Recipe: Chicken Parmigiana

This is a classic Italian recipe for Chicken Parmigiana…. It was one of the first things I learned to make when I started cooking as a young teen. It has been a staple in our house… my son absolutely loves this… and I do too. It’s nice and easy… cooks quickly and can be made ahead. I always make enough for leftovers… which reheat well and also make great Chicken Parmigiana Subs.

The base recipe for this is the same as Parmesan Chicken (Milanese) that I posted last week… all you do is add some tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese and bake it until the cheese melts… very easy.. I promise.

I hope you try this wonderful recipe.








PRINT RECIPE

Recipe: Chicken Parmigiana

All you need:

4 thin boneless skinless chicken breast cutlets
¾ cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
About 6 turns on a pepper mill
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 eggs
Dash of milk
1 cup Italian season bread crumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
Tomato Sauce (homemade or your favorite brand)
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Olive oil cooking spray

All you need to do:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

If your cutlets are not really thin, then place them between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound then thin with a kitchen mallet. If you don’t have a mallet, you can use the back of a skillet.

In a shallow bowl, mix the Italian bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese until they are fully mixed.

In another shallow bowl, mix the flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder until they are fully mixed.

In another shallow bowl, beat the eggs with the dash of milk.

Line up the bowls…. first the flour mixture…. then the egg mixture… then the bread crumbs.

Dredge both sides of the chicken cutlet in the flour… making sure it’s completely coated… shaking off any excess.

Then dip it into the egg mixture…. coating it completely with the egg.

Then put the cutlet into the bowl with the bread crumbs. Press down gently to fully coat the bottom side with crumbs…. flip it over and do the same for that side…. Any “bald spots” .. just take a spoon and drip a bit of egg mixture on it and then pat with bread crumbs.

TIP: I used to do the dredging, egg mixture and bread crumbs with my hands… I’d end up with fingers thick crusted with bread crumbs… and I had to constantly run my hands under water….whatta mess! Then I had one of those “duh” moments… I use 3 forks… one in each bowl … works like a charm.

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Add the cutlets when the butter/oil mixture is hot. Make sure the skillet is hot… otherwise the cutlets won’t crisp up. To test the skillet… drop a few bread crumbs into the oil if they immediately sizzle… the pan is ready.

Cook the cutlets about 3 minutes a side (assuming the cutlets are thin)…. they should be golden brown and crispy.

Drain on paper towels.


Lay the cutlets in a large baking dish (13 x 9 size works well). Don't overlap them.

Spoon a generous amount of tomato sauce on top of each cutlet.

Sprinkle a generous amount of shredded mozzarella cheese over the sauce on each cutlet.

Spray the cheese with a little olive oil cooking spray. (This will help the cheese to melt and get gooey)

Bake for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and starts to brown a bit.

Serve with pasta and additional tomato sauce.