Okay, so let me tell you about this chicken parmesan thing I whipped up the other night. It was a lifesaver because, honestly, who has time for complicated recipes after a long day? I certainly don’t.
I started with some chicken breasts, just your regular boneless, skinless ones. I grabbed what I had on hand. I think there were four of them. And I pounded them out a little, just to make them cook evenly. Nothing fancy, just used a meat mallet I had lying around.
Next, I got three shallow dishes ready. In the first one, I whisked together some flour, salt, and pepper. In the second, a couple of eggs, beaten up real good. And in the third, I mixed some breadcrumbs with a bit of grated parmesan cheese, dried oregano, and garlic powder. I eyeballed the amounts, really, just enough to get a nice coating on the chicken.
Then came the fun part – dredging! I took each chicken piece, dipped it in the flour, then the egg, and finally coated it generously in the breadcrumb mixture. Made sure it was all nice and covered.
Now, I know some people fry their chicken, but I wanted to keep things a bit lighter, so I opted for baking. I preheated my oven to 425F. While that was heating up, I laid the breaded chicken pieces on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. This is a trick I learned to prevent sticking and make cleanup easier. I love this trick.
Once the oven was ready, I popped the chicken in and baked it for about 20 minutes. I flipped them halfway through to make sure they got golden brown on both sides. While the chicken was baking, I heated up some marinara sauce on the stove. Just used my favorite jarred kind, no shame in that!
After 20 minutes, I pulled the chicken out. It looked so good already, but we’re not done yet! I spooned some of that warm marinara sauce over each piece and then topped it with a generous amount of shredded mozzarella cheese. I might have gone a little overboard with the cheese, but who can resist that melty goodness?
Back into the oven it went, just for a few more minutes, until the cheese was all melted and bubbly and slightly golden. You know, that perfect cheese pull kind of look.
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Flour, salt, pepper (for dredging)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- Breadcrumbs, grated parmesan, dried oregano, garlic powder (for coating)
- Marinara sauce (jarred is fine!)
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
Ingredient List:
And that’s it! I served it with a side of spaghetti, but you can do whatever you like. Salad, roasted veggies, whatever floats your boat. It was so quick, so easy, and so delicious. The chicken was tender, the sauce was flavorful, and the cheese was, well, cheesy! Definitely a weeknight winner in my book. You should give it a try sometime, and you will love it!