Crispy chicken parmesan with marinara sauce

Crispy chicken parmesan (otherwise known as chicken parmigiana) always guarantees empty plates! It's made with juicy chicken fillets coated with a mixture of crispy breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, smothered in a delicious marinara sauce and topped with gooey mozzarella cheese.

Crispy chicken parmigiana

Chicken parmesan is a delicious dish of juicy chicken fillets, coated in crispy Parmesan breadcrumbs, topped with a tangy marinara sauce and gooey melted mozzarella cheese.

The dish has its roots in Italian parmigiana, traditionally made by layering aubergine (eggplant) with tomato sauce and cheese. Italian immigrants to America adapted the idea using breaded chicken, creating the chicken parmesan we know today. In America, you may also hear it called chicken parm, while Australians often call it parmi or parmy. In the north of England, there's also Chicken Parmo, although that's a rather different dish, made with breaded chicken topped with béchamel sauce and cheese.

In my opinion, one thing is certain - parmesan chicken has to be crispy! There's absolutely no doubt about it. No one enjoys eating soggy breadcrumbs. I've made this dish many times over the years, and I've finally perfected a few simple tricks that give you tender, juicy chicken with a crisp Parmesan coating every ... single ... time.

And that's what makes this version so good. You get the crunch of the Parmesan-coated chicken, the tangy tomato sauce, and the melted mozzarella - without sacrificing that all-important crispy coating.

Jump to:

• Crispy chicken parmigiana
• Secrets for making the crispiest chicken parmesan
• Why I love this crispy chicken parmesan with Marinara sauce
• Ingredients for crispy parmesan chicken
• How to make Crispy parmesan chicken and marinara sauce
• Foodle Club top tips
• Freezing and reheating
• Save for later
• More chicken recipes
• 📋The recipe

Before we get to the recipe, I'd like to show you how I keep the coating crisp.

Secrets for making the crispiest chicken parmesan

There are two secrets to getting perfectly crispy parmesan chicken.

The first secret lies in the coating.

• The coating on this chicken is made in the standard way by coating the fillets in flour, then egg, and finally in breadcrumbs. The difference is that the breadcrumbs are toasted in a dry frying pan and then mixed with parmesan cheese before being pressed onto the chicken.

• You can make your own breadcrumbs by blitzing day-old bread in a food processor and then toasting them in a dry frying pan for a few minutes until they turn crispy and golden.
• I prefer to use Panko breadcrumbs instead. They are already crispy, so there's no need to toast them - I just pop them into a frying pan to warm..
• Once the breadcrumbs are ready, the parmesan cheese is mixed in while they are still warm, which gives the cheese a chance to melt slightly and combine with the breadcrumbs.

The second secret is to fry the chicken fillets in a little sunflower or olive oil until the breadcrumbs start to turn crispy, and then place the fried chicken fillets into a dry baking tray, top with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese, and finish off by baking the chicken in the oven. Because the bottom of the crumbed parmesan chicken doesn't come into contact with any moisture, the breadcrumbs remain beautifully crispy.

Why I love this crispy chicken parmesan with Marinara sauce

• Easy to make. There are 2 main components: the crumbed chicken and the marinara sauce. Prepare the chicken first, then pop it into the refrigerator to firm up once it's been crumbed. While the chicken is resting, you can make the marinara sauce. Once that's done, all that's left is to fry the chicken, spoon over the sauce and cheese, and pop it into the oven.
• Crispy and juicy. Toasting the breadcrumbs before mixing them with Parmesan gives the coating a head start on crispiness, which the quick frying seals the outside and leaves the chicken tender and juicy inside. And because only the top of the chicken is covered with marinara sauce, the underside stays crisp rather than becoming soggy.
• Full of flavour. You've got crisp Parmesan-coated chicken, a tangy homemade tomato and garlic marinara sauce, and melted mozzarella on top. It's a pretty hard combination to argue with!
• Make ahead. You can crumb the chicken and make the marinara sauce in advance, and keep them separately in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook. That makes this a good option when you want to get most of the preparation out of the way earlier in the day.
• Versatile. There are plenty of ways to serve this crispy, crumbed chicken. Spaghetti is the traditional choice, but this works just as well with chips, potatoes, vegetables, or salad. You could even use the crumbed chicken to make a chicken burger!

Ingredients for crispy parmesan chicken

**This is just an overview to explain why I used a particular ingredient. The complete list of ingredients and the exact measurements are on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.**

There are three elements to this dish - the crispy chicken, the marinara sauce, and the cheese topping. Let's take them each in turn.

Marinara Sauce

• Passata - this is simply fresh tomatoes that have been blended and then sieved to remove any pips and skin. In the UK, we buy it in bottles or cartons from any large supermarket. I've included a link to passata on Amazon for those of you who are unsure about what it is. You can also try my recipe for homemade passata.
• Diced onions - quite finely diced. You can substitute these for finely chopped shallots.
• Garlic - use either freshly minced garlic cloves or bottled crushed garlic.
• Italian mixed herbs - this is a dried blend of mixed herbs and normally contains a mixture of dried basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme.
• Olive oil (not pictured)- for softening the onions - use vegetable oil instead.

Crispy-coated chicken fillets

• Skinless chicken breast fillets - Try to get chicken breasts weighing approximately 200 grams each (or 7 ounces). Cut each fillet in half through the middle. There is no need to pound the chicken to flatten it. I find that with all the cheese and breadcrumbs coating the chicken, half a breast is sufficient for one serving. 2 chicken breasts should feed 4 people, but it does depend on the size. Use your own judgment as to how much chicken you will need to satisfy your family's appetite.
• Coating - the chicken will be coated using the dry - wet - dry method. Flour (or cornflour/cornstarch) provides the first 'dry' element, followed by beaten egg (the 'wet') and a final 'dry' mixture of toasted breadcrumbs and grated parmesan cheese.
• You will also need some olive oil for frying the chicken. You can use vegetable oil if you prefer.

Cheese topping

• Mozzarella - If you can find a block of mozzarella cheese, you can grate it yourself. I can never find it, so I have to use pre-grated mozzarella. Don't use the soft buffalo mozzarella - you need the Mozzarella you can grate. Substitute with grated cheddar if you can't find mozzarella.
• Extra grated parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top. This is optional.

How to make Crispy parmesan chicken and marinara sauce

Preparation

• Cut the chicken breasts in half through the middle as though you were going to butterfly them. There is no need to pound the chicken to make it thinner. Sprinkle each piece of chicken lightly with salt on both sides.
• Prepare three bowls, one with flour or cornflour (cornstarch), one with beaten egg, and the third with a mixture of toasted breadcrumbs and grated parmesan cheese.

Now let's take each element in turn

Coat the chicken

It's more time-efficient to do this step first. The coated chicken should chill in the refrigerator for half an hour, so coating it first means you can make the sauce while the chicken is chilling.

Make the marinara sauce

This recipe makes a lot of marinara sauce, so you will likely have some leftovers. I like to serve any remaining sauce on the side to pour over the chicken. This is especially good if you are serving the chicken parmi with spaghetti. Leftover sauce freezes beautifully, so you can pop it into the freezer for another meal.

Fry the chicken, assemble and bake

Serving suggestions

The traditional way to serve this is with a pile of spaghetti and extra marinara sauce, but I also like to serve it with vegetables and a helping of chips or crispy German fried potatoes.

Don't forget to serve any remaining marinara sauce on the side!

Here are a few other suggestions you might like to try:

• Instead of pasta, why not serve your chicken parmesan with a mixture of fresh salads like this creamy coleslaw or a tangy copper penny salad? And if you'd still like to serve it with pasta, what about this cheesy barbeque pasta salad instead of spaghetti?
• Serve it with a side dish of crispy French fries or some scalloped potatoes in batter.
• If you want to serve it with vegetables, I think these would go well - spicy mushroom fried rice, buttered cabbage and leeks or spicy braised red cabbage.
• Finally, chicken parmesan will make a great chicken burger. Why not whip up a batch of these crusty Portuguese rolls and try it for yourself?

But however you serve it, I'm sure you're going to love it.

Freezing and reheating

Save for later

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📋The recipe

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