Parmesan Crusted Chicken
This parmesan crusted chicken is a total win win meal. My husband loves it, my child loves it, it’s easy to pull together and makes for great leftovers. Served with a simple salad (I usually serve with arugula but this time I used romaine) of romaine, tomatoes, parmesan and a lemony vinagrete, this makes for delicious but not super heavy meal.
The best thing about this chicken is that you can use any leftovers and reinvent it into a completely different meal the next day. Clearly, that will be my next post! But on with this chicken dish…
Take 4 chicken breasts and slice them in half.
Place the sliced chicken in between two pieces of saran wrap. I set up an assembly line of the chicken and used two really long pieces of saran wrap. Using a mallet, hit the chicken to thin them out to be about a 1/4 inch thick. This will make for quicker frying, keeping the chicken moist. If you don’t have a mallet maybe using the bottom of a can would work (I say maybe because I haven’t tried this method).
Here are the chicken cutlets thinned out.
Set up another assembly line of flour, eggs, and breadcrumb/parmesan combo.
Dredge the chicken in the flour.
Then in the egg.
Then in the breadcrumbs.
In a large pan, heat about an 1/8in of oil (I used a mixture of peanut oil, because of it’s high heat index, and olive oil, because of the flavor) over medium high heat. Fry two cutlets at a time until golden brown on each side (about 4 mins each side). I invested in a splatter guard that goes over the pan (looks like a mesh fly swatter) and it makes a world of difference in helping to keep my stove clean from oily splatter.
And done. I really should crop this photo, but it is what it is. Stay tuned for chicken a la leftovers!
PARMESAN CRUSTED CHICKEN
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
4 Chicken Boneless Chicken Breasts, halved
1/4 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp Fresh ground pepper
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup Breadcrumbs (italian style)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (I like freshly grated)
Peanut oil and olive oil, for frying
PREPARATION
1. Slice the chicken breast in half horizontally (see picture above). Place each chicken slice in between 2 pieces of saran wrap. Using a mallet, thin the chicken to about 1/4inch.
2. Combine the flour, salt & pepper on a large plate. Place the beaten eggs on a second plate. Combine the parmesan & breadcrumbs on a third plate.
3. Dredge each piece of chicken in first the flour, then the egg, and finally the breadcrumb/parmesan.
4. Place about an 1/8 inch of oil in a large pan. Heat over medium high heat. Fry each cutlet about four minutes on each side until golden brown. Replenish oil if necessary.
