When it comes to Chicken Parmesan, it doesn’t get much better than this. This classic recipe’s prepared with Parmesan crusted chicken breast, topped with fresh mozzarella and baked in a rich marinara sauce. Not to mention, it is quick and easy to prepare.
Preparing Chicken Parmesan
This dish is very simple to prepare. Although, you are preparing everything from scratch, it’s not a tedious process. First, you will start preparing your sauce. The sauce is prepared using onion, garlic, crushed tomatoes, water, dried parsley and basil, sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce and dry white wine. It is important to use crushed tomatoes, instead of tomato sauce. Tomato sauce is very bitter, and your sauce will not taste as good if you opt to use tomato sauce over crushed tomatoes for this recipe. Sauce will then simmer on low for a minimum of thirty minutes. Please note that the longer the sauce cooks, the more flavorful it will be.
While your sauce is cooking, you can prepare your chicken. Using a meat mallet, pound the chicken until it is slightly flattened. Season the chicken with seasonings of choice. However, I recommended salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika. You can also use a good poultry seasoning. After seasoning, dredge the chicken in egg and a flour, bread crumb and parmesan mixture. Fry the chicken in vegetable oil on each side.
Lastly, bake the chicken in the prepared marinara sauce, topped with mozzarella cheese. I recommend whole-milk fresh mozzarella. Most of the time, you will have to slice or shred it yourself. However, if you don’t feel up to doing that, then previously shredded mozzarella is fine. Cover the dish loosely with foil to prevent cheese from over cooking and browning too much on top. Serve this dish with your favorite side dishes. I recommend spaghetti or linguine along with broccoli which makes the perfect meal.
There’s also a video of me preparing this dish on Instagram. If you make this recipe, be sure to tag me. I hope you enjoy!
Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil or grapeseed oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 tbsp. garlic, minced or chopped about 4 cloves
- 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 tbsp. dry white wine
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp. italian seasoning
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp. fresh parsley chopped
- tsp. salt
- 1 cup grated or shredded parmesan cheese divided
- 1 tbsp. fresh basil chopped
For the chicken
- 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups mozzarella, shredded or 1 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- paprika
- salt & pepper to taste
- vegetable oil for frying
- fresh parsley for garnish optional
Instructions
- In large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté onion for 2 minutes. Add garlic, and cook additional 2-3 minutes, or until fragrant. Stir in crushed red pepper and bay leaf.
- Add white wine and mix in tomato paste and stir until thoroughly mixed. Add crushed tomatoes, water, Italian seasoning, sugar, fresh parsley and a few pinches of salt. Stir together, and bring to a light boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer while you prepare chicken, stirring occasionally.
- On a cutting board or mat, using a meat mallet, pound each chicken breast, until slightly flattened. Season chicken on both sides with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika. Use your hand to rub seasoning into chicken.
- In a small bowl, beat eggs. In another shallow dish, combine bread crumbs and 1 cup of parmesan cheese. In another shallow dish, mix 2 tsp. of salt, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp of onion powder, 1 tsp of black pepper and 1 tsp. of paprika. Dip each piece of chicken in flour, then egg, then bread crumb mixture. Repeat this until each piece is battered.
- In a skillet, heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Drop a bit of your flour dredge in oil. If many small bubbles starts to form, then your oil is ready to fry. If large hard bubbles forms, then your oil is too hot. Fry chicken breasts for 3 minutes on each side. Remove and let rest on plate.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Taste sauce and more salt or sugar if needed. Add 1 cup of parmesan cheese to sauce, and stir until cheese is melted.
- In a baking dish, spread a generous amount of sauce in the bottom. Add cooked chicken and top each chicken breasts with sauce. Top with Mozzarella cheese. Cover loosely with foil and bake in oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and cook additional 15 minutes, or until cheese is slightly browned.
- Serve with sides of choice. Linguine or spaghetti recommended.
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