You can't have enough great chicken recipes, and this quick and easy recipe uses only a few ingredients and goes in the oven in about 10 minutes. Also known as Melt in Your Mouth Chicken (MIYM), it makes a moist and delicious easy dinner.
Introduction
This recipe has everything. It's extraordinarily moist, has a great taste of Parmesan, and a slight crunchiness. Plus, it has a skill level of 2/10. Anybody can handle this easy dinner recipe.
This is a baked chicken recipe using an easy, tasty coating. The "inspired by" for today goes to Melt in Your Mouth Chicken Breast at Food.com.
While it is a top-rate recipe, I thought it needed a little crunch and some other small touches. But otherwise, a wonderful recipe.
The recipe starts with a base of some mayonnaise. Add some Parmesan and seasoning. Then coat some well-trimmed skinless boneless chicken breasts.
To add crunch, sprinkle all sides with some Italian bread crumbs. Bake and you're in chicken heaven.
My Rating
The wife started chanting 5 and then changed Christmas dinner to this. I think she liked it. And so did I.
🐓What Is Melt in Your Mouth Chicken?
Melt in your mouth chicken has become an internet classic and is generally made with skinless boneless chicken breast coated with spiced mayonnaise and some parmesan cheese.
Substitutes are allowed, and I add a touch of bread crumbs for some crunch.
🐓Ingredients
Chicken
This recipe uses skinless boneless chicken breasts, which have "grown" in my lifetime. Once upon a time, we were talking 6-8 oz. Now mostly about 10-12 oz and occasionally a full pound.
Try to pick chicken that is all about the same size. The results overall will be better since they will cook more evenly. If you are cooking more than two, the larger breast should be to the outside of the pan.
If the chicken is thicker than ¾ inch, flatten some with a meat mallet.
Mayonnaise
A good quality mayonnaise is an excellent choice, and you may use a lower fat version. People worry about the taste, but even the "mayo haters" love it in this recipe—see the comments.
Miracle Whip will work nicely but will add a bit of a different taste.
Other possible bases for the coating are Greek yogurt, sour cream, or even cream cheese.
Some cheaper mayonnaise or another base will have more fluid and may not stick well. Also, applying it too thick will lead to the coating not sticking well.
Cheese
Parmesan cheese is the most commonly recommended cheese—usually grated, but I prefer shredded.
Other cheeses like cheddar or Asiago can be used.
Bread Crumbs
Panko-type bread crumbs will add some crunch. I prefer the Italian spiced bread crumbs but use what you want.
It is always tempting to add more of something you like. I like Panko breadcrumbs. But a LIGHT sprinkle. If you do more, you will have a "Panko Chicken," so let's be careful.
Seasoning
Seasoning salt, garlic powder, and black pepper, but modify to your taste.
👨🍳How To Cook Melt in Your Mouth Chicken
- Preheat oven
- Trim and pat dry 3-4 skinless boneless chicken breasts. If thick, thin to ¾ inch thick with a meat mallet.
- Mix mayonnaise, Parmesan and other ingredients for topping.
- Prepare cooking sheet with foil and a rack.
- Dry the chicken with paper towels and cover the chicken with a light coating of the topping.
- Give the chicken a light sprinkle of Panko bread crumbs.
- Bake for about 45 minutes until internal temperature is 165° but filp gentley with a fork at 20 minutes.
❓FAQs
You can cook directly on PAM-covered foil, but it will have a soggy bottom. A rack will help prevent this.
I love cooking my chicken on a rack. You really need to get a rack. For a few dollars, you will become a much better cook. But get one that is "oven-safe." Some racks are cooling racks only and have a coating.
If your local store does not have them, Amazon will. I list a few in Cooking for Two Shop, but others will work.
If you have time, brining it will make the chicken more moist and tender.
The ratio for a brine is 2 cups of water and one tablespoon of table salt. Some people will add some brown sugar equal to the salt. Remember that all salt is not identical, and 1 teaspoon table salt = 1 ¼ teaspoon Morton kosher salt = 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
As little as 15 minutes makes a big difference. But you can brine for up to 2 hours if you want. This is a "heavy brine" in the amount of salt and matches the Cooks Illustrated suggestions. You may see longer brine times suggested, but please limit it to 2 hours maximum.
If you brine, be sure to gently wash off the salt. Also, instead of seasoning salt, use paprika in the coating.
I'm adding a suggested flip of the chicken halfway through the cooking. Some (not me nor many others) have problems with a soggy bottom.
A couple of possibilities occur to me. First, previously frozen chicken or older chicken can release more fluid. Also, too much or thinner mayo could contribute. Or nothing they did.
Either way, the flip should help those cases and won't hurt. Use a fork for the flip. Tongs may remove some coating.
Nothing sticks well to wet chicken, so be sure to dry the chicken before coating.
The mayonnaise needs to be of good quality. Cheap mayo will have more liquid.
The mayonnaise coating needs to be thin—too heavy will just melt off the chicken.
If the chicken is still partly frozen, it will release fluid.
Never pick up a coated or breaded meat with tongs—it will rip off the coating.
Food Safety Tips
Chicken should not be rinsed for food safety. It will splatter germs over your kitchen. For more details, please see Chicken… To Rinse or Not To Rinse?
❄️Storage
Storage for 3-4 days refrigerated or 3-4 months frozen, but the crunchiness will suffer.
📖Chicken Recipes
Baked Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breasts
How to Bake Chicken Breasts in a Convection Oven
Pan Seared Oven Baked Chicken Breast
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Preheat oven to 375° convection or 400° regular oven. Trim and pat dry 3-4 skinless boneless chicken breasts. If thick, thin to ¾ inch thick with a meat mallet.
Mix in a medium bowl ½ cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese (freshly shredded or grated preferred), ¾ teaspoon seasoning salt (I used Lawry's), ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
Prepare a cooking sheet with aluminum foil (to help clean up) and a rack. The rack will help crispness all around. You can do without the rack, but the bottom will not be crispy. Give the rack a good spray of PAM. If you don't have a rack, they can go directly on PAM sprayed foil.
Dry the chicken with paper towels. Dip the chicken in the mayonnaise Parmesan mixture. Be sure to get all surfaces coated. Finger use is allowed, but be sure to wash well after. Note: keep the coating light.
Lightly sprinkle with some Italian bread crumbs on both sides. You are not coating them but just adding some crispy and flavor—about ½ cup for four breasts.
Bake until an internal temp of 165°. This will vary by oven but mainly by the size of the chicken. At 20 minutes into baking, flip the breasts with a fork. The total cooking time of about 40 minutes for medium to large. 45 minutes for huge. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
📖Recipe
Mayo Parmesan Chicken AKA Melt in Your Mouth Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts trimmed
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese - grated - fresh preferred
- ¾ teaspoon seasoning salt - Lawry’s
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup Italian Panko bread crumbs - Very light coat
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° convection or 400° regular oven. Trim and pat dry 3-4 skinless boneless chicken breasts. If thick, thin to ¾ inch thick with a meat mallet.
- Mix in a medium bowl ½ cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese (freshly shredded or grated preferred), ¾ teaspoon seasoning salt (I used Lawry's), ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Prepare a cooking sheet with aluminum foil (to help clean up) and a rack. The rack will help crispness all around. You can do without the rack, but the bottom will not be crispy. Give the rack a good spray of PAM. If you don't have a rack, they can go directly on PAM sprayed foil.
- Dry the chicken with paper towels. Dip the chicken in the mayonnaise Parmesan mixture. Be sure to get all surfaces coated. Finger use is allowed, but be sure to wash well after. Note: keep the coating light.
- Lightly sprinkle with some Italian bread crumbs on both sides. You are not coating them but just adding some crispy and flavor—about ½ cup for four breasts
- Bake until an internal temp of 165°. This will vary by oven but mostly by the size of the chicken. At 20 minutes into baking, flip the breasts with a fork.
- The total cooking time of about 40 minutes for medium to large. 45 minutes for huge. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Try to use chicken of about the same size. If over ¾ inch thick, flatten it out a bit with a meat mallet.
- Be sure to pat dry the chicken. Very dry. The coating will stick better.
- Keep the coating light and bread crumbs light. You may not need all the coating.
- I added a flip in the middle of the recipes. Some appear to need it. Use a fork, please. Not mandatory.
- Miracle Whip, Greek yogurt, sour cream, or even cream cheese can be used.
- Obviously, an easy recipe to adjust.
- Common problems: Not drying enough, too much coating, too many bread crumbs, cheap mayonnaise, previously frozen chicken will release more fluid.
- Be sure to cook to the final internal temperature of 165°.
- Storage for 3-4 days refrigerated or 3-4 months frozen but the crunchiness will suffer.
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
© 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 December 12, 2012, It has been buried on the blog for a while and needed to see the light of day. The pictures are re-edited. The text is re-written and buffed up.
Shannon
Hi! Can this be prepared one evening, refrigerated overnight
and baked the next?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Shannon,
Welcome to the blog.
Make up the coating, trim and even out the chicken, the store. Bring it together the next day. I would not coat the chicken until time to cook.
Dan
Racheal
I'm not a fan of mayo but I've been seeing this recipe all over online lately so I decided to give it a try. Overall.... my family and I loved it! We didn't use a rack so the crust was alittle soggy on the bottom. But the taste was delicious! We also didn't flip the chicken, we just cooked it until it was 165°. Definitely going to make this more often. Super easy and yummy!
KRK
Hi, Dr. Dan! Have been making this recipe often for years and loving the result! Today, though, I find myself with chicken tenders instead of whole breasts. Please advise on baking time for tenders.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Welcome to the blog.
Cooking time to the minimum safe 165° is mostly dependent on thickness. Tenders usually will take only 15-18 minutes at 400° oven. You don't want to overcook the meat but need the surface browned some. So see https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/spicy-baked-chicken-strips/#recipe to see some discussion about baking tenders. You may need to just turn on a broiler at the end to brown the surface some. I'm not too hopeful it will end up as well as the whole breasts.
Dan
Kathleen
Exactly...it was awful. Not one person in my family enjoyed it at all
Was hoping for a good chicken recipe as we eat a lot of it. Won't be making this one again 😣
Darlene
I tried this last night and I was sad. The coating came off at the flip. Then when I went to serve, the coating that was now on the bottom also came off. Naked chicken. Sad. It was still pretty moist, just no coating. I scraped some of the coating off the bottom of the pan/foil/rack and placed it on top to serve. The coating was delicious! I used a well-oiled rack, Hellmans Mayo, fresh chicken carefully dried, and fresh grated parm. The coating was too thick to "dip" so I had to spread it on. I will make this again, use foil, and put the coating only on the top with no flip.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Darlene,
Welcome to the blog. Sorry you had a problem.
A few hints on getting the coating to stick. Most important is dry meat. Nothing sticks well to wet chicken. If the chicken was previously frozen then be sure it is totally thawed—if not it will release fluid.
The coating layer needs to be light. You should be able to see the chicken through it. Lastly, use a good quality real mayo.
Hope that helps.
Dan
Katherine Kelley
This recipe has been a go-to since you first posted it. Comes out melt-in-your-mouth perfect every time!
regina
Made this recipe tonight, my two teens and husband and myself all loved it. Thank you! The tips you gave were really helpful. We used breast tenders and cooked for about 20-25 min.