Chicken Parmesan
What a week of ups and downs we’ve had here… it was an emotional rollercoaster like I’ve never dealt with before and parenting through it was a real challenge. Those events are still unfolding and deserve a post of their own, but for now there is nothing stressful about this Chicken Parmesan.
It seemed like a basic dish in my childhood, breaded chicken with sauce and cheese, and it really is… but for some reason I’ve always run into issues. The breading wouldn’t adhere well enough to the chicken and would fall off as I picked up or turned the chicken. If I fried them in a saute pan the breading would get too dark but if I baked them in the oven, it wouldn’t crisp up. Many different breading recipes were tried, but none really hit the mark until I threw together my own mix.
You will want to start with thin sliced chicken breasts but if you only have gigantic chicken breasts like I did, you can slice them in half yourself (or even in thirds) as if you were filleting a fish. Try to keep the thickness uniform so that you have consistent cooking times.
**No pictures here because it didn’t occur to me to share this recipe until I was farther through the process! Sorry!
Season your chicken with salt and pepper, then dredge it in flour. Next you will coat it in egg wash. Why the flour before the egg? I think it helps the breading to adhere to the meat better… it gives the egg something to hold onto. The breading itself is a mix of even parts of almond flour, panko bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and seasonings to taste. I don’t measure this, but I’ll put approximate measurements in the recipe below. Just keep in mind that you may need a bit more or have extra depending on the size and number of chicken pieces you are breading. *Note on the Parmesan, if you buy the pre-shredded Parmesan cheese rather than a block that you shred/grate yourself, you will want to chop the shreds up into smaller pieces before combining with the rest of the breading mixture.
Next step is frying. As you coat each piece of chicken, place it into a hot frying pan with a 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep of oil. It is important to make sure the pan is pre-heated and the oil is HOT, otherwise it will soak into your breading and you will end up with soggy, greasy chicken instead of a crispy, crunchy coating. Fry just long enough to get a nice color on the breading, you will finish cooking the chicken in the oven. Brown each piece of chicken on both sides and then remove to a shallow baking pan or cookie sheet.
Using a spoon, spread a thin layer of marinara sauce on the top of each piece of chicken.
Top each piece of chicken with a mixture of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Then place in a 350*C oven to finish cooking the chicken and melt the cheese.
The time required will vary depending on the thickness of the chicken breast pieces, but 15 to 20 minutes should be sufficient. While the chicken is baking, cook some spaghetti and marinara as a side. It’s also a great time to toast a loaf of garlic bread alongside the chicken.
Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken breast thin sliced
- all purpose flour for dredging
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese chopped fine if large shreds
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- marinara sauce
- mozzarella and Parmesan for topping chicken
Instructions
- Set up 3 shallow bowls or deep plates to dredge chicken, one with flour, one with eggs and milk, and one with Panko breadcrumbs, almond flour, Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Pre-heat frying pan with 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep cooking oil over medium to medium-high heat. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Celsius.
- Season chicken breast with additional salt and pepper. Dredge each piece in the flour, then the egg wash, and finally the breading mixture. Place each coated piece of chicken in the pre-heated frying pan and cook until the breading is browned and crispy. Adjust temperature as needed, too low and the breading will soak up the oil, too high and it will burn. Flip chicken and brown the other side.
- Remove browned chicken pieces to a baking sheet. Spoon a thin layer of marinara sauce on each piece, and then top with shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through and cheese is melted.
- While chicken is in the oven, cook spaghetti noodles and heat remaining marinara to serve on the side.
