Baked Chicken Parmigiana

Baked Chicken Parmigiana

I LOVE Baked Chicken Parmigiana and this delicious recipe bakes the chicken rather than frying it! Chicken breast schnitzels are coated in a seasoned panko breadcrumb mixture before topping them in a rich tomato sauce, ham and cheese. You will swear that these were pan fried but they're done entirely in the oven! This is a pushy dinner recipe Dear Reader.

Baked Chicken Parmigiana

I really like chicken parmigianas but sometimes you just want one that is a bit less oily and that's where baking it comes in! It is entirely possible to bake a crispy, golden and crunchy chicken schnitzel and the rest is so easy that you don't have to go out to the pub to enjoy your favourite parmi!

Tips For Making Baking Chicken Parmigiana

Baked Chicken Parmigiana

1 - Chicken schnitzel or parmigiana fillets are made out of a halved chicken breast. All you have to do is cut across the breast from the thickest part where it will open up into a heart shape - you get two chicken schnitzel fillets per breast. You can also buy Chicken Breast Schnitzel already sliced up where they usually come in a 500g/1.1lb pack of 4.

2 - Chicken Parmigiana in Australia are usually topped with ham and cheese, while other countries just use cheese. I use a mixture of tasty or Cheddar cheese slices plus grated fresh mozzarella for meltability.

3 - We pre-toast the panko breadcrumbs so that they are golden and super crunchy before coating the chicken in them.

4 - For convenience you can use a pre-bought pasta sauce. Whichever one you like the best is good. I use my home made marinara sauce with chilli added to it that I make in the Thermomix.

5 - UPGRADE: Brine your chicken breasts for juicy and tender chicken! All you need is 30-60 minutes-just dissolve 100g/3.5ozs fine salt in 1 cup/250ml/8.8flozs of hot water and then top it up with 3 cups/750/0.8 quart cold water. Place in a container in the fridge for 60 minutes.

Baked Chicken Parmigiana

Other recipe dishes to make with chicken breasts are Stuffed Chicken Breasts With Spinach, Healthy Tuscan Chicken, Chicken Paillard, Chicken Sorrentino or Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Breasts Stuffed With Cheese!

Mr NQN has been eating a lot of chicken breast lately because it's a healthy source of protein and he has been trying to eat a bit healthier (for his parmigianas, I use less ham and cheese too). He also doesn't like overly oily food so this chicken parmigiana was perfect for him for dinner. I left a plate of this for him to eat as I left early that afternoon for an event a couple of weeks ago in Mosman.

I arrived at the function at around 5pm. Everyone was very nicely dressed and waiting to get in. I just had to do a park right in front of them. Now everyone was watching me reverse park. I reversed into the car spot without too much drama and opened the door. Feeling the chill I pulled the coat that was sitting on the front passenger side of the car across to my side of the car and started to put it on.

Baked Chicken Parmigiana

Then something rolled out of my coat pocket. And it rolled and unrolled entirely. It was a brand new roll of dog poop bags that I had put in my coat when I walked Teddy and Milo last week. It was so large that it rolled all the way to the crowd of people waiting stopping about a foot away from the nearest person.

Arrrggh I said to myself groaning inwardly. If you're a dog parent you'll know that it's like having a toilet paper roll unfurl. I hoped for one second that nobody knew what it was but while trying to quickly scoop it up I heard someone mutter to their friend "Dog poo bags," and then giggle. So that's how to not make an elegant entrance into an event. I should have stayed home and eaten the parmigiana!

So tell me Dear Reader, do things like this happen to you too? And do you have parmigianas with ham or without?

Baked Chicken Parmigiana

Baked Chicken Parmigiana

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An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Serves: 4

  • 500g/1.1lb total weight or 4 Chicken Breast Schnitzel fillets
  • 90g/3ozs panko breadcrumbs
  • 1.5 teaspoons Knorr chicken broth powder
  • 1 egg or 2 egg whites, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • Extra virgin olive oil spray
  • 600ml/21flozs your favourite tomato pasta sauce (I use my home made marinara with chilli)
  • 8 slices ham
  • 8 slices tasty or cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup/60g/2ozs mozzarella, grated
  • 1/4 cup/30g/1oz parmesan cheese, grated
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley to sprinkle on top

Baked Chicken Parmigiana

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 160C/320F fan forced and spread out the panko breadcrumbs on a baking tray. Toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes until golden. Place in a wide, shallow bowl and mix with the chicken broth powder. Whisk the egg with the mustard in a wide, shallow bowl.

Baked Chicken Parmigiana

Step 2 - Increase oven temperature to 180C/350F fan forced and line a large baking tray with parchment and spray with olive oil spray. Pound each chicken schnitzel fillet with the smooth side of a mallet until an even thickness. Dip the chicken all over in the egg and then dip in the toasted crumbs making sure to get crumbs pressed in all over on both sides. Place on the prepared tray and repeat with the others. Spray with olive oil spray and bake for 10 minutes. Carefully turn over the chicken, spray and then bake for another 3 minutes.

Baked Chicken Parmigiana
Before baking the chicken. Pre-toasting the breadcrumbs makes them super golden and crunchy

Step 3 - While the chicken is baking, spread half of the pasta sauce on the base of a large ceramic baking dish. Carefully lift the chicken schnitzel on top of the tomato. Then top each chicken fillet with 1 slice of tasty cheese, then 2 slices of ham, then another slice of tasty cheese. Place an extra ladleful of sauce on top and then sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan evenly across all four fillets (I added the final scoop of sauce at the end because I love my schnitzel to be as crunchy as possible). Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until melted. Dress with parsley and serve.

Baked Chicken Parmigiana

Baked Chicken Parmigiana

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