Charles’ Chicken Parmesan

Charles’ Chicken Parmesan is perfectly crisp with a zesty rich tomato sauce and topped with the best fresh mozzarella one can find. This can be enjoyed in  a couple different ways, and is a great weekday dinner. He made me (and my parents) this in our first week of dating, and it is still our favourite meal!

I’m an 80:20 kind of gal. In fact, I think there are a lot of things in life that this ‘rule’ can apply to; eating is one of them. I’m the first one to take an extra helping of kale, but there are times when I give myself some slack and dig my fork into something slightly more decadent, like chicken parmesan. The key to healthy living is moderation and balance, and my splurges aren’t the kind from a package with a mile-long ingredient list.

When I met Charles (my hubby), he suggested that I come over to my parent’s house and cook them dinner the very first week that we met. My thoughts? This guy is gutsy! The result? The best night EVER! My dad jokes that he traded his daughter for a chicken cutlet. While this may be true, I can’t totally fault him. This is one damned good dish.

How to Make Chicken Parmesan From Scratch

The beauty of this recipe (and one of the reasons I love it so much) is it is from scratch! It takes a little bit more work, but is SO worth it in the end. Some of the key elements in making this homemade recipe are :  pounding down the chicken breasts (a must) and using a flour mixture, egg and panko mixture for coating. Then, cook each chicken breast one at a time, frying in oil until golden. This will rival any chicken parmesan you have ever had… seriously!

How to Make Chicken Parmesan Pops

Making dinner FUN is really important to me. So changing up this dish and serving it as a “pop” is an exciting and joyful dinner experience for you and your family. Using the recipe below, simple slice your chicken breast into long strips (2-4 per breast depending on the size), do the three part dredge in flour, egg and panko, then skewer! Then you can go ahead and fry.

Make a Chicken Parmesan Appetizer 

This recipe makes a wonderful dinner, but it also works as a fun and yummy appetizer! We did all the same steps as the recipe below, but instead of leaving the chicken a full breasts, we cut into smaller diced chunks before coating and frying. We then, added them to skewers with bocconcini, baby tomatoes and fresh basil. They taste SO GOOD dipped in the sauce. This will seriously be a new favourite.

Having a hubby that cooks is a total dream come true for me!  The kitchen is truly our happy place. Checkout his other “famous” dish : Charles’ Chicken Paprikash, which is another favourite dish of mine. And if you’re looking for more chicken recipes that are great for weeknights, we are huge fans of these Crispy Chicken Sandwiches and this hearty Chicken Cacciatore.

Charles’ Chicken Parmesan

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Charles' Chicken Parmesan

Charles’ Chicken Parmesan is perfectly crisp with a zesty rich tomato sauce and topped with the best fresh mozzarella one can find. This is a perfect dinner that my family loves. Use a good quality pre-made tomato sauce to cut down on the prep for this dish.

Servings 6

Author Fraîche

Ingredients

For the Chicken

• 6 chicken breasts, boneless skinless evenly pounded flat to ½ inch *
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 4 eggs well beaten
• 2-3 cups panko crumbs
• 1 ½ cups fresh parmesan cheese grated and divided in half
• oil for frying (canola or avocado oil)

For the Sauce

• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium sweet onion diced
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary chopped
• 5 cloves garlic minced
• 6 medium tomatoes diced
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ cup fresh basil chopped
• 2 large balls fresh mozzarella cheese cut in slices
• 6 sprigs fresh rosemary or 6 fresh basil leaves, diced

Instructions

1. Place your chicken breasts between two sheets of wax or parchment paper and pound your chicken breasts with a mallet until ½ inch thick. Season each chicken breast on both sides with salt and pepper and set aside on a plate at room temperature.
2. In a shallow medium bowl (such as a pie dish), combine the flour, garlic powder, sweet paprika, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Set aside.
3. In another shallow large bowl, place the panko and half of the Parmesan cheese (3/4 cup) in the bowl and season with salt and pepper.
4. To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a large deep frying pan on the medium heat setting on your stove. Add the diced onion and cook the onion until transparent and lightly golden brown, approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the rosemary and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and sugar and simmer on low heat for approximately 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. You may need to add a few tablespoons of water to the sauce as you cook it to keep it becoming too dry.
5. Once the sauce is cooked, stir in your basil and remove from the heat and set aside.

6. Preheat the oven to 170 F and place one rack a couple of inches from the broiler (second rack) and the other in the middle of the oven.

7. In a separate large frying pan, heat 1/4” of canola oil on medium heat on the stove.
8. Once the oil is ready, take each chicken breast and lightly dredge in the flour followed by the egg and ending with the panko. Make sure that each piece of chicken is lightly coated on all sides. Cook one piece of chicken at a time on each side until golden brown, approximately 3-4 minutes a side. Place the cooked chicken on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in the oven to keep warm while you cook the remaining chicken. Repeat this step with each breast until they are all cooked, being sure to leave space between each chicken breast in the oven (don’t stack).
9. Once the chicken breasts are cooked, remove the pan from the oven and preheat the oven to broil. Keeping the chicken on the baking sheet, top each chicken breast with approximately 1/3 cup of tomato sauce (or as much as you would like), spreading the sauce over the chicken breast, add 1-3 slices of mozzarella cheese (depending on the size) and top with a spoonful of the remaining Parmesan cheese.
10. Once all of the chicken breasts are prepared, place the baking sheet on the higher oven rack and broil for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
11. Remove from the oven, top with the rosemary or basil garnish if desired and serve!