This Baked Chicken Parmesan recipe is so easy to make! Perfectly crispy, coated with a delicious sauce and cheese for a healthy dinner!
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I absolutely love finding healthy ways to make traditionally unhealthy meals by just making small changes like with my healthy orange chicken and homemade hamburger helper and this easy chicken parmesan may be one of my new favorites!
This chicken parmesan is baked instead of fried, but still has that incredibly crispy crust that is a must with chicken parm!
Try serving it over pasta or even put it with a salad and I know that you are going to love this dish as much as we do!
Need more ideas for dinner? Check out these 40+ Healthy Dinner Recipes.
why we love this baked chicken parmesan recipe
There is so much to like about this crispy chicken parmesan recipe! Here’s why it is one of our favorites:
- Lighter version of a classic meal – A lot of chicken parm recipes fry the chicken, but we love baking it to get a crispy crust without the greasy oil.
- Delicious – There is nothing like a crispy chicken cutlet with bright tomato sauce and melted cheese!
- Easy to make – It may seem intimidating, but this recipe is so simple and only takes around an hour to make!
What makes this easy chicken parmesan healthy?
This oven baked chicken parmesan recipe is healthier than the traditional recipes. Here’s why:
- lower in calories than regular chicken parmesan – regular chicken parm has 700-900 calories per serving. This recipe is higher in calories than some of our other recipes, but it’s still under 600 calories.
- whole wheat flour/bread crumbs – regular breadcrumbs are fine too, but the whole grains add a little extra nutrition
- baked instead of fried – baking the chicken cutlets instead of frying them makes them much lower in fat
Baked Parmesan Crusted Chicken Ingredients
To make this easy chicken parmesan you will need:
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- whole wheat flour
- eggs
- shredded mozzarella
- marinara sauce
Here is what you need for the breading mixture:
- whole wheat bread crumbs
- parmesan cheese
- black pepper, dried basil, + dried parsley
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded substitutions box.
We love this meat thermometer for checking the temp to make sure your meat is cooked thoroughly!
How To Make Chicken Parmesan Baked in the Oven
Making chicken parm in the oven is pretty easy to do!
- Butterfly and pound chicken breast.
- Preheat your oven to 425° and prepare a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Set out 3 large shallow bowls.
- In the first bowl, add whole wheat flour.
- In the second bowl, crack and whisk eggs
- Finally, in the third bowl, mix together bread crumbs, cheese, salt, pepper, dried basil, and dried parsley.
- Form an assembly line with your bowls. Take your chicken cutlet and cover in flour, then dip in egg, then dip in the breadcrumb mixture. You can press gently to make sure the cutlets are coated. Repeat for all cutlets.
- Place breaded cutlets on a baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes.
- After the chicken has been baking for 30 minutes, top each cutlet with about tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella. Return to the oven and set to broil for about 2 minutes until the cheese is melted.
SUBSTITUTIONS FOR CHICKEN PARMESAN
Chicken Breasts: We recommend making this recipe with chicken breast. Chicken tenders will also work. We don’t recommend chicken thighs because they will be too greasy.
Gluten Free: I have not tried making this recipe gluten free. I think it might work if you used Gluten Free 1:1 flour in place of whole wheat flour and gluten free bread crumbs, but I can’t be sure without testing it.
Eggs: You need to use eggs for this recipe. Flax eggs will not work.
Mozzarella: I like to slice fresh mozzarella for this recipe as it melts the best. Any shredded mozzarella will also work.
Marinara Sauce: We like to use homemade tomato sauce for our chicken parmesan. You can also use jarred marinara sauce, but if you are trying to have a healthier chicken parm, keep an eye out for added sugars. Since you can control the ingredients in homemade sauce, we find it is the healthiest and tastiest!
Parmesan Cheese: I haven’t tried this with dairy free parmesan cheese, but I don’t think it would work.
Low Carb: If you are following a low carb diet, try our Keto Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan.
Is it best to bake healthy chicken parmesan covered or uncovered?
It’s best to bake chicken parmesan uncovered. This allows the chicken to get really crispy and allows the cheese to melt.
If you bake chicken parmesan covered it will trap the moisture in the baking dish and result in a soggy cutlet.
What is the difference between Chicken Parmesan and Chicken Parmigiana?
There is no difference between Chicken Parmesan and Chicken Parmigiana. They’re different names for the exact same recipes.
What to serve with Chicken Parmesan
Here are some of our favorite things to serve with our healthy chicken parmesan:
- pasta + tomato sauce
- ricotta cavatelli
- garlic brussels sprouts or parmesan brussel sprouts
- broccoli salad
- green beans almondine
- balsamic mushrooms
Can baked chicken parmesan be made ahead?
We don’t recommend baking chicken parmesan ahead, because it can get soggy and lose the crispy crust!
Storing and Reheating Healthy Baked Chicken Parmesan
Storing: Oven baked chicken parmesan will last for up to 3 days in the refrigerator if stored in an airtight container. This is best eaten fresh and hot, as it will get soggy when stored.
Freezing: We don’t recommend freezing this chicken parmesan. It will get soggy and doesn’t reheat as well.
Reheating: The best way to reheat chicken parmesan is in the toaster oven. Chicken parm is always best when eaten fresh. When stored it will always absorb some of the liquid from the sauce/cheese and will get a little bit soggy.
Other healthy dinner recipes:
Love chicken? If so – here are some of our other favorite healthy chicken recipes! We love easy, healthy dinners that are filling and these are some of our favorites:
Baked Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs chicken breasts about 3 large chicken breasts OR 1.5 lbs chicken cutlets.
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- 3 large eggs
- 1.5 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1.5 cups marinara sauce
Breading Mixture
- 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs unseasoned
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
Instructions
- Butterfly and pound chicken breasts.To do this, slice the chicken breasts in half lengthwise (like a book!). Place in between plastic wrap and use a meat tenderizer to pound the chicken until it is about ¼ inch thick. This is important and skipping this step will result in undercooked, tough chicken. You should wind up with 6 cutlets.
- Preheat your oven to 425 and prepare a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Set out 3 large shallow bowls.
- In the first bowl add whole wheat flour.
- In the second bowl, crack and whisk eggs
- In the third bowl mix together bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, dried basil and dried parsley.
- Form an assembly line with your bowls. Take your chicken cutlet and cover in flour, then dip in egg, then dip in the bread crumb mixture. You can press gently to make sure the cutlets are coated. Repeat for all cutlets.
- Place breaded cutlets on a baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, flip the cutlets and bake for another 15 minutes.
- After the chicken has been baking for 30 minutes, top each cutlet with about ¼ cup tomato sauce and ¼ cup shredded mozzarella. Return to the oven and set to broil for about 2 minutes until the cheese is melted.
- Serve over pasta or a salad.
Taylor says
This was delicious! So easy to follow and my whole family loved it!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So happy you liked it, Taylor
Dianna says
I knew I had to make this when I saw the picture on the site! Chicken Parmesan is one of my favorites! This recipe was so easy to make, I had all ingredients on hand and it was absolutely delicious minus the extra calories! This recipe will be put into rotation at our house for sure!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So happy you liked it, Dianna!
Gabriela says
Absolutely loved this recipe! The first time I made it for my fiance and he loved it! The second time I left out the parmesan in the breading and used vegan mozsarella since I’m allergic to dairy and it was SO good! Both ways were a huge hit in our house – thank you!!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So happy you enjoyed it!!
CC says
Such an easy and extremely flavorful meal!! Will definitely be making this again!!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked it!
Cheryl says
Absolutely spectacular chicken Parmesan with little mess compared to frying. I did not do the whole pounding with the meat hammer since I bought cutlets. I also cut the cooking time to 20 minutes 10 minutes per side and then a five minute broil and they came out absolutely perfect! Also topped with fresh basil which was the icing on the cake! So happy I found this!
Jan says
Delish and much healthier. Just needed a little more salt.
P Dowd says
Everyone loved this. And it was fairly easy
Katie Benton says
This was a quick and easy weeknight dinner. As a mom who works very late, I am always looking for quick dinner recipes. My two teenage sons said it was busting! Haha. Which I think means really good.
Cheryl Means says
JUST DELICIOUS!! Easy and quick recipe with ingredients you would typically have on hand. I used chicken cutlets which made it that much easier. My husband requested pasta for dinner and just loved it…can’t wait to make it again!
Becca says
Best chicken Parmesan recipe.. hands down!! Butterflying the chicken is key.. the recipe is better than olive gardens, and healthier!