Oh how we love chicken parmesan—chicken cutlets, breaded and fried, smothered with tomato sauce, covered with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, and baked until the cheese is bubbly and melts into every nook and cranny.
Like its sister recipe, my mother’s parmesan chicken (chicken nuggets dipped in melted butter, breaded and baked), this dish is pure comfort food.
It’s one of those everyone-should-know-how-to-make recipes. It’s easy and comes together quickly. In fact, it’s hard to mess up! Chicken parmesan is also one of the best uses I can think of for boneless, skinless, chicken breasts.
One trick that will save a little time with making the sauce is to peel and grate the onion instead of chopping it. Use the large holes of a box grater. The onion will cook faster this way, release more of its juices, and your sauce will come together more quickly.
Chicken Parmesan Recipe
Your sauce will only be as good as your tomatoes, so use a good quality canned tomato! We like San Marzano or Muir Glen.
Grating the onion will create smaller onion pieces and release more of the onion's juices, and is faster than chopping.
Grating the onion will create smaller onion pieces and release more of the onion's juices, and is faster than chopping.
Ingredients
Sauce:- 1/2 large yellow onion, grated (don't cut onion in half, just grate half of a whole onion), about 3/4 cup of grated onion
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes (we use Muir-Glen)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Pinch of sugar
- 4 chicken breast cutlets (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds total)
- Salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup breadcrumbs (we make our breadcrumbs running pieces of stale French bread through a blender)
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 Tbsp fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced
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