Recipes

Tender Chicken Parmesan (aka Chicken Parm)

Final chicken parm on a bed of bucatini pasta (VC in the Kitchen)

There’s something so satisfying and enjoyable about a good plate of chicken parmesan. A breaded and flavorful chicken breast, accompanied by a tangy marinara sauce, all of which usually sits atop a pile of pasta, is what dreams are made of. But I’ve also seen the dish executed poorly, let’s be honest. Some places serve a greasy, over-breaded, dried-out piece of chicken with a mediocre jarred tomato sauce and call it chicken parm. Don’t let that be you. Below I share my recipe and secrets to a perfectly tender and moist chicken parmesan.

I’ve served this recipe to my hard-to-please New Jersey friends who have high standards, and they loved it. Some of you might not appreciate the significance of that fact, but with a large Italian population, northern New Jersey folks pride themselves on knowing Italian food. So I’m pretty confident that this chicken parmesan is a winner. Of course, I’m by no means proclaiming this recipe to be authentic – but I will confidently state that it is at least delicious.

Disclaimer: This recipe has a decent amount of steps and involves some advanced planning with a brine, so be prepared. If you’re comfortable in the kitchen and prepare in advance, you could make this for a weeknight dinner without issue. I wouldn’t call this an easy recipe. But each step is worth the effort, I promise. And as I note below, I recommend putting in the extra effort of using homemade easy marinara sauce instead of jarred. My sauce recipe does not require significantly more time or effort than what you’re doing for the chicken parm and the taste is much better than what you can get from the store.

I loosely adapted my chicken parm recipe from Serious Eats, with several modifications as I’ve continued to work on this recipe over the years. Let’s get started…

Preparing the chicken

Prep is probably the most important part of the recipe. There are two secrets to getting moist and tender chicken each and every time:

Pound the chicken flat to achieve the same level of thickness for all chicken
Soak the chicken in a buttermilk garlic brine

If you do these two steps, you are guaranteed to have tender chicken breasts that are never dried out.

To get started, take 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts and cut the breasts in half horizontally. Working one piece at a time, place inside a plastic zip-lock bag and pound with a meat pounder to an even 1/4-inch thickness. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add 3 tablespoons kosher salt, 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, 1.5 cups buttermilk, and 4 cloves of minced garlic to the bowl. Mix the chicken all pieces are fully coated in buttermilk mixture. Transfer to a large zipper-lock bag, press out the air, and seal. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but overnight is best.

Breading the chicken parmesan

Once the chicken breasts have brined, you’ll have to prepare the breading. Line up 3 shallow bowls/containers or pie plates to prepare the chicken for dredging. Fill them as follows:

#1: Place 2 cups of flour
#2: Whisk together 3 large eggs, 3 tablespoons buttermilk, and 1 tablespoon of the flour
#3: Combine 2 cups of breadcrumbs with 1 cup Parmesan cheese. Season with 1 tablespoon of salt. Optional: You can drizzle a tablespoon or two of buttermilk into the breadcrumbs to develop more of a crumbly texture, but I found this works just as well without it – especially as you bread more chicken and the egg wash starts to stick in the breadcrumb mixture anyway

Using one hand, take one piece of chicken from the bag, letting the excess buttermilk drip off. Lay flat in the flour dish to coat one side thoroughly and then flip over so both sides are coated with flour. Shake off excess, then transfer to the egg mixture. Flip to coat, then pick up and let hang for a bit to remove excess egg. Add to breadcrumb mixture, turning over and pressing in the breadrumbs so an even layer of coating adheres to the chicken. Transfer the coated chicken to the wire rack and repeat with remaining chicken.

Cooking the chicken parm

Heat up the tomato sauce: You can certainly use jarred tomato sauce for this recipe to save time. But I figure with all of the effort I already put in making the chicken parm, I might was well make my own sauce as well. I make a batch of my easy marinara tomato sauce before I start breading my chicken and leave it on the stove to simmer. It’s worth the effort. However, if you prefer to use already prepared tomato sauce, add the sauce to a medium-size saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring occasionally, until barely simmering. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Heat 2-3 tablespoons of canola or vegetable oil in a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until sizzling. Working in batches, carefully lower the breaded chicken into the oil to fit in one even layer in the pan (about 3).

Cook until chicken is golden-brown and crisp on bottom side, about 2 minutes. Using a spatula and a fork, carefully flip cutlet and cook until golden brown on the other side. Transfer browned chicken to a paper-towel lined plate to drain and repeat with remaining chicken.

Spoon 1 cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom of an oven-safe baking or casserole dish. Place a browned chicken cutlet on the bottom of the dish. Top with some tomato sauce down the center of the chicken. Lay a mozzarella slice over the sauce, also in the center of the chicken. Repeat with the remaining chicken, allowing cutlets to overlap slightly. Keeping the sauce in the center of the chicken parmesan cutlets prevents the breading from getting too soggy and keeps the edges nice and crispy.

Transfer the baking dish to the oven and cook until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately grate fresh Parmesan on top. Allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.

Serving up the chicken parmesan

Upon serving, top each chicken parm cutlet with chopped basil and some extra grated Parmesan cheese. If desired, feel free to add more tomato sauce immediately before serving.

Feel free to serve the chicken parmesan on its own, with a green salad on the side (I love the peppery fresh taste of a lemon arugula salad). But I love my chicken parm on the bed of pasta, such as spaghetti or bucatini, served with more of the same easy marinara tomato sauce.

Chicken Parmesan

Print Recipe

Serves: 6 Cooking Time: 80 min

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 3/4 cups buttermilk, divided
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons kosher salt, divided
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 cup of freshly ground Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 cups of all-purpose flour (plus a tablespoon)
3 large eggs
2 cups dry bread crumbs
Vegetable or canola oil
4 cups red tomato sauce (try this homemade recipe)
1 8-oz ball of fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil

Instructions

Cut chicken breasts in half horizontally. Working one piece at a time, place inside a thick plastic Ziploc bag and pound to an even 1/4-inch thickness. Transfer to a large bowl.

Season chicken with 3 tablespoons kosher salt and 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper. Add 1.5 cups buttermilk and minced garlic to bowl. Use your hands to mix the chicken until completely coated in buttermilk mixture. Transfer all of the bowl contents to a large zipper-lock bag and seal, pressing out the air. Refrigerate overnight, if possible, or for at least 4 hours.

Lay out 3 shallow containers or pie plates. In the first, place flour. In the second, whisk together eggs, 3 tablespoons buttermilk, and 1 tablespoon of the flour. For the third, mix together breadcrumbs, 1 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, and 1 tablespoon of salt.

Working one piece of chicken at a time, remove from the bag and let excess buttermilk mixture drip off. Place gently in the flour. Flip then lift to shake off excess. Add to the egg mixture and turn over to coat both sides. Let excess drip off, then add to breadcrumb mixture. Press crumbs into the cutlet so a thick layer adheres, then flip over to do the same on the other side. Transfer coated chicken to the wire rack and repeat with remaining chicken breasts.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Heat about 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, carefully lower chicken into the oil, adding in one at a time to fit in one layer (around 2-3 cutlets).

Brown until the bottom is golden-brown and crisp, about 2 minutes. Using a thin spatula and a fork, carefully flip chicken pieces and cook until golden brown on the other side. Transfer chicken to a paper-towel lined plate to drain and repeat with remaining chicken.

Place 1 cup of tomato sauce onto the bottom of a casserole dish. Top with more sauce down the center, then add a slice of mozzarella cheese in the center. Repeat with remaining chicken, allowing the chicken edges to overlap slightly.

Transfer the casserole to the oven and cook until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately grate fresh Parmesan on top. Allow to rest for a few minutes. Top with fresh basil slivers and more grated Parmesan before serving.