Back To Basics – Chicken Parmesan     

Nothing says great Italian classic like chicken parmesan. This recipe is pretty straight forward and does a nice job of showcasing the cooking methods of deep frying or shallow frying in most cases. Let’s jump into the recipe and we’ll break it down afterwards.  You also can’t have chicken parmesan without homemade pasta, right?!

Chicken Parmesan Ingredients

  1. 3# Chicken breast
  2. 1 ½ C. Flour
  3. 2 Tbsp. Salt
  4. 1 Tbsp. Black pepper
  5. (3) Eggs
  6. ¼ C. Water
  7. 2 ½ C. Panko Bread Crumb
  8. 1 Tbsp. Chopped Fresh Basil
  9. 30g. garlic (4 Large Cloves)
  10. 30g. Shallot (2 Small Shallots)
  11. ½ C. Finely Shredded or Grated Parm (Plus More for Topping Chicken)
  12. 2 Tsp. Fresh Chopped Thyme
  13. ½ Tsp. Olive Oil per Breast (Plus More for Frying)
  14. 1 Jar of Your Favorite Tomato Sauce
  15. 2 C. Mozzarella Cheese

Chicken Parmesan Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 325°.
  2. Lay chicken breasts on a cutting board and slice them lengthwise into thinner cutlets.
  3. Brush lightly with olive oil and cover lightly with plastic wrap.
  4. Using a meat mallet, pound the thicker portion of the breast to create and even thickness throughout.
  5. In a large flat-bottomed container combine flour, salt, and pepper.
  6. In another similar container, combine eggs and water and whisk until thoroughly combined.
  7. On a clean cutting board very finely chop the garlic and shallot. They should almost be a paste.
  8. In a third similar container, combine breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, thyme, basil, shallots, and garlic.
  9. Bread the chicken breasts one at a time, dredge in flour first, then into the egg wash mixture, and finally in the seasoned breadcrumbs.
  10. Add about 1 inch of either a light olive oil or vegetable oil to a heavy bottomed pot like a Dutch oven. Heat oil to 300°.
  11. Working in batches, fry the breasts for 1-2 minutes per side. We’re just trying to toast the breadcrumbs; the chicken will still be raw.
  12. Remove chicken from oil and lay on baking sheet. Top with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until breasts reach an internal temperature of 165°.
  13. Serve alongside some homemade pasta with more of your favorite tomato sauce.

Chicken Parmesan Recipe Recap

In this recipe we add parmesan, thyme, and basil to the breading. These three ingredients have a high likelihood to burn if your oil is too hot. We set our oil temperature to 300 for this reason. Lightly cooking the herbs allows them to bloom and become more fragrant. However, if the oil is too hot, they will go from fragrant to burnt extremely fast.

Shallow Frying & Deep Frying

The difference between the two cooking methods is simply the amount of oil. Deep frying fully submerges the food in oil and in shallow frying the oil usually only comes halfway up the food.  Shallow frying is a much more practical cooking method than deep frying in most home kitchens.  The amount of oil needed to deep fry is simply too much to make the cooking method logical for use on a regular basis.