If you want an easy and delicious recipe to use those boneless, skinless chicken breasts that you see in the meat section of the grocery stores, baked chicken Parmesan is definitely a great option! I love recipes where baking the chicken actually makes it juicier, more flavorful and crispier than frying it! This is one of those recipes. The chicken comes out moist and tender with a crispy and crunchy top! The serving options are endless: as-is, with a salad and a garlic bread on the side, over a bed of linguine with some extra marinara sauce; over spaghetti squash or real spaghetti, over some ravioli, etc. – whatever comes to your mind or whatever suites your dietary guidelines!
Despite the name of the dish (which makes a lot of people think that it’s a complicated and sophisticated meal), chicken Parmesan is actually quite easy to make. You don’t even have to prepare your own marinara sauce because there are plenty of high quality options in the stores these days. But, if you’re a purist, you can make your own homemade marinara sauce – I even have one right here on my site!
MY OTHER VIDEOSTo make the chicken crispy, first you coat it with olive oil, salt & pepper, then you roll it in Panko breadcrumbs, together with some minced garlic and finely grated Parmesan cheese. Bake the chicken for about 20 minutes until it’s cooked through, bounces back when pressed and is no longer pink in the center and to achieve the desired crispy top. Then you add some marinara sauce – ladle just a little bit over the center portion of each chicken breast because you want to leave at least half of the chicken breast uncovered – so that it remains super crispy and looks pretty, too! Just like on this photo:
Then, top with grated Mozzarella cheese and bake for 10 more minutes – just until the cheese melts.
It’s done! Top your baked chicken with finely grated Parmesan cheese and finely chopped green onions! I’ll repeat myself here, but the serving options are endless: with a salad and a garlic bread on the side, over a bed of linguine with some extra marinara sauce; over spaghetti squash or real spaghetti, over some ravioli, etc. – whatever comes to your mind or whatever suites your dietary guidelines!
Ingredients
- 4 small chicken breasts, skinless, boneless or 4 regular size chicken breast halves
- 1/4 cup olive oil (1 tablespoon of oil for each breast)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs, such as Panko crumbs
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely shredded
- 1 cup marinara sauce (homemade marinara sauce or high quality store bought sauce)
- 1/2 to 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (to your taste)
- salt and pepper
- finely grated Parmesan cheese
- finely chopped green onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 Fahrenheit. Spray a baking dish or baking sheet with olive oil spray.
- Coat chicken breasts in olive oil. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, to your taste. Combine 1/2 cup bread crumbs and 1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese - Roll each chicken breast in this bread-cheese mixture. Combine minced garlic with the remaining shredded cheese and press this mixture on top of each cutlet, pressing lightly to adhere.
- Place chicken breasts in a baking dish.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, remove from oven, put 1/4 cup of marinara sauce over each breast, top with the desired amount of mozzarella cheese. When putting marinara sauce over the breasts, do not cover 100% of the breast, just a small center portion - that way your chicken will still be super crunchy and crusty in the sections where it's not covered with the marinara sauce (see my photos). Return to oven and continue baking for about 10 more minutes, until chicken bounces back when pressed, is no longer pink and juices run clear, and until cheese is melted. You can even use a broiler for this step - but be very careful and watch the chicken to make sure the cheese doesn't burn.
- Garnish with finely grated Parmesan cheese and finely chopped green onions.
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