Chicken Parmesan with Sundried Tomato Sauce

This is an easy baked Chicken Parmesan recipe that’s perfect for date night! Chicken is coated in a parmesan breading, quickly browned in a skillet, then finished in the oven and topped with an amazing sun-dried tomato sauce!

Creating This Easy Chicken Parmesan Recipe

Chicken Parmesan feels like home. I’ve been making it for so long that I barely remember the first time that I made it.

I know that it was sometime during college, because at one point I remember having roommates who were amazed that I could cook something so good.

And that’s when cooking when from an activity I enjoyed to a bit of an obsession.

I was lucky enough to have one other roommate who was also a very good cook (who I am so very lucky to still be in touch with on a regular basis and get to visit often – Hi, Nila!).

Somehow the two of us convinced the other 4 that we should start a meal rotation. That it made more sense for us to take turns cooking real meals each night than it did for all of us to make our separate dinners.

Cooking Light was the only food website that I really knew of back then. I would avoid homework and instead browse recipes and bookmark what I wanted to make next.

Perhaps that itself was an indication that I should have changed majors… But, who knew what a food blog was anyway?

If they even existed, they were probably so few and far between. And the word “blog” certainly was not in the average person’s vocabulary.

So I pressed on studying Psychology with a Neuroscience focus and kept on cooking in my spare time. And thought about food pretty much all the time.

So here is my recipe for what my husband and I both consider “Better Than Any Restaurant” Chicken Parmesan, originally beginning as a Cooking Light recipe, with a few adaptations through the years.

The chicken is basically the same, it’s the sauce that has had a few evolutions.

Baked Chicken Parmesan Ingredients

This is an incredibly easy baked chicken parmesan recipe, despite the pretty presentation. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

• Olive oil
• Onion
• Garlic
• Tomato paste
• Canned diced tomatoes
• Canned crushed tomatoes
• Red wine
• Italian seasoning
• Bay leaf
• Sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
• Red bell pepper
• Fresh parsley
• Balsamic vinegar
• All-purpose flour
• Grated parmesan cheese
• Chicken breasts
• Shredded mozzarella cheese

For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.

How to Make Chicken Parmesan in the Oven

This easy baked chicken parmesan recipe has a few stages to it. First, you have to make the chicken parmesan sauce (it’s a simple sun-dried tomato sauce that’s to die for!).

Then, you coat the chicken in the parmesan breading before browning it in a skillet. The entire dish is finished off in the oven for ultimate crispiness without the need to drag out a deep fryer.

1. Make the tomato sauce for the chicken parmesan: All of the ingredients are added to a pot, then left to simmer for roughly 15 minutes. Don’t try to rush this step, the simmering is what helps the sauce develop a rich flavor.
2. Prep the chicken: Combine the flour, parmesan, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl or plate with a rim.
3. Place chicken breasts in a gallon sized Ziploc bag. Using a meat mallet, pound meat on both sides until it is flattened to 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch.
4. Coat each piece of chicken in egg white, then dip both sides into the in parmesan mixture.
5. Brown the chicken: In a cast iron skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces to the pan, cooking until golden.
6. Add chicken to a lightly greased 9×13-inch pan.
7. Pour a large spoonful of sauce on top of each breast, then top with mozzarella.
8. Bake the chicken: Bake until chicken is cooked through and cheese is melted.

The above is simply a quick summary of this recipe. Check out the full recipe in the free printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for all the detailed instructions.

How Long to Bake Chicken Parmesan?

After browning the chicken in a skillet (roughly 5 minutes per side), it will need to bake at 350ºF for 5 to 10 minutes to finish it off.

What Pasta Goes with Chicken Parmesan?

I recommend using a long, skinny pasta like spaghetti or fettuccine. The longer noodles are easier to coat in the chicken parmesan sauce, and they can be slurped up with the pieces of chicken!

What to Serve with Chicken Parmesan

Not sure what goes well with chicken parmesan? Here are some sugggestions for side dishes for chicken parmesan:

• Italian Mixed Greens Salad
• Caesar Salad
• Lemon Roasted Broccolini
• Rosemary Garlic Bread
• Honey Balsamic Carrots

Don’t see what you’re looking for here? You can always head over to check out the recipe index to look for more recipes.

5 Star Chicken Parmesan

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