I have been making this easy chicken parmesan recipe since college! It’s one of my go-to chicken recipes because I almost always have the ingredients on hand, it’s ready in 20 minutes and it’s crazy delicious!
I actually can’t believe that I haven’t shared this recipe before now. I have not been posting many recipes lately because I put pressure on myself to make the photos really beautiful and shot in natural light. I have these hopes and dreams of cooking and photographing in the middle of the day but work has been so busy lately that it hasn’t happened. I finally decided that it’s better to just shoot while I’m cooking at night so that I can post the recipes. If I’m being honest with myself, it may never happen otherwise and what good is that to you guys!?
So may I introduce to you my first of what is hopefully many to come dimmly lit “real life” dinner recipes! 🙂 I actually don’t even follow a recipe for this one so I’m just going to walk you through the steps. It’s much easier just to memorize the process rather than worrying about measuring anything out. This recipes is forgiving!
First, prep whatever noodles you are going to use. (If you’re using them at all!) If you’re going to cook pasta, you’ll want to get your water boiling. If you’re using zoodles, spiralize your zucchini. You can also skip the noodles and just have a salad or some roasted broccoli on the side.
You’ll also want to get your sauce simmering. I make this dinner as easy as possible and rely on the help of jarred pasta sauce. I love this one from Whole Foods because it’s flavorful and has no added sugars.
Next up, pound your chicken breasts. This is the key to tender and quick cooking chicken breasts. Working one breast at at time, I place the chicken breast in a gallon-size plastic bag and then pound it using the flat side of a meat mallet until it’s about 1/4 inch thickness. (How’s that post-hot yoga hair for a real life look at dinner time over here!?)
Once the chicken is ready to go, set up your dredging station. I get three salad plates and place a flour, salt and pepper in the first, an egg whisked with some water in the second and panko breadcrumbs seasoned with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, fresh garlic or garlic powder and parmesan cheese in the third.
Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture first. Coat both sides and shake off the excess.
Then the eggs. Make sure to thoroughly cover the chicken with the egg wash so that the panko will stick. Use two eggs if you’re cooking more than three chicken breasts.
Finally the breadcrumbs. When you’re prepping your dredging station, be sure to use a little more breadcrumbs than you think you’ll need because they really stick on to the egg coating. You’ll want to gently press the chicken into the breadcrumb mixture. Don’t shake off excess, just let it fall off as you lift it up.
The final step is cooking your chicken breasts. I heat a saute pan (nonstick or stainless) over medium high heat and add a good bit of olive oil to it. You’re essentially pan frying here. Once the oil is hot, carefully add the chicken breasts. Be careful not to crowd the pan, you may have to work in batches. Cook 2-3 minutes per side, or until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. The internal temperature should read 160.
When you flip the chicken you can add cheese to the side that is already browned. Sometimes I add sliced mozzarella (which is super delicious!) but since I haven’t been keeping much cheese in the house, I went with a sprinkle of parmesan instead. You want to add it when you flip and while the second side is cooking so that it can melt.
Plate it all up by serving the chicken parmesan over noodles and topping it with marinara sauce. You can never go wrong with an extra sprinkle of parmesan or some fresh basil.
This recipe is a crowd pleaser. It’s a hearty meal but you can keep it feeling lighter by serving it with a salad or over zoodles. Ladies, this is a great one to feed kids and the guy in your life. You can easily go with a zoodle or salad option while giving them the pasta option if that’s what they prefer.
As always, I love your feedback so report back to me if you try my easy chicken parmesan recipe! 🙂
