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. Read on to get my tips on how to make the crispiest parmesan chicken ever!

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Crispy chicken parmigiana

Chicken parmesan is a delicious dish of juicy chicken fillets, coated in crispy breadcrumbs and oven-baked in a tangy marinara sauce, topped with gooey melted mozzarella cheese. It originated in Italy, where it was first made with eggplant or aubergines but over the years it has evolved to include the use of chicken.

Depending on where in the world you live, you may know it by other names. In Italy it’s called pollo alla parmigiana; if you live in America you may know it as chicken parm; in Australia, it’s simply known as parmi or parmy. If you live in the north of England you may have eaten Chicken Parmo, which is a similar dish in that it is made from breaded chicken, but it is covered with bechamel sauce rather than tomato sauce.

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.

And while a mediocre chicken parmesan is is still delicious, there are three things that elevate this particular recipe for chicken parmesan from simply great to magnificent:

• the tender juicy chicken fillets are coated in crispy breadcrumbs that crunch as you bite through them;
• the crispy chicken is smothered in a tangy marinara sauce that bursts with flavour;
• and finally, it is all be topped with gooey mozzarella cheese which has been melted into chewy lusciousness,

I’ve made this dish many times over the years, and I think I’ve finally perfected the way to get perfectly crispy parmesan chicken – every … single … time.

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 could get away with using Panko breadcrumbs instead (and I must say I do like to use Panko breadcrumbs for most recipes), but for this recipe, the parmesan cheese is mixed into the breadcrumbs while they are still warm which gives the cheese chance to melt slightly and combine itself 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.

Ingredients you will need

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.
• Shallots – finely chopped. You can substitute these for finely chopped white onion.
• 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 – for frying

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, that half a breast is sufficient for one serving. 2 chicken breasts should feed 4 people. Use your own judgement 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. Cornflour 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 sunflower oil if you prefer.

Cheese topping

• Mozzarella balls – I find that you can get 8 thinnish slices of mozzarella from one ball which is ample for 4 pieces of chicken.
• Extra grated parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top.

How to make it

**Get the complete recipe for chicken parmesan on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

Once again let’s take each element in turn

Marinara Sauce

This recipe makes a lot of marinara sauce, so you will likely have some leftover. I like to serve any remaining sauce on the side to pour over the chicken. If you prefer you can freeze the leftovers for another meal.

My top tip here is to start with the marinara sauce, that way you can just leave the sauce to simmer while you get on with preparing the chicken.

• Peel the shallots and chop them finely. Peel and crush the garlic.
• Fry the shallots and garlic in olive oil until they start to soften. Don’t allow then to brown, the onions should be just starting to turn translucent.
• Add the passata, the mixed herbs and half a cup of water. Bring to the boil, then cover the pan with a lid and turn the heat down to simmer. Leave the sauce to simmer gently for 30 minutes until thick.
• Keep the heat as low as possible so the liquid doesn’t all evapourate. If it does seem to be losing a lot of liquid top up with an extra splash of water.

Coat the chicken

Cut the chicken breasts in half through the middle. There is no need to pound the chicken to make it thinner. Sprinkle each piece of chicken lightly on both sides with salt.

Prepare three bowls, one containing cornflour (cornstarch), the second containing beaten egg, and the third containing a mixture of toasted breadcrumbs and grated parmesan cheese.

• Dip each chicken breast into the cornflour and shake off any excess.
• Now dip the chicken into beaten egg.
• Finally coat the chicken in the breadcrumbs, taking care to pat the crumbs firmly onto the chicken.
• Fry the chicken pieces for about 3 minutes per side in sunflower oil until the breadcrumbs turn crispy and golden (1). Don’t worry if they are not 100% cooked through – they will finish off cooking in the oven.
• Place the chicken fillets into a baking dish or on a baking sheet large enough to hold all the chicken in a single layer. Don’t add any oil to the baking dish.
• Cover each chicken fillet with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the marinara sauce (2).

Cheesy topping

• Place slices of mozzarella cheese onto each chicken fillet (3 above).
• Place the baking dish into a pre-heated oven (200C / 400F) until the cheese is melted and golden (4 above).
• Garnish with chopped parsley and serve the chicken parmesan immediately. As I’ve mentioned above, this is traditionally served with spaghetti and the remainder of the marinara sauce. I also like to serve it with vegetables and crispy German fried potatoes.

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Other serving suggestions

As I mentioned chicken parmesan is traditionally served with spaghetti. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t serve it with anything else.

Here are a few suggestions:

• 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, spicy braised red cabbage or even a dish of cauliflower rice.
• 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

Pin for later

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More chicken recipes

If you enjoyed this recipe for chicken parmesan, you may like to take a look at some of my other chicken recipes:

• Creamy chicken marsala with mushrooms
• Cheesy bacon wrapped chicken parcels with mozzarella
• Oven baked peri peri chicken
• Chicken and vegetable pasta bake
• Easy chicken a la king
• Chicken and mushroom puff pie with gougere pastry
• Chicken Diane with brandy sauce

The recipe

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