Good old-fashioned chicken Parmesan gets the skillet treatment in this one-pot dish. Serve with rice or spaghetti for comfort food at its finest—and fastest!
One of the first classic Italian dishes I mastered was a traditional chicken Parmesan. It’s a special dish but does require some serious work. A classic chicken Parmesan recipe will probably take a few hours to fry, bake, and clean up. As a reward, however, it’ll make a huge amount of food.
This Skillet Chicken Parmesan has all the same flavors as the traditional version, but is ready in much less time. Plus, everything is made in one oven-safe skillet! Can you say easy cleanup?!
EASY CHICKEN PARM IN ONE SKILLET
The only thing you need to make this recipe happen is a good oven-safe skillet for cooking everything. I use a cast iron skillet with high sides.
First, I bread and then lightly fry the chicken on the stovetop in a little olive oil. You could use any oil you have, but I like the flavor olive oil gives. Just a note though: You may need to fry in batches; if the pan gets overcrowded the chicken may not crisp up to your liking.
Once the chicken is fried, remove the chicken from the pan and pour out the oil (you can save it for a few other fry sessions if you want). Then cook the onions, garlic, and sauce in the same skillet. Not only does this save on cleanup because you don’t need to clean it before re-using it, but you get a lot of flavor by scraping up the bits stuck to the pan from the chicken fry.
Once the sauce comes together, nestle the chicken pieces back in the skillet and bake it quickly in the oven to finish cooking the chicken and melt the cheese on top. Done deal!
Low-Carb Chicken Parm Option
I like to bread my chicken cutlets for this skillet version, but if you wanted a lighter option, and one that required even LESS cleanup, here’s what you do.
Eliminate the breading, add a small amount of olive oil to the skillet, and just pan sear the chicken cutlets until they are almost cooked through (four to five minutes per side). Then finish the recipe as listed, and you end up with a low-carb version of chicken Parmesan with no breading!
HOW TO SERVE CHICKEN PARMESAN
I normally serve this Chicken Parmesan over spaghetti, but feel free to experiment with it, as the flavors are great on so many things. You could serve it over rice and be just fine, or with a big piece of crusty bread and a salad.
HOW TO STORE AND REHEAT
Chicken Parmesan keeps really well in the fridge for four to five days, or you could freeze it once it has cooled off.
I find that it reheats the best in the oven with some of the sauce. If the sauce is too thick out of the fridge, thin it out with some water before reheating the dish. In a 325°F oven, heat the chicken for about 20 minutes to warm everything thoroughly and re-melt the cheese.
LOOKING FOR MORE EASY CHICKEN RECIPES?
Skillet Chicken Parmesan Recipe
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds chicken cutlets
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 cups marinara tomato sauce, homemade or store-bought
- 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced
- Fresh basil, garnish
- Red pepper flakes, garnish
- Cooked spaghetti or rice, for serving
Special equipment:
- 12-inch oven-safe cast iron or stainless steel skillet
Method
1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat olive oil in a 12-inch oven-safe skillet over medium heat.
2 Bread the chicken: Prepare your breading stations by stirring the salt and pepper with the flour in one bowl, whisking the egg in a second bowl, and measuring breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese into a third bowl. Coat chicken cutlets with seasoned flour. Dust off any extra flour.
Transfer chicken cutlets to egg mixture and coat. Then transfer to the breadcrumbs and coat. Place breaded chicken on a plate.
3 Fry the chicken: You’ll know the oil is ready when a few breadcrumbs sizzle immediately when added to the oil (325°F). Add breaded chicken cutlets and fry for 4 minutes per side. The chicken should be 90 percent cooked through at this point; it should not be 100 percent cooked through. (Just a note though: You may need to fry in batches; if the pan gets overcrowded the chicken may not crisp up to your liking.)
Remove chicken from the skillet, and carefully pour the olive oil into a bowl to cool, leaving about a tablespoon in the skillet. Don’t rinse out the skillet.
4 Make the sauce: Add the onion and garlic to skillet and cook over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, until onion is translucent. Add the marinara sauce and bring to a low simmer.
5 Finish the chicken Parm: Add the chicken back to the skillet in the sauce. Top each chicken piece with a slice of mozzarella cheese.
Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the sauce is bubbling, the cheese is melted, and the chicken registers 165°F in the thickest parts.
6 Serve: Serve chicken Parmesan immediately over pasta, rice, or even with bread and a salad. Garnish with red pepper flakes and fresh basil.
LEFTOVERS! Leftover chicken Parmesan can be stored in the fridge for 4 to 5 days once it has cooled. For best results, reheat chicken Parm in a 325° F oven with some of the sauce until the cheese is re-melted.
