Chicken Parmigiana

Chicken Parmigiana (or Chicken Parmesan) – the great pub favourite has finally landed! Pollo alla parmigiana in Italian, but affectionately referred to by Aussies as Parma, Parmi or “a schnitty with tomato sauce and cheese”, you’ll love this homemade recipe with extra crispy schnitzel, best ever parmigiana sauce and juicy marinated chicken.

Abbreviate the name as much as you want. But don’t abbreviate the recipe!

Chicken Parmigiana

Aussies love good pub grub. But all too often, the standard pub Parmi comes with soggy crumbing, dry chicken, a sub-par tomato sauce and greasy melted cheese.

This homemade version puts those to shame. My secrets?

1. Layers upon layers of seasoning – on and in the chicken, the egg wash, the crumbing, and the sauce;

2. MARINADE the chicken to keep it juicy throughout the double cook;

3. Extra crispy schnitzel – nobody likes a soggy schnitzel!

4. Extra flavourful sauce thanks to a splash of white wine and chicken stock, finished with a sprinkle of fresh basil.

Are you ready for the best Chicken Parmigiana of your life?? Here we go!

(And guess what? This recipe includes a bonus NO FRY version. Impossibly golden and crunchy!)

Part 1: Dry brine marinade for chicken

The first step is to make sure the chicken stays juicy after the double cook (fry + bake) because this essentially overcooks the chicken. Schnitzel-thin chicken takes just 4 minutes to cook – we want to fry for 4 minutes THEN bake for 15 minutes to make that cheese molten!

So we’re using a simple dry brine that acts as a marinade to keep the chicken juicy. Dry brine is better than the typical liquid marinades because they will cause the chicken to leech liquid as it cooks, making the crumb soggy.

What you need for the dry brine

All you need for this dry brine is salt, pepper and an Italian herb mix. Nice and easy – and works like magic!

• Chicken – I like to use breast for ease because once cut horizontally, it forms 2 perfect steaks even without pounding. Boneless thighs works just as well and is in fact juicier, but you’ll need to pound them so they’re even thickness all over;

• Salt and pepper – the salt on the chicken acts like a typical chicken marinade, trapping moisture in the flesh so the chicken is extra juicy and moist once cooked. The pepper and herbs will infuse with subtle flavour; and

• Italian Mixed Herbs – purchased pre mixed from any grocery store. See recipe for alternatives and substitutions. Not the end of the world to leave it out.

Dry brine is essential for juicy chicken parmigiana! It’s simple and quick, so don’t skip this step.

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How to dry brine chicken

To dry brine the chicken, all you do is split chicken breast in half to form thin schnitzel steaks, sprinkle both sides with the salt, pepper and herbs, then set aside for a mere 30 minutes. It only takes 30 minutes because the chicken slices are so thin.

The Parmigiana tomato sauce is often an afterthought – or worse still, cheap jars of pasta sauce. Don’t fall into that trap!

Part 2: Parmigiana Sauce

While the chicken is brining, make the sauce. I like to make the sauce extra flavourful with a splash of white wine (evaporated to remove alcohol and just leave flavour – no trace of winey taste at all) and chicken stock/broth.

• Tomato passata – this is pureed, strained pure tomatoes, sometimes labelled Tomato Puree in the US (here’s a photo of Mutti Tomato Passata sold at Walmart). Readily available in Australian supermarkets nowadays, alongside pasta sauces. I prefer using tomato passata because it makes a perfect thick, smooth sauce – no need to cook crushed tomato for ages so it breaks down;

• Garlic and onion – essential flavour base;

• Italian mixed herbs – for a hint of herby flavour. See recipe for alternatives and substitutions;

• White wine and chicken stock/broth – optional extras for extra flavour! For the white wine, we only use 1/4 cup so just use any white wine that you have open. If buying especially, opt for a discounted dry white wine like sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, pinot gris, semillon or semillon sauvignon blanc. Avoid heavily wooded or very fruity, sweet wines (which some chardonnays and rieslings can be, which is why for simplicity I keep them off my list); and

• Chilli flakes (red pepper flakes) – for the slightest background hint of warmth! Entirely optional.

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How to make Chicken Parmigiana Sauce

Nothing ground breaking in the method, but it’s worth noting that the sauce is a thick saucy consistency, not a stodgy dry dolloping consistency (which kind of defeats the purpose of having delicious tomato sauce smothered on our Parmi!).

This is what the sauce should look like:

Part 3: Crumbing!

Referred to as breading in the US – and given it’s called bread crumbs, I feel like both “crumbing” AND “breading” make sense!

Here’s what you need for the crumbing. It’s a classic schnitzel…but with extra flavour from the parmesan, herbs and garlic!

• Flour – for dusting. This first followed by egg = strong glue for the breadcrumbs;

• Garlic and Italian dried herbs – to mix into the egg for extra subtle flavour. Layers upon layers of flavour, all throughout this parmi!

• Panko breadcrumbs – Panko breadcrumbs are larger than normal breadcrumbs so your schnitzel will be crispier. Find it next to ordinary breadcrumbs or in the Asian aisle (pro tip: cheaper at Asian markets!);

• Parmesan – I like using the sand-like store bought parmesan because the grains are bigger than grating your own which = more bold flavour. Parmesan in crumbing is a traditional Italian method for schnitzels. It adds sensational extra flavour into the schnitzel as well as making it more golden AND crispier. When parmesan is cooked, it is very crispy!

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How to crumb Chicken Parmigiana

Here’s how the crumbing goes down – flour then egg then breadcrumbs. Pile them up, ready to fry! (Or BAKE!)

Part 4: Frying (or baking!)

Amount of oil to use

You don’t need to deep fry chicken parmigiana. Just shallow fry is fine – it doesn’t matter if you get some brown spots from the chicken touching the base of the skillet/pot because it gets covered in sauce.

You just need enough oil to get the breadcrumbs super crispy – you can get away with using as little  as 1.5cm / 1/2″ of oil though 2cm / 3/4″ is ideal.

How long it takes to cook chicken parmigiana

Schnitzel thin chicken takes 4 minutes max to cook through so it’s golden and crispy on the outside, and just cooked on the inside. In fact, it doesn’t matter if it’s not cooked through because it will definitely finish cooking in the oven.

Heads up: Far too many Parmigiana recipes tell you to fry chicken for closer to 10 minutes then bake for 20 minutes! That’s the surefire path to dry chicken breast. Don’t do it!

PRO TIP: Drain chicken on a RACK not on paper towels. It is extra insurance to keep the base super crispy!

5. Smother and bake!

Alrighty – on the home stretch here!! Time to smother and bake:

1. Sauce – Top with sauce, covering about 80% of the surface (leaving some crunchy exposed bits!). At this stage, I also like to sprinkle with a bit of fresh basil;

2. Mozzarella AND parmesan – Pile mounds of mozzarella on top – I find that shredded melts more nicely than slices, but slices work too. Or fresh mozzarella (torn into pieces). Then sprinkle with parmesan (more flavour!) and drizzle with olive oil (to ensure parmesan melts nicely rather than crispy);

3. BAKE for a mere 15 minutes, just so the cheese melts and you get some small brown spots. Do not bake further than you need to – this leads to dry chicken (though you can sit back smugly with the knowledge that yours is brined so it’s extra juicy) AND makes the crust totally soggy under the sauce (quick 15 minutes bake = crumbing under sauce is still a bit crispy which is unheard of!)

4. Finish with a fresh sprinkle of basil then serve immediately!

And there you have it. The best Chicken Parmigiana of your life, made in your very own kitchen!!

That moment when you cut through the molten melted cheese, then you see some tomato sauce squirting out the side, then your knife hits the chicken which you can instantly tell just by feel is so juicy, and that first bite……

UGH! I’m torturing myself describing this!!

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What to serve with Chicken Parmigiana

With the cheesy tomatoey flavours going on here, I really enjoy serving this with a fairly plain leafy salad dressed with Balsamic Dressing. Otherwise, choose a Vegetable Side dish based on what you dig up after rummaging around in your fridge!

And for a blow-out Italian feast, don’t forget crusty-yet-moist Focaccia, or Garlic Bread…. then wrap it up with Tiramisu. Or if you’re after a more simple dessert, try one of these:

• Warm and cosy – Apple Crumble, Strawberry Crumble, Chocolate or Butterscotch Self Saucing Pudding

• Classic – Vanilla Cake, Chocolate Cake or Fudge Cake;

• Quick and easy – Cinnamon Rice Pudding, Brownies

This Chicken Parmigiana is worth the effort.

I know Chicken Parmigiana requires more effort than the usual quick ‘n easy meals. But trust me, it is worth it.

This is better than your standard pub grub. The secret lies in the layers upon layers of flavour and seasoning which, individually, sound like nothing special but together make for a memorable Parmi. The parmesan in the crumbing. The pinch of dried herbs in the marinade, the egg wash and again in the sauce. The little sprinkle of fresh basil on the sauce.

Then add the extra little tips that elevates it to better than your run-of-the-mill recipes: using tomato passata instead of crushed tomato, mounds of shredded cheese instead of slices, and leaving the schnitzel edges clear of sauce so they stay 100% crispy…

It is these little things that collectively make for an epic eating experience, one that I dare say money-can’t-buy except perhaps at the very best old school Italian restaurants.

I hope you treasure this recipe as much as I do! – Nagi x

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Watch how to make it

More Italian chicken amore

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