Baked Chicken Parmesan

Total Time: 45 minutes
Serves 4

• 1 ½ lbs thin chicken cutlets
• 1 egg
• bread crumbs
• olive oil
• 1 24 oz jar marinara or spaghetti sauce
• 1 lb sliced mozzarella

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper; dip in beaten egg, then bread crumbs.
2. In batches, cook in olive oil over medium heat until golden.
3. Pour marinara sauce in a large, shallow baking dish; top with the chicken, then sliced mozzarella.
4. Bake at 400ºF until golden, 25 to 30 minutes.

More like Baked Chicken Mozzarella.  There is no Parmesan in this recipe.  Is that true for all Chicken Parmesan?  Where does the name come from then?  This reminds me of the Perfect Parmesan Biscuits I wrote about here.  Although, the biscuits are a mix so for all I know there could have been Parmesan in them.  But definitely no Parmesan in this here Chicken “Parmesan” recipe.

Regardless of the name technicality, this is a delicious and simple recipe.  Yet another of Real Simple’s “10 Ideas for: Chicken Cutlets.”  Fry up the chicken while the oven heats, dump a jar of sauce into a baking dish, throw in the chicken and however much cheese you’d like and bake!

I will note I’ve never used an entire pound of sliced cheese like the recipe calls for.  And I do love my cheese!  Especially with this recipe, all bubbly and brown.  Yum!  But I just buy a package of pre-sliced mozzarella cheese (no waiting in line at the deli) and throw the slices on.  Usually one per chicken cutlet and maybe another one or two for good measure.

Serve with a salad and enjoy!

PS – Although I did try to cover it up with cheese and sauce, you may notice that my second batch of breaded and fried the chicken came out darker than the first batch.  Reminder – with the first batch the pan and oil are still heating up creating cooler cooking temps so turn the temp down and keep an eye on how fast it cooks when you get to the second batch!