Description
If you’re looking for an easy yet impressive dinner recipe that tastes like your Italian grandmother made it from scratch, then Easy Chicken Parmesan is the answer! Juicy chicken cutlets fried in a crunchy panko parmesan crust smothered in melty mozzarella, all topped with yummy tomato marinara sauce (that you bought from the store, shhhh, no one will know). Serve it on a bed of lightly-sauced spaghetti or fettuccine noodles. An impressive and delicious family dinner, ready in about 30-40 minutes.
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 chicken breast cutlets, 1/2 inch thick in the center
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated fontina cheese
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 and 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1 and 1/2 cups of your favorite tomato marinara sauce (I love RAO’s)
- 1/2 package of spaghetti
Instructions
- Fill a large dutch oven or stockpot with water to cook the spaghetti and set it over high heat to boil. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or other non-stick lining and set aside. Move an oven rack to the upper middle position.
- Lay out the chicken cutlets in a single layer and sprinkle them with salt. In a small bowl, mix together the mozzarella and the fontina cheeses and set aside.
- In a pie plate, whisk together the eggs and the flour until smooth. In another pie plate or round cake pan, stir together the parmesan, panko bread crumbs, garlic powder, oregano and pepper.
- Blot the chicken dry on both sides with paper towels. Dip both sides of the cutlets in the egg mixture, then in the panko-parmesan mixture, pressing the crumbs on to stick. Set breaded chicken on a platter.
- Set a 12 inch nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil and heat until shimmering. Place two cutlets gently into the oil and don’t move them for at least 2-3 minutes. When the bottoms are golden brown, flip the chicken over and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes or until evenly browned. Remove and set on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining cutlets.
- Add in the spaghetti noodles to the boiling water and cook al dente, according to the package directions. Set your oven to broil. Mound the mozzarella cheese mixture on top of each piece of cooked chicken. Place the chicken under the broiler for just a minute or two to melt. Watch it carefully to keep it from burning!
- Turn off the heat for the spaghetti when it’s done and drain the water. Toss spaghetti with 1 and 1/2 cups of marinara sauce and cover to keep warm.
- Place a couple spoonfuls of marinara sauce over the chicken cutlets and serve over individual servings of spaghetti.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 chicken cutlet and 1/2 cup spaghetti
- Calories: 452
- Sugar: 3.1 g
- Sodium: 1088 mg
- Fat: 15.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 6.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 44.1 g
- Fiber: 2.6 g
- Protein: 33.1 g
- Cholesterol: 124 mg