Parmesan Crusted Chicken is quick and easy recipe to add to your chicken dinner repertoire! Chicken cutlets are breaded in parmesan cheese and bread crumbs, and pan fried until crispy. This tasty chicken is the perfect easy dinner to serve on busy weeknights. Kids love it and so do the adults.
Do you make chicken dinners a couple of times a week? Then you and your family will love this easy Parmesan Crusted Chicken! Chicken breasts are super juicy and tender thanks to the fast cooking method. Mm… It’s also good that the chicken is so crispy on the outside! Trust me when I say that.
If you love cooking, you will find that this pan fried Parmesan Crusted Chicken recipe pairs up very well with pasta such as Louisiana Chicken Pasta, or Baked Ziti. I also love serving it over Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes. It’s a perfectly easy chicken recipe for a quick and delicious dinner. So delicious and simple!
How to make Easy Parmesan Crusted Chicken
- What kind of chicken works best? The chicken that works best is thin, flat and even. If the chicken you bought is thick as it usually is, make sure to half each chicken breast horizontally. Once you do that, you get 4 thin chicken fillets. Just perfect, isn’t it? You can also use chicken tenders to make parmesan crusted chicken.
- What cheese to use? Cheese, oh cheese! I used store bought shredded Parmesan cheese. But I do recommend to use the fine shredded cheese or grated cheese. The finer you grate you Parmesan cheese, the better!
- You can even shred your own cheese. Especially if you happen to own one of those lemon zesters at home. I always use it to shred my cheese! I get such a nice fine shredded texture from my Parmesan cheese block. By the way, thinner cheese texture will also help it stick and stay on the Parmesan crusted chicken better.
- How should I season chicken breasts? When I make this Parmesan Crusted Chicken I always prepare a special dredging mixture. This delicious mixture includes salt, pepper garlic powder and dried Italian seasoning.
- However, when I have fresh herbs available I use those. I love fresh rosemary or thyme and use them instead or along with the Italian seasoning.
How should I coat chicken breasts?
- First, paper towel dry the chicken and then prepare two bowls. One is for the egg, salt, pepper and seasoning. The other bowl is for the parmesan breading mixture. Next, you should whisk the egg slightly.
- Now it’s time to dredge each chicken breast piece in egg mixture. After that place in parmesan mixture and press. Turn to coat the other side of the chicken with parmesan mixture and press again.
- Repeat with remaining chicken pieces and place each coated parmesan chicken onto a plate or a cutting board.
How to reheat it
Do you ever find yourself struggling to reheat chicken the right way? I do too! That’s why I recommend eating this Parmesan crusted chicken fresh out of the skillet. But if I do have leftovers this is what I would usually do.
I simply heat up parmesan crusted chicken breasts in the oven to get the coating crispy once again. I wouldn’t suggest microwaving them. Microwaving will put too much moisture into the chicken crust and the coating won’t be so crispy any more.
Before I made this Parmesan Crusted Chicken recipe, I had no idea what an easy chicken recipe that was! And what a a great option it is for a weeknight dinner! I liked it so much that I made this parmesan crusted chicken recipe in various combinations. It’s so versatile! You can use it as a main dish, or accompanied by pasta. You can also slice this chicken and use it in your salad.
What to serve Parmesan Crusted Chicken with
I love having a salad with this Parmesan Crusted Chicken. I can slice it up and serve it along this healthy Spinach Salad, or my warm Brussels Sprout Salad. Just make sure to slice the chicken!
You can also serve these chicken breasts with Creamy Pasta or Mashed Potatoes. And finally enjoy it with cooked vegetables, such as spinach or broccoli.
More easy ways you can prepare chicken breasts
Pan Seared Parmesan Crusted Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese (grated or shredded)
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 lb chicken breasts (thin, 4 pieces)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- First, paper towel dry the chicken and then prepare two bowls. One is for the egg, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Next, you should whisk the egg mixture slightly.
- The second bowl is for the parmesan, bread crumbs and flour.
- Now it’s time to dredge each chicken breast piece in egg/seasoning mixture. After that place in parmesan mixture and press. Turn to coat the other side of the chicken with parmesan mixture and press again.
- Repeat with remaining chicken pieces and place each coated parmesan chicken onto a plate or a cutting board.
- MELT butter and ADD olive oil on medium high heat in a skillet (stainless steel, cast iron skillet or non-stick).
- PLACE COATED CHICKEN in skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes one one side. DO NOT MOVE chicken otherwise the cheese will slide off surface before it adheres! Press down lightly with a spatula.
- TURN WITH TONGS when the first side is golden brown and cook the other side for 3 to 4 minutes. Do not cook for more than a total of 6-8 minutes – just set the timer and flip when it beeps.
- CHECK FOR DONENESS to make sure the chicken is fully cooked and not pink. If not, lower the heat and cook for a couple more minutes.
- SERVE immediately.
Do you think Panko crumbs would work?
Yes, they would work. Same proportions.
Can you put this in the oven instead of frying it
Yes, definitely! I would bake it at 375 F for 30 minutes.
Would skinless chicken thighs work with this recipe?
Definitely!
Olive oil becomes CANCEROGENIC when is used for FRYING!!!
Olive oil and oils that are high in polyunsaturated fats,
including most vegetable oils like soybean and canola. When overheated, they can form various harmful compounds. including lipid peroxides and aldehydes, which can contribute to cancer.
Only when it reaches a smoking point and it’s only a speculation. Same website where you got this information from states: “Some sources put the smoke point of olive oil somewhere around 374–405°F (190–207°C) (17). This makes it a safe choice for most cooking methods, including most pan frying.” Pan cooking is safe, unless your oil is smoking (as in the actual frier). Here’s the link to the article from healthline.com where both PG and I got this information from: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-olive-oil-good-for-cooking#smoke-point
I love this recipe! I made one alteration since I’m on a Keto Diet. Instead of adding flour, I used almond flour and omitted the bread crumbs. The end result was just as delicious and the coating worked just as well. I served it with gluten free spaghetti and roasted Parmesan/lemon asparagus. It was a big hit with my family. Thanks for your recipe!
Laura, thank you for these amazing ideas!
What bread crumbs should be used?
I used plain bread crumbs (the ones with minimal additives, drier kind) and also used the ones that have oil mixed into it (more moist) – both worked fine.