Recipe: It's (Almost Better Than) Parmesan Chicken!

Welcome!! If you’ve landed on this page, you probably already know that I’m no great chef, closet connoisseur, or foodie. I’m just a wife and mom trying to find easy and delicious dishes to serve my family! Growing up, my mom was amazing in the kitchen! I remember how she could take one look in the pantry and fridge and no matter how bare it appeared, she could whip up something homestyle and delicious! I have always admired that about her. Me, on the other hand, I’ve always been a get out the measuring cups and spoons and do not deviate from the recipe type of cook. That is until recently. Little by little, I have started coming out of my shell (in the kitchen) and experimenting with new things. When I pulled this dish out of the oven, my husband said, “wow, that smells so good!” I was secretly crossing my fingers (and toes) that it tasted as good as he anticipated. To my delight, it was even better than I could have imagined. So, here it is… our almost better than Parmesan Chicken Recipe! Enjoy!

Side Note: I do not recommend making this recipe with chicken breasts because they tend to be much dryer than thighs, but if you make it with chicken breasts, drop me a note in the comments and let me know how it turned out!!

Ingredients:

3 Large Eggs
6 Chicken Thighs
1 tablespoon Minced Garlic
2 tablespoons Parsley (Fresh or Flakes)
1/3 cup Butter, Melted
1 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese, divided
1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Thyme
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1 jar Spaghetti Sauce (28 oz.)
Muenster cheese, 6 Slices
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Olive Oil, for frying

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 430 degrees F. Grease an 11×13 casserole dish and set aside. Pour olive oil into a large skillet and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until well beaten. Add minced garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, butter (melted), thyme and paprika. Mix well. Once thoroughly mixed, pour into a gallon-sized bag. Add chicken thighs to the bag, seal, and rub the marinade mixture into the chicken. Let sit for 15 minutes (or more).

While the chicken is marinating, combine breadcrumbs, 3/4 cup of parmesan cheese, and garlic powder in a medium bowl. Mix well.

When the chicken in done marinating, remove the thighs from the bag and dip into breadcrumb mixture, turning the chicken over and rubbing the mixture in to get an even coat.

Place your thighs in the large skillet and fry with olive oil over medium-high heat until golden brown, flipping every minute or so until crispy. Even with a large skillet, I had to do this three thighs at a time. You are not trying to fully cook the chicken in this step – you just want to give it a nice crispy external layer. Try not to overcook and dry it out.

After frying, place your thighs in the 11×13 (greased) casserole dish and arrange so that they are not overlapping anywhere. Cover casserole dish with foil and place in preheated oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, carefully remove your casserole dish from oven and uncover. First, top your thighs with the spaghetti sauce. I used the Kroger brand spaghetti sauce, Tomato + Basil flavor, 24 oz jar. For this recipe, I used almost the entire jar.

After topping with sauce, top each thigh with one slice of Muenster cheese. Lastly, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese over the chicken.

Cover your dish with foil again and return to preheated oven for another 15 minutes.

Remove and check internal temp of chicken thighs. Cooked internal temp should read 165 degrees F. Each oven is different, so since I have a gas oven, this recipe took a bit longer than anticipated and I ended up returning my chicken to the oven for another 5-8 minutes. This is where a meat thermometer is very helpful because you want to make sure that your chicken is adequately cooked without being over-cooked and dry.

This recipe was moist, delicious, and such a delightful surprise! The entire family loved it. We hope you enjoy it too!!

Blessings, friends!