When your schedule is hectic and you need a hot, comfort food kind of easy dinner, here is the solution. Skip the Italian restaurant and make this easy chicken parmesan recipe the whole family will enjoy. Made with golden chicken breast cutlets, pasta sauce, and parmesan. It’s the answer to what’s for dinner.
The beauty of basic recipes is that they work in a variety of ways, like building blocks, to create different meals. I’ve taken two of my basic recipes, the Golden Chicken Cutlets and 30 Minute Pasta Sauce and combined them to make easy chicken parmesan. If you don't have time to make the sauce, use your favorite store brand.
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Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken breasts: choose boneless skinless chicken breasts for a fast dinner
- Seasoning: sea salt, ground black pepper, and granulated garlic
- Flour: use coconut flour or brown rice flour for gluten-free. If you're not GF, use white whole wheat flour. Some recipes use panko bread crumbs (wheat or GF). Using flour gives you a thinner crispy coating.
- Cooking fat: use extra-virgin olive oil or butter. The combination of the two is nice. What not to use? Vegetable oil. It's terrible for you. Toss it.
- Cheeses: for speed use pre-grated mozzarella cheese, or grate your own fresh mozzarella. For the Parmesan, get a chunk of the real deal and grate a little fresh, or get a container of fresh grated. Not the powdered stuff. Grated. Another option, use an Italian cheese blend.
- Sauce: your favorite jarred marinara (or homemade) or pasta sauce
- Herbs: fresh chopped oregano or parsley (optional)
Skip Egg Wash
What this recipe is not: it is not a classic breaded chicken parm recipe. It's light crispy chicken. It's less messy, too, as you don't have to set up a 3-stage breading station with egg wash and bowls. No frying, no pounding, and a lot less dishes. Try this method, I think you'll like it.
Create Cutlets
To create chicken cutlets, use boneless skinless chicken breasts. Trim off tenders. Do them separately or save for another use. Slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally. I use a sharp, thin, 7-inch flexible slicing knife, a useful addition to your collection.
Season Cutlets
Season the chicken, not the flour, for better control over your seasoning. Use salt, pepper, and granulated garlic.Sprinkle the seasoned cutlets with a little olive oil so the seasoning sticks, then dust with flour.
Before cooking, gently shake off any excess flour. A light dusting gives the chicken a golden color, crisp texture, and toasty flavor.
Recipe Instructions
Heat a medium sauté pan or skillet over medium heat and add the oil or oil and butter mixture. Cook until the cutlets are golden brown on the first side, then turn them cook for another minute or two until they are done.
The best way to know when they are done is the cutlets will feel firm to the touch, with just a little give to them.
Broil to Finish
Once your cutlets are cooked and your sauce is ready, pre-heat the broiler until hot. Position the rack below the top level.
Place cooked cutlets in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet (parchment will burn under the broiler), or place them in a broiler-safe shallow baking dish. On top of the chicken, spoon sauce and sprinkle with cheese.
Broil for a minute until cheese melts. Serve topped with herbs such as fresh basil, oregano or Italian parsley to garnish. Serve extra sauce on the side.
Pasta Sauce
My thirty minute homemade sauce (marinara sauce or spaghetti sauce) is made from things you probably have in your pantry, like canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, onion, garlic and dried herbs.
I make a larger batch and freeze it in small jars to thaw for a quick dinner. It works for pasta dishes and nicely for this Chicken Parmesan. Here is the recipe.
Make Ahead and Serve
Make the cutlets up to 4 day ahead of time, refrigerating chicken and sauce separately in an airtight container. When ready to serve, let the chicken rest on the counter for about 45 minutes to get the chill off, then top with sauce, cheese and broil.
Serve hot with a side of steamed broccoli, broccolini, fresh green beans, or zucchini noodles (or your favorite pasta) and a simple green salad with Italian dressing. A little garlic bread is good too if you're not concerned about carbs.
Chef's Tip: Be sure the chicken breasts are hot to serve. You might want to heat them first in a 350° oven for a few minutes, then switch to broiling to finish.
More Chicken Recipes
Try my 20 minute salsa verde chicken recipe, or braised Italian chicken thighs.
⭐️Did you Make This?
If you make this recipe, please comment and let me know, and if you loved it, please give it a 5 star rating! They really help other readers.
📖 Recipe
Easy Chicken Parmesan
Equipment
- Large fry pan 10" - 12" size
- Rimmed baking sheet broiler safe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
- ½ cup flour wheat, coconut, cassava, brown rice or GF blend. They all work.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ cups homemade pasta sauce or favorite store brand
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- ⅓ cup grated or shredded mozzarella or Italian blend
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil, oregano or parsley optional garnish
Instructions
Slice cutlets
- Place the chicken breasts flat on your cutting surface with the rounded, smooth side facing up. Trim any tenders and set aside to cook with the cutlets or freeze for later use. Place the palm of your hand on the chicken breast. Slice the chicken breasts into equal halves horizontally, keeping your knife parallel to the cutting board (see photos in post).
Season
- Rub each chicken piece with just a few drops of oil. Season both sides of the chicken with salt, pepper and garlic. Sprinkle flour over the chicken and lightly coat both sides. Shake off excess.
Cook
- Heat a large saute or fry pan over medium heat. Add olive oil or oil/butter combination. When it’s bubbling and hot, add chicken cutlets, smooth side down first. Allow the cutlets to cook until they are golden. You can tell when they are almost ready to turn as the edges start to get white. Turn the cutlets and cook another minute or two, depending on how thick the cutlets are. When done, they will feel firm to the touch but still give just a little.
Finish and serve
- Pre-heat the broiler on high. Place cooked cutlets on a foil lined baking sheet in a single layer. Top with sauce and cheeses. Broil briefly until cheese melts. Top with fresh herbs and serve. Serve any extra sauce on the side.
Paul Brown says
Wow! Great recipe for chicken. It was juicy and tender. I used the chicken this time to make chicken pesto sandwiches and will used the leftovers on my salad for lunch tomorrow. Thanks for the great recipe.
Sally Cameron says
Thanks for commenting Paul, using on sandwiches and salad are great ideas.
Ashley Jones says
I made this last night and it is delicious! Just wondering what is considered one serving for the nutritional information? Is that 2 prepared chicken breasts.
Ashley Jones
Sally Cameron says
Hi Ashley. Good question! If you have 1 - 1 1/4 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts and you split them in 4 pieces, 1 piece would be a serving. It's 4-5 ounces. Does that make sense?
Jake Penrose says
I made it for my parents. Delicious
Maria says
Do you know if this would work with almond flour?
Sally Cameron says
Hi Maria, I have not tried almond flour, but I do use the coconut flour as I am GF. I listed the whole white wheat as an option for readers who are not GF. If you do try it with almond flour, please report back as to how it came out. Thanks!
Maria says
I made it last night with almond flour and it was delicious!! Will definitely make it again! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Sally Cameron says
That's great! Thanks for reporting back Maria. I will try that myself, and I'm sure it will help other readers as this is one of my most popular recipes.
Jill says
Hi, it's not letting me click on the link for the homemade sauce. The recipe turned out great otherwise!
Sally Cameron says
Thanks Jill, I will check the links right now. Glad the recipe came out well.
Heather @ Sugar Dish Me says
This looks AMAZING!!! Totally pinning to make later this week.
Charles says
Can we use traditional prego sauce?
Sally Cameron says
You can, sure, but read the ingredient label. Go for no added sugar. The Prego I looked at had added sugar and used canola oil, not something I like personally, especially if it is not organic, because it will be GMO. Use what is best for you, but try to make a smart choice. And making your own is so easy! And it freezes well.
Steven Henderson says
Hi Sally - this recipe has become a favorite for our family of four. Even our finicky two year old quickly demolished her serving. This is a nice, light twist on chicken Parmesan and I espcially like the anise seed flavoring in the pasta sauce. What a great add-in!
Lynne D says
95 degrees here tonight, so I was looking for something stove top with skinless chicken breasts...found this. Like some others I used jarred sauce and a combo of mozz and parm cheeses. Served with angel hair...hubs liked it...will definitely have again sometime!
Steve says
Spelling correction: You say to "trim off tenders", I think you meant tendons! That confused me for a minute.
Sally Cameron says
Hi Steve. Sorry if that was confusing, but I do mean the tenders. It's that little side piece that is attached to a boneless skinless breast. There is a tendon within that tender that you can remove with a knife if you wish. Some chicken breasts have the "tender" removed, so that is maybe why it did not make sense to you. Other packages or butcher counters leave them on. You can cook them right along with the chicken breast. It looks nicer and is easier to handle when separated.Does that help?
Tammie says
Loved this recipe! So much quicker and lighter than traditional chicken parmesan but very tasty. I was able to make it quickly as my grandson roamed the kitchen. Thanks!
i mcnamee says
I was looking for a different recipe to try with chicken breast & saw this one, as I had most of the ingredients I gave it a go and I am glad I did. It was delicious, I used some oil and butter to fry the chicken then put some of my sauce on top with the parmesan and grilled for a minute, the taste was yummy, my husband said it was a 10 out of 10 and I will definitely be adding it to my list. I made my own arrabiata sauce with garlic onion and chilli softened in spray oil then added passata and vegtable stock and simmed for 20/25 mins, I used taglateli pasta. Thank you for an amazing recipe but also for an easy recipe that only required standard ingredients that were already in my fridge/freezer/store cupboard.