Recipe: Chicken Parmesean

Before I met my husband, I would have told you that I don't really care for chicken parmesan. It's not that I didn't like it, it just was never something I'd order if I saw it on a menu or attempt to make it myself. I have always found chicken parm to be bland or soggy or dry. 

When I met my husband, one of the first meals he made for me was chicken parmesan, and from that day on, I was converted to a chicken parm fan... except I will only eat his! His recipe is so flavorful and never soggy. 

When I posted the chicken parm on my Instagram stories one evening, many of you asked for the recipe. Since I had no idea how to cook chicken parm, I asked my husband to write down the recipe so I could share it. 

He doesn't have a formal recipe as he eyeballs everything, so the measurements below are suggested. I find cooking better when you measure everything with your heart, ha! 

Ingredients:

- 3 Chicken Breasts

- Panko Breadcrumbs

- 1/2 cup Milk

- 2 Eggs

- Olive Oil 

- All Purpose Flour

- Garlic Powder

- Italian Seasoning

- Salt 

- Pepper

- Seasoned Salt

- 1 jar Rao's marinara

- Fresh or Deli-Sliced Mozzarella 

- A block of parmesano reggiano

This recipe yields 6 portions (the size of each portion depends on the size of the chicken breast, but usually, when we make it, each chicken cutlet is HUGE and could feed two people per cutlet).

Instructions:

*12-24 hours before making, salt the chicken with the seasoned salt and pepper. This is called dry brining, and while it's not absolutely necessary, this will make it more tender and flavorful and a step my husband never skips. 

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Filet the chicken breast into a cutlet. To do this, you will lay your chicken breast flat on a cutting board and slice through the chicken horizontally to get two pieces of the same size. 

2. Pound each cutlet with a meat tenderizer until they are about 1/4" thick. 

3. Create a dredging station. You will need three flat bowls.

- One bowl will need about 2 cups of all-purpose flour

- The second bowl will contain two whisked eggs. Add 1/2 cup of milk and whisk that into the egg mix.  

- The third bowl will contain about 2 cups of breadcrumbs (my husband doesn't measure, he just eyeballs it), about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of garlic powder, about 1 1/2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning, about 1/4 cup of shredded parmesan reggiano, salt and pepper to taste. Mix until evenly combined. 

4. Move your chicken cutlet through the three breading stations. First, the flour. You want to make sure both sides are evenly coated. Next, you will dredge it in the egg wash. When you pull it out of the egg wash, let any excess egg wash drip back into the bowl. Lastly, evenly coat the chicken breast with the panko breadcrumb mixture. Make sure both sides are evenly coated. 

5. Heat up your cast iron skillet. Once heated, add olive oil until it covers about 1/4" in depth in your pan and until the oil comes to about 350 degrees. The chicken cutlets should not be fully submerged when they are in the pan with the oil, and the oil should cover the edges only slightly.

6. Once the cutlets have been evenly coated by all three mixtures, add two chicken breasts to a cast iron skillet. Fry them two at a time so the pan does not overcrowd. About 2-3 minutes in the oil per side until it looks golden brown. When you remove the chicken cutlets, you may need to add more olive oil for the next round of the cutlets. If you do that, let the oil come to temperature before adding the next batch of chicken cutlets. 

7. As each chicken cutlet finishes frying, add to a glass baking dish. 

8. Once all of the cutlets have been placed into the baking dish, top with Rao's marinara sauce. To avoid the chicken becoming soggy, put enough marinara to cover the top center of the cutlet and avoid the marinara from spilling over the sides of the chicken and into the bottom of the baking dish. 

9. Add mozzarella to cover the sauce on each chicken cutlet. 

10. Pop in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted and has a few brown spots. Chicken should always be cooked to a minimum temperature of 165 degrees. 

11. Remove from the oven, and you are ready to serve. We serve ours over angel hair pasta with Rao's marina, and top with a drizzle of olive oil, fresh basil, and grated parmesan reggiano. 

Tips:

- Since this is a laborious process, you can make extra chicken cutlets and stop at step 6. You can let the extra fried chicken cutlets rest until cooled and then you can refrigerate or freeze to use for future meals. We like using the leftover fried chicken cutlets for a chicken Caesar salad or buffalo chicken salad. 

- The leftover chicken parmesan can be refrigerated and eaten as leftovers and is great for making chicken parmesan sandwiches!