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.
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.