This is one of our all time favorites. Its simple and always a hit. My parmesan chicken recipe can be used to make chicken tenders as well as breaded eggplant or eggplant parmesan.

Ingredients for chicken:
Chicken Breast 1.5-2lbs defrosted
1/2 cup parmesan Cheese
1 cup of Italian bread crumbs
3 tbsps of extra virgin olive oil
1 egg

Because I try and create budget friendly meals to feed my army, I tend to cut my chicken breast in half by width. I started doing this to eliminate food waste in my home. My younger kids have a hard time eating an entire piece, and it cooks much faster this way. I call that a double win! If you prefer to have a larger piece of meat, you can always pound your meat out to keep the time down. I also trim any excess fat.

Cut all your pieces and set aside to make your breading.

For this recipe I used one cup of Italian bread crumbs and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. You’ll need two separate bowls, one medium sized bowl for the breading and one small bowl for one egg.

Combine your bread crumbs and cheese.

Add salt and pepper to taste. I didn’t measure that part. Sorry folks.

Be sure to mash up all those cheese clumps that sneak their way into your breading. Mix it well so you keep that delicious flavor even to the taste buds. They’ll thank you periodically throughout your meal. Trust me. (wink and a handgun)

Wisk your egg in the small bowl and give your pieces of chicken a well deserved egg wash. I feel like this could be the start of a cooking joke. What do you call a chicken who bathes in their own beaten egg…. And for anyone that comes up with an awesome punch line, I will reward you with a gift card to starbucks. Or a dozen fresh eggs, your pick.

Heat your olive oil on medium, be sure you have all the former steps ready. If you over heat your oil, you’ll ruin the flavor. AND you’ll smoke up your kitchen. I have only heard of these things. Its not like its happened to me or anything.

Add your chicken to your heated oil and brown on both sides. I like mine to get a dark golden brown. Because once it starts to bake, it will seal in the juices and add some crisp. Once you get your chicken browning you can start in on your marinara.

Ingredients for Marinara sauce:
One 15 oz can of tomato sauce
One 6 oz can of tomato paste
Garlic power
Italian seasoning
Seasoned salt
Paprika

Ok so this recipe here is the exact same thing I use for my pizza sauce, and dipping sauce for cheese sticks, and basically any other time I need marinara. However it is not my spaghetti sauce recipe. That is just a little different.

Combine sauce and paste into a bowl. I didn’t measure the seasoning either but I’m going to give you some guesstimates. Roughly a 1/4 tsp of both garlic powder and seasoned salt. 1/2 tsp of Italian seasoning, and about an 1/8 tsp of paprika. Mix well. The reason I use the paste for this dish is because it keeps the breading from getting soggy when its baking. I use the entire can of paste. This is just what I’ve come up with over the years and found to work best on both chicken and eggplant parmesan. You can always be a sell out and just buy a can of marinara, but where’s the fun in that?!

Add a little of your sauce to each piece of chicken and top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

And there you have it! Mouth watering chicken parmesan. I would say the prep time for this was about 20 minutes. That includes the breading, browning, and the marinara. So you’re looking a 30-45 minute meal here. It took me a tad longer tonight because my camera man was running into some focusing issues. (My 10 year old son).

If you try this recipe out, please let me know how it went! Also, if you come up with a killer punch line to my lame cooking joke… I am a woman of my word and will honor your reward!