Healthy Baked Chicken Parmesan
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This Healthy Chicken Parmesan recipe is so easy to make! Baked until crispy then coated with a delicious sauce and cheese for the best dinner!
If you’re looking for a lightened up version of chicken parm that is just as delicious – this recipe is for you!
This chicken parmesan is baked instead of fried, but still has that incredibly crispy crust and gooey cheesy topping that you love.
I love finding new ways to make traditionally heavy meals a little lighter by making small changes. This easy chicken parmesan may be one of my new favorites!
Try serving it over homemade cavatelli 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 You’ll Love This Recipe
- 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 Chicken Parm 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
Recipe Ingredients
To make this easy chicken parmesan you will need:
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts – pounded so that they’re thin!
- whole wheat flour – you can use all purpose flour too
- eggs
- shredded mozzarella – I buy a block and shred it myself!
- marinara sauce – homemade is the best, but if you’re buying jarred look for one with no added sugar
Here is what you need for the breading mixture:
- whole wheat bread crumbs – regular breadcrumbs are fine too
- parmesan cheese
- black pepper, dried basil, + dried parsley – you could add garlic powder or use Italian seasoning too if you like!
substitutions
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. If you need other ideas for chicken – try this boneless chicken breast recipe.
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.
Bread Crumbs: You can make this with regular white breadcrumbs or panko bread crumbs, both will work!
Eggs: You need to use eggs for this recipe. Flax eggs will not work.
Cheese: I like to slice fresh mozzarella cheese for this recipe as it melts the best. Any shredded mozzarella cheese will also work, but sometimes pre-shredded cheese does not melt as well. If you’ve got extra mozzarella you could try this Caprese Chicken!
Marinara Sauce: We like to use crockpot tomato sauce for our chicken parmesan, but this healthy penne alla vodka sauce is also delicious! 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/salt. Since you can control the ingredients in homemade sauce, we find it is the healthiest and tastiest!
Parmesan Cheese: You can use any kind of grated cheese – freshly grated off a block, or pre-grated. I haven’t tried this with dairy free parmesan cheese so I’m not sure how that will work.
Low Carb: If you are following a low carb diet, try our Keto Chicken Parmesan.
Optional Fresh Herbs: This dish is great with some fresh basil or fresh parsley chopped + sprinkled on top!
How To Make Healthy Chicken Parmesan
Making chicken parm in the oven is pretty easy to do!
- Dip chicken cutlet in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs.
- Place breaded cutlets on a parchment lined 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.
We love this instant-read thermometer for checking the internal temperature to make sure your meat is cooked thoroughly!
Frequently Asked Questions
We don’t recommend baking chicken parmesan ahead, because it can get soggy and lose the crispy crust!
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.
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What To Serve With This Recipe
Here are some of our favorite things to serve with our healthy chicken parmesan:
- pasta or zucchini noodles + tomato sauce
- ricotta cavatelli
- garlic brussels sprouts or parmesan brussel sprouts
- broccoli salad
- green beans almondine
- balsamic mushrooms
- Caesar salad with homemade croutons
- serve with a salad with fresh cherry tomato bruschetta on top!
Storage Instructions
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:
Healthy Chicken Parmesan Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless 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 grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon black 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, 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.
Hi! How much salt is used? You list salt in step 6 for the breading mixture, but it’s not listed on the ingredients list. Made this and my family loved it, I’m making it again 3 days later! Thanks
Sorry about that, that was a typo! I removed it!
This was amazing! Thank you so much. So much protein which is what I was looking for!!
Was a family favorite. Easy to pair with a salad or pasta like recommended. Easy to adjust for my family’s dietary needs. Yum! Definitely on the family’s regular recipe rotation!
This was delicious! I added sauteed mushrooms to the sauce along with more dried basil and parsley. Yum!
One word- “terrible “.
That was 3 words. Would you care to elaborate about what was so terrible about this recipe?
One of the best chicken parm. I used Victoria spaghetti sauce, fresh parm and mozzarella. Thanks for sharing
My husband took a bite and said this tastes like the restaurant. I had to agree, it was great. Here are the substitutions I used:
Namaste GF 1:1 instead of wheat flour
Duck eggs
Fresh Mozzarella (It’s what I had in the fridge, it was yum!)
I used Mezzetta tomato basil marinara
GF bread crumbs.
Thanks for this!
It was restaurant quality! Soooo delicious, I’m pregnant and my taste buds are very picky but this was one of my favorite meals I’ve made thus far!
That makes me so happy to hear! Thanks for giving it a try!
Delicious! Easy! I used cutlets and there were 6 in the package which was perfect. Had with whole grain pasta abd salad. Similar to a healthy eggplant parm recipe I love but much less time. And my husband and I have leftovers!
This is delicious! It tastes better than whe I would get it in a restaurant. Definitely will be making this again.
This is the easiest, healthiest, most delicious recipe ever! I make spaghetti and meatballs, then this chicken parmigiana with the remaining sauce. By far the best chicken Parma recipe ever! I’ve also add this recipe with pork to make schnitzel. By far one of my family’s favorite meals!
I made this with regular flour and breadcrumbs instead of whole wheat, but this was the BEST meal I’ve ever made. My boyfriend said he’s never had better chicken parm. It was so easy and tasted better than a restaurant!!!
I just had a quick question for ya! What noodles and tomato sauce did you use for this recipe? So excited to make this meal!!!
It’s just regular spaghetti and homemade pasta sauce
Sooo delicious! My first time making chicken parm and will not be my last!
yum
Best chicken Parmesan recipe.. hands down!! Butterflying the chicken is key.. the recipe is better than olive gardens, and healthier!
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!
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.
Everyone loved this. And it was fairly easy
Delish and much healthier. Just needed a little more salt.
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!
Such an easy and extremely flavorful meal!! Will definitely be making this again!!
So glad you liked it!
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!!
So happy you enjoyed it!!
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!
So happy you liked it, Dianna!
This was delicious! So easy to follow and my whole family loved it!
So happy you liked it, Taylor