Chicken Parmigiana (Chicken Parmesan)
Possibly the most popular pub food in Australia, Chicken Parmigiana or Chicken Parmesan (known locally as chicken parmy) is an evergreen crowd-pleaser. Crumbed chicken breasts, smothered in a rich tomato sauce and plenty of melted cheese - what’s not to like?
The menu at nearly every big pub in Australia is fairly much the same, filled with much loved, crowd-pleasing classics, but there is none the Aussies have taken to heart like the ever-popular Chicken Parmigiana or Chicken Parmi.
There’s nothing quite like sitting in the sunny courtyard of a favourite Sydney pub, sipping cold wine and devouring a big plate of delicious Aussie pub food, but why wait for the pub, when you can make it at home?
What’s Chicken Parmigiana?
Chicken Parmigiana or Chicken Parmesan (known colloquially in Australia as simply a ‘parmy’ or ‘parmi’) is a baked dish made from crumbed chicken smothered in a rich tomato sauce and mounds of melting cheese. This is the sort of meal it is impossible to dislike.
With tomatoes, basil and mozzarella (the colours of the Italian flag!) full of bright Mediterranean flavours, especially when topped with fresh basil, truly dish that sings of summer.
Who invented Chicken Parmigiana? It doesn’t sound Australian?
Chicken Parmigiana is a 20th century take on the much older Italian dish melanzane alla Parmigiana – or crumbed eggplant, so if you fancy making this dish vegetarian, you can try sliced and crumbed eggplant instead.
Instructions
While there are a couple of steps to this recipe, none are particularly taxing or time-consuming, so this is a great dish for a midweek meal.
- First, the chicken breasts are crumbed and fried. I like to use fresh breadcrumbs for the best results. Halving the chicken breasts means they cook quicker and more evenly.
- Next, you need to make a super simple marinara sauce. This sauce comes together in minutes (but you can cheat and use a good quality jar of pasta sauce if you like).
- Lastly, everything is layered up with plenty of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and baked to golden, bubbling perfection.
The complete ingredient list and detailed instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
What to serve with Chicken Parmigiana?
I like to serve mine with a crisp salad and, obviously, an icy cold glass of Australian chardonnay or a tall and frosty beer. It’s popular in Australia to serve this with a vast helping of French fries, but I save that for special occasions.
You can prepare it in advance!
You can prepare Chicken Parmigiana in advance. The marinara sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance and kept chilled, while you can crumb the chicken up to 24 hours in advance.
That means when it comes to the cooking time it is just an assembly job, making this an ideal weeknight dinner or weekend lunch.
If you like Chicken Parmigiana, definitely check out my recipe for Lemon and Caper Chicken – it’s just as tasty! J.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I make Chicken Parmigiana in advance?
You can prepare Chicken Parmigiana in advance – the sauce can be made up to 3 days before you need it and kept chilled, while you can crumb the chicken up to 24 hours beforehand.
Do I have to make my own sauce for Chicken Parmigiana?
I think this is a super quick and easy sauce, but if you are really pressed for time, use a good quality jar of pasta sauce instead. If you’ve got summer tomatoes to use up, try my famous Slow Roasted Tomato Sauce – it’ll take your Chicken Parmi to the next level!
The recipe calls for ‘fresh breadcrumbs’ – where do I get them?
I always save my stale bread and whizz it up to breadcrumbs in the food processor when I need it. It’s always worth asking your local bakery if they sell breadcrumbs, they are perfect for this sort of dish and usually very cheap. Panko breadcrumbs are great too.
Chicken Parmigiana (Chicken Parmesan)
Possibly the most popular pub food in Australia, Chicken Parmigiana or Chicken Parmesan (known locally as chicken parmy) is an evergreen crowd-pleaser. Crumbed chicken breasts, smothered in a rich tomato sauce and plenty of melted cheese – what’s not to like?
Ingredients
for the chicken:
- 400 g chicken breasts, ca. 200g (7 oz.) each
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 Tbsp plain flour
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 75 g fresh breadcrumbs
- 25 g Parmesan cheese, grated
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- sea salt and black pepper
for the sauce:
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 500 ml tomato passata , (U.S Readers = tomato sauce!)
- 125 ml white wine
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 bunch fresh basil, leaves torn
- 1 ball fresh mozzarella, drained and torn
- 50 g Parmesan cheese, grated
- black pepper
Instructions
- PREPARE: Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas 4. Halve the chicken breasts horizontally so you have 4 evenly thick pieces. Season well with salt, pepper and oregano, pressing them onto the chicken.
- FLOUR AND CRUMB: Spread the flour over a plate, pour the egg into a shallow bowl, whisk together the breadcrumbs and Parmesan and spread over a second plate. Working with one piece of chicken at a time, toss the chicken in the flour, dip in the beaten egg, then press in the breadcrumb mixture so that both sides are well coated. Repeat with all remaining pieces.
- FRY THE CHICKEN: Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, cook the chicken for 2 minutes on each side, then remove to a rack. Rinse and wipe out the frying pan.
- MAKE THE SAUCE: To make the sauce, heat the oil in the same frying pan that you used for the chicken. Cook the garlic for 1 minute until just fragrant. Pour in the passata and white wine, then stir through the oregano, salt and sugar. Season well with black pepper, then bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in half of the basil.
- ASSEMBLE AND BAKE: To assemble the dish, spread 4 tablespoons of the sauce over the base of a baking dish large enough to hold the chicken in one layer. Place the chicken on top, pour over the remaining tomato sauce, leaving some crumbed edges visible and top each breast with mozzarella and Parmesan. Drizzle over a little more olive oil, then bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
- SERVE AND ENJOY: Divide the chicken between 2-4 warmed plates, sprinkle over the remaining basil leaves and serve immediately with a crisp green salad.
Notes
Tomato passata or passata rustico is pureed, strained tomatoes, often sold in the USA as 'tomato sauce' or tomato puree. Look for a good quality one made from Italian tomatoes for best results.
Depending on your appetite (and the size of your chicken breasts!), this recipe can feed 2-4 people, but if there are any leftovers they heat up wonderfully!
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Nutrition
Serving: 0.5 chicken breast | Calories: 649kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 162mg | Sodium: 1553mg | Potassium: 1091mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1397IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 586mg | Iron: 5mg
Tried this recipe?I’d love to hear how it went! Please leave a review or a star rating and let me know how it was! Use the hashtag #daysofjay on Instagram so I can see your delicious creations.
Awesome recipe, but a bit cofusing as it says 2 servings and at the end it says divide to 4 plates, so when I doubled the ingredients without noticing, I started making 8 portions.
At the end I did not mind that much as it was delicious so I was happy to put it in the lunchbox and take it to work next day.
Next time, I would maybe reduce the salt in the sauce a bit and I think it is possible to make it faster and with cleaner kitchen if you do the sauce in a deeper pan simultaneously while frying the chicken.
—– Hi!, I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for pointing out the little error – I’ve fixed that one up now. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review! Happy cooking, J.
Amazing! I really appreciated of all your recipe ever since.
Thanks so much! J.