipped together. And in pan three the brown bread crumbs and 1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese.
- Be sure the chicken is dry and then coat them through pan 1,2 and 3 shaking well after pan 1 and 2. Place on prepared pan. When all are complete, add a little more of the bread/parmesan mixture on top of each piece
- Cook until internal temp of 160. About 20 minutes depending on the thickness of chicken.
- Remove from oven and top with about 2 T of your sauce and mozzarella cheese.
- Place back in the oven for about 5 minutes until browned. Serve with pasta and the remaining sauce.
Have a question or something not clear? Ask in the comments.
Nutrition is for one serving. Number of servings is stated above and is my estimate of normal serving size for this recipe.
All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated.
Donna
Thanks for the quick response! I’ll make a note of your recommendations for future reference.
Donna
What if a person still has just a regular oven? (i.e. no convection…just plain ‘ol, old-school, regular oven) What would the temp and length of time be? Thanks!
DrDan
Hi Donna,
Generally, you just add 25 degrees to the recommended convection temperature. It is not quite perfect but a good approximation. I have more of a discussion under my Food FAQs https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/oven-temperatures-abbreviations/
Dan
Esmerelda
I tried this tonight and it was maybe the best thing I’ve ever made. I never thought I would ever cook chicken parmesan myself. Thank you so much for your site!
Ellen Horak
Another winner Dr. DAN! My family loved it! Very easy to make and loved that I didn’t have to fry…but you would have thought it was!!! My 14 year old daughter my food critic said it was better than Macaroni Grill and mine was crispier. Next time I will do a caesar salad and ciabatta rolls with it… also will try it with veal down the road… My other favorite of yours is the pork medallions wrapped in bacon…that impresses everyone I serve it to!
DrDan
Thanks for the note. I have done this one about 20 times, and we still love it and use it for special occasions where I need social time in addition to cooking. I’m able to pop in and out of the kitchen since I have it memorized.
The bacon pork medallions I haven’t done for awhile. But I still love it and need to do again… maybe this weekend.
Connie
Made the chicken parm tonight and it was delicious and so easy. I was in a rush and had to simplify, so I just used a bottle of Classico (basil) red sauce. (I know). Browned the chicken in oil and placed into a sprayed glass pan. Put sauce on top of chicken, added parmesan and lots of mozzarella. Placed in oven for 20 minutes and it was done. Really good.
Christina
Chicken is in the oven now! Can’t wait to try it!!!
DrDan
I did this one a few weeks ago. I still love it.
Thanks for the note
DrDan
4425e7d4-e7b8-11e2-8f8e-000bcdcb2996
In step 5 what does 1 T water-wiped mean?
I have to add that I absolutely love your site! I’m 34 weeks pregnant and just started cooking a lot more. I have used your recipes daily for the last two weeks and feel so pampered compared to how we were eating before!
Dan Mikesell
I’m glad things work for you and eat well for the baby (that’s the pediatrician talking). The step five instruction is that tray 2 has 2 eggs with 1 tablespoon of water and to whip them together. A little typo. I will fix it after office hours today.
Brooke
So can’t wait to try this…thanks for sharing your love of cooking with those of us who are crossing our fingers and holding our breath each time we venture into the kitchen…haha. Happy New Year to you!
Chris
Interesting trick on pre-browning the bread crumbs, excellent idea.
And the cheese crisped to perfection in that first shot, just so nice.