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    🏠Home » Recipes » Italian Recipes

    Easy Chicken Parmesan

    Sep 26, 2019 | Last Updated Apr 15, 2021 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

    Recipe Table of Contents    
    4.67 from 6 votes

    Better than restaurant quality, my best Chicken Parmesan can be made at home in about an hour with these easy step by step photo instructions.

    Chicken Parmesan on plate

    Table of Contents
    • 👨‍🍳Can I actually do this?
    • 🐓The Chicken
    • 📋Ingredients
    • 📖Recipes You May Enjoy
    • 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
    • 📖Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

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    Introduction

    This is one of my favorite recipes and is a wonderful company recipe. But it is also great for casual dining with conversation and 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, and mine is so much better in both moisture and taste.

    My Rating

    My rating system. Great 5 out of 5

    Another easy 5. I love this.

    👨‍🍳Can I actually do this?

    This is a modified version of a CI recipe called Lighter Chicken Parmesan. It is excellent and not too hard to make at home.

    It may sound hard but look through the step by step photo instructions below. Nothing that hard to do.

    If you are a beginner and you are doing this for an important meal, do a trial run. All recipes go a lot better if you have done them at least once before.

    🐓The Chicken

    I made chicken cutlets from large skinless boneless chicken breasts. They are generally too big to use in a recipe like this.

    You could use a meat mallet to even out the thickness of chicken breasts, but the size plus the breading will be more than a serving size.

    If you have smaller chicken breasts, then evening them out in thickness will work fine.

    📋Ingredients

    Can I Use Jar Sauce?

    Sure. If you have a jar or other prepared marinara sauce you love, by all means, use it. But most are lacking in many ways.

    I provided a simple marinara sauce that has excellent taste and can be made alongside the primary cooking here.

    My recipe has more than you need specifically for the chicken so you will have sauce to top a side dish of pasta.

    The Cheese

    I find a freshly shredded Parmesan adds a lot of taste.

    📖Recipes You May Enjoy

    Julia Childs French Bread: Simplified

    The Best Crock Pot Baked Ziti

    30 Minute Chicken Marinara Sauce

    This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

    101's Best Recipes, Chicken Breast Recipes, Chicken Recipes, Italian Recipes
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    🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

    Ingredients for a simple marinara sauce

    If using my sauce, start by making a simple marinara sauce. You can use another sauce of your choice.

    cooking onion in black skillet

    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.

    cooking sauce in skillet

    Add one large can crushed tomatoes (28 oz), one small can tomato paste (6 oz) plus 6 oz water, 1 teaspoon basil, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper optional. Let simmer over low heat until needed.

    browning bread crumbs in skillet

    Preheat oven to 450° convection. Prep baking sheet with aluminum foil and a rack. Spray with PAM. Over medium heat with 2 teaspoon oil, brown 1 ½ cup panko bread crumbs until brown, about 2 minutes. Remove to cool.

    fileting chicken breast

    Prepare the chicken cutlets by patting dry three large skinless boneless chicken breasts. Trim and then cut into cutlets.

    three pan dredge line
    Middle tray just has egg white in picture but I usually use whole eggs.

    In three shallow pans prepare dredge line.

    1. Pan one: place ½ cup AP flour with 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
    2. Pan two: two eggs with 1 tablespoon water - whipped together.
    3. Pan three: the brown bread crumbs ( not hot) and 1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese.
    chicken coated with flour

    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.

    tray of coated chicken in oven

    When all are complete, add a little more of the bread/Parmesan mixture on top of each piece. Cook until an internal temp of 160°. About 20 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.

    adding cheese topping to chicken with sauce

    Remove from oven and top with about 2 tablespoons of your sauce and mozzarella cheese.

    cooked chicken parmesan on tray

    Place back in the oven for about 5 minutes until browned. Serve with pasta and the remaining sauce.

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    📖Recipe

    Chicken Parmesan on plate

    Easy Chicken Parmesan

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    Better than restaurant quality, my best Chicken Parmesan can be made at home in about an hour with these easy step by step photo instructions.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    4.67 from 6 votes
    Print Email CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 30 minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour
    Servings #/Adjust if desired 6 servings

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Convert to Metric

    Simple Marinara Sauce or Use Yours

    • 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
    • ½ teaspoon pepper
    • ⅙ teaspoon crushed red pepper - optional

    Chicken

    • 3 skinless boneless chicken breasts - large trimmed and cut into cutlets
    • ½ cup AP flour
    • 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon pepper
    • 2 eggs
    • 1 ½ cup Panko bread crumbs
    • 1 cup Parmesan cheese
    • 1 cup mozzarella - shredded

    Instructions

    • If using my sauce, start by making a simple marinara sauce. You can use another sauce of your choice and skip to step 4.
    • Chop one medium onion and over medium-high heat with 1 teaspoon 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 teaspoon basil, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. ⅛ teaspoon 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 teaspoon oil, brown 1 ½ 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.
      Pan one: place ½ cup AP flour with 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
      Pan two: two eggs with 1 tablespoon water - whipped together.
      Pan three: the brown bread crumbs ( not hot) 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.
    • PWhen 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 tablespoons of your sauce and mozzarella cheese.
    • Place back in the oven for about 5 minutes until browned. Serve with pasta and the remaining sauce.
    See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

    My Private Notes

    Click here to save your own private notes only you will see. These will print and be saved for your next visit.
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    Recipe Notes

    Pro Tips

    1. Use your own sauce or jar sauce, but mine is much better and easy. Do it at the beginning of the cooking and let it simmer until needed
    2. I use chicken cutlets due to the size of most chicken breast. If you have smaller chicken breast (6 to 8 ozs.) then just even the thickness out some with a meat mallet.
    3. A good Parmesan cheese is important for good taste along with the sauce.
    4. Good in refrigerator for 2-3 days. 4 days is ok, but texture suffers. Good frozen after cooking, either at the end or before the sauce, for 3-4 months.
     
    Nutrition is an estimate of the ingredients that actually are used to create the Chicken Parmesan. Extra sauce was not included.

    To adjust the recipe size:

    You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

    Nutrition Estimate

    Calories : 301 kcal (15%) | Carbohydrates : 24 g (8%) | Protein : 26 g (52%) | Fat : 11 g (17%) | Saturated Fat : 6 g (30%) | Cholesterol : 101 mg (34%) | Sodium : 577 mg (24%) | Potassium : 460 mg (13%) | Fiber : 2 g (8%) | Sugar : 4 g (4%) | Vitamin A : 456 IU (9%) | Vitamin C : 6 mg (7%) | Calcium : 306 mg (31%) | Iron : 2 mg (11%)
    Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
    Course : Main Course
    Cuisine : Italian

    © 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.

    Editors Note: Originally Published January 13, 2010, which was the second week of the blog. I buff up the discussion with expanded options from a November 2011 version. Photos have been re-edited from several old cookings.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Karina

      October 13, 2020 at 8:47 pm

      5 stars
      This was awesome. My teens are every last bit. Better than a restaurant and easy for someone like me, who isn’t great in kitchen to manage. Thanks so much!

      Reply
    2. Dick Hynes

      September 29, 2019 at 6:53 pm

      Excellent! Will do again. Very helpful directions.

      Reply
    3. Carolyn Stephens

      September 27, 2019 at 11:44 am

      4 stars
      Homemade marinara is better than any "store bought" stuff. I make a big batch in my slow cooker and freeze it in 24 oz. portions. Because so many recipes call for "a jar of marinara" which are usually 24 oz.
      I love that your chicken parm bakes on a rack and not swimming in sauce. I put the extra sauce in a warmed gravy boat on the table.

      Reply
      • Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

        September 27, 2019 at 11:49 am

        Hi Carolyn,

        Totally agree about the sauce but I will be asked over and over if I don't add the option. The small amount on the chicken is important but the cheese and the chicken can cover that sin somewhat but I, like you, want extra sauce for serving.

        Thanks for the note and rating.

        Dan

    4. Mary-Lou

      September 25, 2019 at 12:51 pm

      5 stars
      Hello Dan,

      I made the chicken parmesan yesterday and it came out absolutely delicious. This was my very first attempt at making chicken parmesan and so I was really proud of the results. Your illustrations were very helpful and your instructions were very straightforward. I used my "All-Clad" (D3) baking pan which I recently purchased and I did not use a rack (I did not have one large enough). I have a conventional oven and so I used a 475 F degree setting and cooked the chicken for approximately 25 minutes. Thank you for providing such wonderful and straightforward recipes. I am a busy working professional and so I really do not have the time to spend hours upon hours to prepare a healthy meal.

      Thank you, again!

      5-star

      ~Mary-Lou

      Reply
    5. Donna

      March 13, 2018 at 1:46 am

      Thanks for the quick response! I'll make a note of your recommendations for future reference.

      Reply
    6. Donna

      March 12, 2018 at 2:56 pm

      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!

      Reply
      • DrDan

        March 12, 2018 at 4:21 pm

        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

    7. Esmerelda

      January 18, 2018 at 11:05 am

      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!

      Reply
    8. Ellen Horak

      August 31, 2016 at 8:04 pm

      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!

      Reply
      • DrDan

        August 31, 2016 at 10:47 pm

        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.

    9. Connie

      August 09, 2015 at 9:30 pm

      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.

      Reply
    10. Christina

      September 24, 2014 at 7:59 pm

      Chicken is in the oven now! Can't wait to try it!!!

      Reply
      • DrDan

        September 24, 2014 at 10:36 pm

        I did this one a few weeks ago. I still love it.
        Thanks for the note
        DrDan

    11. 4425e7d4-e7b8-11e2-8f8e-000bcdcb2996

      July 08, 2013 at 5:23 am

      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!

      Reply
      • Dan Mikesell

        July 08, 2013 at 7:27 am

        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.

    12. Brooke

      January 01, 2012 at 10:27 pm

      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!

      Reply
    13. Chris

      November 06, 2011 at 7:53 am

      Interesting trick on pre-browning the bread crumbs, excellent idea.

      And the cheese crisped to perfection in that first shot, just so nice.

      Reply

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