This Chicken Parmigiana is an Italian classic quick and easy way to turn boring chicken into something flavorful. Yes, you can use bottled pasta sauce, or make my homemade version. Served over pasta, this is a delicious dinner that even kids will love.
If you’ve never made Chicken Parmesan (or Parmigiana), you need marinara sauce. I stopped buying bottled spaghetti sauce years ago, because I found that making your own sauce is so easy, and I think it tastes much better. I try to buy San Marzano crushed tomatoes to make my own sauce. They’re a little more expensive, but they taste so good. Let’s begin:
Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Season flour with salt & pepper. Brown the chicken in olive oil and a little butter, until browned (about 3-5 minutes). Remove from heat, cover with foil and keep warm (I heat my oven to 200F). My salted pasta water is already started on the stove, too.
You could make the marinara sauce, after the chicken is cooked. I actually made mine a day ahead. That way I could spend more time visiting with company. Of course, you can buy bottled marinara sauce. I think it’s cheaper to make my own, and I can control how much sodium goes into it– and I know what’s in it!
These photos aren’t my best work. I had company, it was already night time, and I don’t take extra time to shoot photos when I have guests. Simply return the chicken to the sauce– and here’s where I improvised. Instead of adding more Parmesan cheese on top of the chicken, I added fresh mozzarella. When I lifted the lid, to take a photo, the cheese hadn’t fully melted. (In the end, it did!)
I served this with linguine noodles, cooked al dente and garnished it with fresh parsley. If I had basil, I would have used that– alas, my basil was finished by October. This is a fast and simple dinner to make. I think kids would love it, too.
Quick and Easy Chicken Parmigiana
Ingredients
- 4 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, up To 6; Trimmed And Pounded Flat
- 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
- Salt And Pepper to taste
- 1/2 cups Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 Medium Onion Chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic Minced
- 3/4 cups Wine preferably red, but white is Fine
- 3 cans 14.5 Oz. Crushed Tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons Sugar
- 1/4 cup X Chopped Fresh Parsley
- 1 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 6 slices fresh mozarella cheese optional
- 1 pound Thin Linguine
Instructions
- Mix flour, salt, and pepper together on a large plate.
- Dredge flattened chicken breasts in flour mixture. Set aside.
- At this time, you can start a pot of water for your pasta. Cook linguine until al dente, according to package directions.
For the chicken:
- Heat olive oil and butter together in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter is melted and oil/butter mixture is hot, fry chicken breasts until nice and golden brown on each side, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- Remove chicken breasts from the skillet and keep warm.
For the Sauce*:
- Without cleaning skillet, add onions and garlic and gently stir for 2 minutes.
- Pour in wine and scrape the bottom of the pan, getting all the flavorful bits off the bottom. Allow wine to cook down until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
- Pour in crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Add sugar and more salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cook for 30 minutes. Toward the end of cooking time, add chopped parsley and give sauce a final stir.
- Carefully lay chicken breasts on top of the sauce and completely cover them in grated Parmesan**.
- **NOTE: I added fresh slices of mozzarella cheese, which we loved.
- Place lid on skillet and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer until cheese is melted and chicken is thoroughly heated. Add more cheese to taste.
- Place cooked noodles on a plate and cover with sauce.
- Place chicken breast on top and sprinkle with more parsley. Serve immediately.
Notes
Hi Deb.
Here in NJ, Chicken "Parm" is a staple!
Yours looks great!
O.k., you got my attention! I really, really, need to learn how to make a good marinara sauce! I'm on a making-food-from-scratch kick, and would love to see a tutorial on this from you~
Mr. H was just craving chicken parm, which is a rarity because he's not a fan of red sauce. However this looks so good, I want some too!
You are so right. Homemade marinara sauce is super easy to make and is far superior to the jarred versions. I usually use Mario Batali or Giada's recipe. I make the whole batch and freeze what I don't use for later.
Your Chicken Parmesan looks so comforting in this cold weather.
Stay warm,
Sam
Certainly worth waiting for!
I'm a huge chicken parm fan! Stacey is so right. It is a staple food here in NJ. Yours looks perfect!
Looks delicious. There is nothing better than a good homemade marinara sauce–yum!
I am making this tomorrow, I have the sauce already made and in my fridge! I love the San Marzano tomatoes but they are so hard to find in these parts!
I'm sure your guest appreciated the chicken parm – it looks great!
I love that you used skinless breasts and it turned out looking so amazing. I can't wait to try this delicious recipe.
I love this sauce. Yours is beautiful. I need to make some before the week is out. Thanks for the round up.
That chicken parm looks absolutely delicious! It is such a great dish to serve for guests. Always a crowd-pleaser.