Chicken Parmesan. Chicken Parmigiana. Chicken Parm. Chicken P. I’m not really sure what the best name for the dish is (probably not Chicken P.), and heck even Tyler Florence calls it different things. He calls it chicken parmesan on Food 911 and then chicken parmigiana on Tyler’s Ultimate. Make up your mind T-man. As far as I can tell, they are the exact same. Whatever you call it, this Authentic Baked Chicken Parmesan is the real deal and definitely worth your time.
This is one of those dishes that has a reputation of taking a long time to make, but it’s not a terrible prep. Start to finish it takes me a little over an hour. The only shortcut I recommend is using a jarred marinara sauce over simmering tomatoes from scratch.
I realize there are a million Chicken Parmesan recipes on the Internet, but I resisted the Internet urge of finding too many shortcuts for this version. It is a purposefully NON-30 minute meal. It’s best made on a lazy fall Sunday when you have time to have a glass of wine, enjoy the process, and make one delicious Authentic Chicken Parmesan meal.
Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 28-ounce jar marinara sauce
- ½ Cups basil, roughly torn
- ½ Cup Kalamata Olives, pitted and halved
- ½ Teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Pinch of sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Breading:
- ⅔ cups all-purpose flour, seasoned well with salt and pepper
- 2 large eggs, whisked
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1 cup grated Parmesan
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 2 Teaspoons garlic powder
Other ingredients:
- 10 ounces spaghetti
- 4 chicken cutlets, 5 oz. each
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
- ½ cup olive oil, for frying
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. For sauce, chop onions and garlic. Add olive oil to a pan over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add onions, garlic and cook them until they are soft and translucent.
- Add olives (halved and pitted) and basil. Stir it all together for just a minute or two. Add marinara. As it cooks, stir this all together and let it simmer for 10 minutes or so.
- Add sugar, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Keep warm on low heat while you prepare the rest of the meal.
- Pound chicken if needed or make sure you have cutlets that are an even thickness.
- Make a breading station next. You need three bowls: One with the seasoned flour mixture, one with the eggs, and one with the bread crumbs mixed with the grated parmesan, garlic powder, and dried parsley
- Dip a chicken breast in the flour mixture. Hit off any extra. Move the chicken to the egg mixture and submerge it completely so it’s well coated. Move it to the breadcrumbs. Press down on the chicken breast to make sure the breadcrumbs really stick to it.
- Move each chicken breast to a plate or rack while you prep the other breasts. Let the breasts sit for just a few minutes like this which will give the breading some time to dry out a bit and really stick to the chicken.
- Heat up 1/4 inch olive oil in a large frying pan over high heat to 350 degrees or until a breadcrumb sizzles immediately when tossed in.
- Add breaded cutlets in batches and cook them for about 4 minutes a side until they are golden brown. Once they are done, transfer them to a baking dish with a thin coat of marinara sauce in the bottom.
- Layer all chicken cutlets on top of the sauce. Top the fried cutlets with all of the remaining sauce – the chicken will basically disappear in the sauce and that’s okay – then top that with sliced mozzarella and sprinkle the whole thing with some more Parmesan.
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees or until the cheese is well-melted and bubbling.
- Make your pasta while this bakes.
- When chicken is done, let it cool for a few minutes and then serve it all together. Add some more chopped basil to top the dish.
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
It looks like a lot of ingredients, but it’s pretty manageable. Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
Making the Chicken Parmesan sauce
It’s best to start your sauce first for this recipe. Then you can just let it simmer away on low while you do your other things. If it ever gets too thick, just add a bit of water to it.
This is a really easy sauce actually. Start by chopping your onions and garlic. Then add your olive oil to a pan over medium-high heat. Once your oil is hot, add your onions and garlic and cook them until they are soft and translucent.
Next add your olives (halved and pitted) and basil. Stir it all together for just a minute or two.
Then add your marinara sauce and bring the mixture to a simmer. Stir this all together and let it simmer for 10 minutes or so. Next add your sugar, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Keep this over very low heat and you are done with the sauce until you need it!
Preparing the chicken
I think preparing the chicken is part of the chicken parmesan recipe that intimidates most people. Ideally, you want each breast to be an even thickness of about 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch. The easiest way to do this is to trim off any huge bits of fat off of each breast and then very loosely place a breast between two pieces of plastic wrap.
Gently pound the chicken until it flattens out. There’s no need to hammer the bejesus out of it. Just a few mild whacks usually does the trick. You can use a rolling pin for this also.
You can also buy chicken cutlets that are close to an even thickness and that will work also. If you are making your own cutlets I try to get about 3 cutlets out of a large chicken breast. Each cutlet should be 4-5 ounces by weight.
Putting the breading together
Make a little breading station next. You need three bowls: One with the seasoned flour mixture, one with the eggs, and one with the bread crumbs mixed with the grated parmesan, garlic powder, and chopped parsley. The breadcrumb mixture is very important! Don’t skimp on the parmesan in it. It’s what gives the recipe it’s name!
Breading the chicken
First, dip a chicken breast in the flour mixture. Hit off any extra. You want a very light coating of flour. Basically, the flour just acts to dry out the chicken so the eggs will stick to it. Then move the chicken to the egg mixture and submerge it completely so it’s well coated. Then move it to the breadcrumbs. Press down on the chicken breast to make sure the breadcrumbs really stick to it.
I like to then move each chicken breast to a wire rack or plate while I do all of them. Let the breasts sit for just a few minutes like this which will give the breading some time to dry out a bit and really stick to the chicken.
Frying the chicken Parmesan
Heat up a thin layer of olive oil in a large frying pan over high heat. You only need about 1/4 inch of oil in the pan. The oil should be about 350 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, just test it by tossing in a few breadcrumbs. The should bubble right away.
Add breaded cutlets a few at a time and cook them for about 4 minutes a side until they are golden brown.
Once they are done, move the fried cutlets to a baking dish with a layer of the sauce in the bottom. Once you get all the chicken cutlets fried and in the baking dish, top with your remaining sauce and mozzarella cheese!
Baking the Chicken Parmesan
This needs to bake for about 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees or until the cheese is well-melted and bubbling.
While that bakes, make your pasta.
When your chicken is done, let it cool for a few minutes and then serve it all together. Add some more chopped basil to top the dish.
You know what really made this dish for me actually? The olives. They add this really salty and delicious element to the sauce. While the cheese and everything is great, for me, the olives were the best part. Is that weird? Probably.
Anyway, this is the best chicken parmesan recipe I’ve ever had I think. I highly, highly recommend it.
Rex
That looks amazing. Bravo Nick!!
dawn
after seeing these pics, my coffee right now bites
Jason Sandeman
You have the dish spot on! I have called it just “Chicken Parm!” That’s it. One thing you could do, that I like is serve it with spaghettini or capellini (Smaller versions of spaghetti.) The reason? They just seem to let the Chicken Parm shine better.
If you want even crisper, use shortening to fry it. Yes, the food police might lock you up for it, but hey, it is not like it is a daily thing, is it?
Chris
I have to agree with you on the olives. Having had the pleasure of eating this dish after you made it, I gotta say, the olives were something I have yet to try in my sauce, but will moving forward
Cheri
This looks so absolutely delicious!
Erica
I totally made this recipe for my boyfriend a couple of months ago and we both agreed that the olives REALLY made the sauce. I did not, however, add parsley to the breading. Must try that next time.
Nick
@Jason. Yea… I use crisco when I make pan-fried chicken (Note: Need to post on pan fried-chicken). It does create a really nice crust.
Thanks for the comments as always everyone!
Angela@SpinachTiger
Fantastic. Authentic. Love the addition of olives. Chicken Parm is a retro dish that deserves a come back. I remember eating chicken parm subs growing up. very retro and regional.
Jason Sandeman
@Nick – Talk to me by email, I would totally love to follow up on pan fried chicken!
Thrifty DC Cook
I would say more if my mouth wasn’t watering so much. YUM.
Andrea
Nope. Not weird at all. I quite frequently add olives to my tomato sauces – it just seems to work. If you can find them, try adding a few of the sundried black olives – those are really killer!
Chris
Drooling here. Excellent dish, perfect photography, and nice step by step tutorial, once again.
Steve
Try it with chicken thighs!
Sangeeta
Fantastic recipe..made it for Thanksgiving Lunch ..Worth the effort and let truth be told, cooked it better than any Italian family ..pun intended !! LOL..and this was only because the recipe was spot on !! Thanks chef
However I made some additions ..chicken fillets were submerged in a Dijon mustard and some white wine wine vinegar marinade …..then the same stations ..flour egg and bread crumb mix to which I also added some melted butter…The dish was singing !! Thanks chef Macheesmo.