This easy Chicken Parmesan recipe is simple to make and comes out delicious! It cooks on a sheet pan in the oven for the crispiest bottom with plenty of marinara sauce and cheese to top it off.
Serve it over spaghetti with more marinara sauce for a classic family dinner!
Who doesn’t love a good Chicken Parmigiana?! I for sure enjoy it very much. Not only does it play into my love for all things crispy chicken, but I always enjoy the combination of a flavorful marinara sauce with cheese.
While this recipe does need a little time to go through the steps, it really is easy and will definitely not take all day to cook. You’ll be surprised at just how simple it is!
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Bread crumbs: If you don’t have Panko on hand, use all regular breadcrumbs. Feel free to use Italian seasoned bread crumbs in place of the plain, but reduce the amount of Italian seasoning you add.
- Chicken: Try to pick evenly sized chicken breasts so they cook evenly. Each of mine weighed about 5-6 ounces.
- Marinara: Store-bought or homemade are both fine for this recipe. I used my Homemade Marinara Sauce.
- Egg: I used a giant farm-fresh egg, so I used only once. If your eggs are more regular-sized, you may need two.
- Fresh basil/parsley: These are not mandatory, but add a nice kick of flavor.
How to make Chicken Parmesan
Chicken Parmesan has two main components to the recipe: Breading the chicken and then assembling/baking it with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. It’s relatively easy and simple to do, it just requires a little time to go through all of the steps.
1. Start by preparing your bowls for breading the chicken:
Add the flour to one bowl, beat the egg (or eggs) in a second bowl and combine the breadcrumbs, Panko, parmesan and seasoning in a shallow dish. Then, season the chicken with salt and pepper on all sides.
2. First coat the chicken in flour, then dredge through the egg. Finally, thickly coat with the breadcrumb mixture.
Correctly adding the breadcrumb mixture is key here: You’ll want to pack it on thickly and pound the chicken as you coat it. You want a thick coating on the chicken with the chicken breast flattened out to about ½ – ¾ inch thickness, otherwise it won’t be crispy.
I’ll usually use a clean hand or kitchen tongs to really push and pound on the chicken as I bread it, otherwise you either won’t have enough breading on the chicken or it will fall right off.
3. Now you’ll want to brown the chicken in a skillet with plenty of olive oil (1 tablespoon per chicken breast) over medium-high heat. Brown it in batches or it will be soggy and hard to flip.
Make sure to carefully transfer the chicken to the pan and to carefully flip it, otherwise you’ll lose a lot of the breading.
You’ll only need to brown the chicken about 2 minutes per side, it doesn’t have to cook through yet, but will cook through in the oven later.
4. Transfer the chicken to a lightly oiled sheet pan. Top with marinara, fresh herbs and cheese, then bake.
You’ll want to remove the chicken from the sheet pan and serve it as soon as it is baked through – it tends to get soggy as it sits.
And that’s it! It really isn’t difficult to make your own Chicken Parmesan at home, and it comes out with the best crispy coating and so much flavor.
Recipe tips
- Make sure you get the breading right, otherwise the chicken will not come out as crispy and flavorful as it should!
- Be very careful when transferring the bread chicken to the skillet/when flipping it. The breading can come off easily before it is browned, so take great care for the best outcome.
- Do use the full tablespoon of oil per chicken breast you are browning, otherwise the chicken may stick to the skillet and the coating will get ruined. It also needs the oil to cook correctly, so please do not skimp on it.
- I prefer not to use marinara on the bottom of the chicken, I tested this recipe many ways and this is my favorite way to make it. The marinara sauce moistens the breading and makes it soggy when the chicken is fully sitting in marinara. This would make it obsolete to bread and brown the chicken in the first place, if you ask me, so I opt for placing the chicken on a sheet pan (max crispiness on the bottom!) with marinara sauce spread only on top. I do serve a lot more marinara over spaghetti with the chicken though, so it definitely doesn’t mean your meal will have to end up dry.
- I like topping the chicken with mozzarella cheese twice: Once before baking, and then once again about 5 minutes before the chicken is done. This is purely personal preference, but I do like both the browned/crisp mozzarella and the very gooey, melty mozzarella the chicken ends up with this way.
- Serve the chicken right away, it gets soggy on the bottom if you leave it to sit on the pan once it is done.
Serving ideas
The classic way to serve your Chicken Parm is obviously over spaghetti with lots more marinara sauce. And that is pretty much the only way we eat it, because it’s delicious 😉
My husband also really likes it with polenta. I do make a vegetable or a salad on the side with this, usually mixed greens with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing and/or a vegetable like roasted asparagus, roasted broccoli or sautéed zucchini.
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. Sign up for my email list, too!
Easy Chicken Parmesan
Recipe details
Ingredients
Breading
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg OR 2, if needed
- ⅓ cup Panko bread crumbs
- ⅓ cup bread crumbs
- ⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt & pepper to taste
Chicken
- 4 chicken breasts each around 5-6oz
- salt & pepper to taste
Other
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups marinara sauce jarred or homemade
- 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Prepare breading: Place flour in shallow bowl, beat egg in second shallow bowl. Lastly, combine Panko, bread crumbs, ⅓ cup parmesan cheese, dried parsley, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper on all sides.
- Bread chicken: Coat chicken with flour first, shaking off any excess.Dredge floured chicken through egg, making sure it is evenly covered all over.Finally, thickly bread with bread crumb mixture, pounding mixture on the chicken as you bread it. Chicken should end up thickly breaded at around ½ – ¾ inch thick.
- Prep oven: At this point, heat oven to 425°F (220°C) and lightly grease a sheet pan with olive oil.
- Brown chicken: Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil per chicken breast in large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown chicken in two batches, 2 minutes per side. Be very careful when transferring chicken to skillet, and when flipping to ensure breading doesn't fall off.
- Assemble chicken parmesan: Transfer browned chicken to prepared sheet pan. Top each chicken breast with around ½ cup marinara sauce (and freshly chopped parsley, if desired) Evenly divide ¼ cup parmesan and 1 cup mozzarella cheese over chicken.
- Bake: Bake in hot oven for 12-15 minutes, until nearly done. Carefully top with remaining mozzarella and finish baking for around 5 minutes, until chicken reaches internal temperature of 165°F (74°C). Serve immediately.
Notes
Ingredient notes
- Bread crumbs: If you don’t have Panko on hand, use all regular breadcrumbs. Feel free to use Italian seasoned bread crumbs in place of the plain, but reduce the amount of Italian seasoning you add.
- Chicken: Try to pick evenly sized chicken breasts so they cook evenly. Each of mine weighed about 5-6 ounces.
- Marinara: Store-bought or homemade are both fine for this recipe. I used my Homemade Marinara Sauce.
- Egg: I used a giant farm-fresh egg, so I used only once. If your eggs are more regular-sized, you may need two.
- Fresh basil/parsley: These are not mandatory, but add a nice kick of flavor.
Recipe tips
- Make sure you get the breading right, otherwise the chicken will not come out as crispy and flavorful as it should!
- Be very careful when transferring the bread chicken to the skillet/when flipping it. The breading can come off easily before it is browned, so take great care for the best outcome.
- Do use the full tablespoon of oil per chicken breast you are browning, otherwise the chicken may stick to the skillet and the coating will get ruined. It also needs the oil to cook correctly, so please do not skimp on it.
- I prefer not to use marinara on the bottom of the chicken, I tested this recipe many ways and this is my favorite way to make it. The marinara sauce moistens the breading and makes it soggy when the chicken is fully sitting in marinara. This would make it obsolete to bread and brown the chicken in the first place, if you ask me, so I opt for placing the chicken on a sheet pan (max crispiness on the bottom!) with marinara sauce spread only on top. I do serve a lot more marinara over spaghetti with the chicken though, so it definitely doesn’t mean your meal will have to end up dry.
- I like topping the chicken with mozzarella cheese twice: Once before baking, and then once again about 5 minutes before the chicken is done. This is purely personal preference, but I do like both the browned/crisp mozzarella and the very gooey, melty mozzarella the chicken ends up with this way.
- Serve the chicken right away, it gets soggy on the bottom if you leave it to sit on the pan once it is done.
Debra says
I missed the part for oven temp and bake time.
Nora says
Debra, sorry you couldn’t find them. 425°F with a bake time of 18-20 minutes. Check the recipe card again, all of the information is presented there.