This delicious and healthy baked chicken parmesan meal will please the whole family and totally satisfy your chicken parmesan cravings!
Alright. So chicken parmesan is incredible, right?
Tender chicken, vibrant tomato sauce, luscious breading. All slathered with a giant slice of mozzarella and some parmesan cheese. Ooh, baby...maybe even deep fried!
The Lacey who used to eat anything LOVED chicken parmesan. Serious.
Add some delicious low fiber and high carb noodles and I was there. Like for days.
But, then, I realized I needed to eat healthier. And cleaner.
I realized just how much junk I was putting into my body. All the extra weight I was gaining. All the fatigue I felt. All the self-doubt.
But chicken parmesan...
Okay, so how do we fix this? How do we eat healthy, maintain a clean lifestyle, AND still enjoy the foods we love...like chicken parmesan?
Is it EVEN possible??
Yes, my friends, it so is possible. And, believe it or not...it's actually pretty darn easy to eat healthy and still enjoy your food.
And, when I say food, I totes mean chicken parmesan.
How to Make Chicken Parmesan Healthy
So, how do we do this? How do we make a healthy chicken parmesan recipe?
Well, first, you start with the breading. Regular chicken parmesan uses breading that uses refined all-purpose flour and white breadcrumbs.
Now, if the clean eating angel on your shoulder just whispered in your ear that those foods aren't close to clean, give yourself a pat on the back. You rock.
Yep, THOSE foods are not clean, are not unrefined, and - thus - really don't do much in the way of providing your body with the nutrition it needs to thrive.
So: replace it.
Super easy, right? Replace the all-purpose flour with chickpea flour - which will give you high fiber, high protein, and unrefined goodness. And replace the breadcrumbs with almond meal - which will give you even more fiber, more protein, and other essential nutrition.
See? Cooking a healthy chicken parmesan dish is so dang easy.
Next, we can't deep fry this chicken or add a ton of cheese. It's okay..take a deep breath - you're gonna be okay.
Instead, we’re gonna bake the chicken and add a touch of parmesan for flavor. Baking the chicken means less hassle, less oil, less saturated fats, and a healthier dish overall.
How Long Do You Cook Chicken Parmesan?
Think making chicken parmesan is hard? Think again - it's so easy! All you need to do is:
- Coat chicken with seasonings and healthy flours
- Cook the chicken on both sides until browned
- Pour over the tomato sauce and sprinkle some parmesan cheese over
- Cover the pan in foil
- Bake in a preheated oven at 500 degrees F for just 10 minutes
- Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes until the cheese has melted through.
- DEVOUR!
Trust me - you wont even know it's actually good for you and you can continue living your awesome clean lifestyle AND still enjoy your healthy chicken parmesan.
Healthy Chicken Parmesan
What Goes With Chicken Parmesan?
If you'd like to add noodles for old time's sake and, well because: NOODLES, try making your own zucchini noodles with a Spiralizer, too. You can go here to see how to make zucchini noodles if you'd like (spoiler: it's super easy).
Here are some great healthy options for what to serve with your healthy baked chicken parmesan:
- spiralized veggies
- sautéed broccoli
- roasted green beans
- cauliflower mashed potatoes
- roasted broccoli
- a nice crisp salad
- roasted spaghetti squash noodles
Winner winner...healthy chicken parmesan dinner 😉
Healthy Baked Chicken Parmesan
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup almond meal
- ¼ cup chickpea flour
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2-4 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 25- oz tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine almond meal, chickpea flour, dried oregano, dried basil, dried thyme, garlic powder, sea salt, and black pepper.
- Now, dredge the boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the seasoned almond meal mixture and then shake off any excess.
- Heat olive oil in large oven-safe skillet over high heat.
- Add the coated chicken and sear until golden-brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. We aren’t looking to cook through, just get a nice golden crust on the chicken.
- Pour the tomato sauce over and around the browned chicken.
- Sprinkle a little grated parmesan over each chicken breast.
- Cover with tin foil and bake for 10 minutes.
- Then, remove the tin foil, and place back in the oven for 5 more minutes, until the cheese melts and the chicken is cooked through.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This post contains affiliate links for products I use frequently and highly recommend.
Wanda
After using your Chicken Parmesan recipe my husband told me throw out the other recipes I have used for Chicken Parm. We love, love your recipe and it is the only one I use now! Thanks!
Pam
Well this recipe was perfect timing! I bought chicken today in hopes of making chicken parmesan for tomorrow's dinner!!! How is that for coincidence??
Thanks Lacey!!
Pam 🙂
Lacey Baier
That's awesome! 🙂
amarie88
I am trying this tonight! My first time ever making Chicken Parm
Lacey Baier
I hope you enjoyed it!!
Moirahiern
Found on Pinterest looks great will definitely try it. Thanks for your yummy recipes
Lacey Baier
You're so very welcome. Thank you 🙂
Yessel
Hi! I found you on pinterest and tried this recipe last night. My husband and kids loved it, needless to say, I will make this again and again. I thought you should know since you are the chef! Blessings to you and your family!
Lacey Baier
Thank you for letting me know, Yessel! I'm so glad you and your family enjoyed the recipe.
Kristina
This is a favorite in my house! And my husbands favorite dinner ever!!!! I love your blog!!!!
Lacey Baier
Yay!! Thanks, Kristina 🙂
Sarah
I'm 100% cooking illiterate. Baking, yes, totally. Actual food? Not so much. Thank you so much for this recipe! I did a test run tonight, and I'm taking this to my friend's house next weekend to make for one of our friend's birthday dinner!
Lacey Baier
This is the PERFECT no-fail recipe so I think you picked a good one. I hope the dinner turned out for your friend 🙂
Meg
Update!! It was AMAZING!!! Better than the stuff I've had in restaurants! And it got the seal of approval from my boyfriend! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Lacey Baier
Yay! Thanks for the update 🙂 I am SO glad it turned out well and that you and your boyfriend liked it!
Meg
I just put it in the oven! I don't hae the Thyme, so just the Oregano and Basil. It already smells SOO good!!
Lacey Baier
🙂
Julia
I tried this recipe. The chicken did not cook. I had to leave it in for an extra half hour.
lacey - a sweet pea chef
I'm sorry you had to bake it longer than expected! Did you follow the recipe exactly as written?
Tasha Robison
I just wanted to say THANK YOU! My family of five loves this...which is hard to do. We have a few picky eaters. I actually made this over Christmas when family got together. 20 people and EVERYONE loved it! Pretty great! I doubled the sauce, because that is a favorite and paired it with Fettuccine! Again, thanks so much. It is literally our families favorite recipe!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Wow, Tasha (and family!), I'm honored to have you all enjoy this recipe so much. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Justin
Found this on foodgawker. Tweaked it with some heat- red pepper flake in the breaking. Such an user-friendly recipe and turned out super tasty. Thanks!
Justin
*breading
Lacey Baier
Interesting idea to use the red pepper flakes. Thanks for the feedback, Justin!
Rachelle
I found your recipe through Pinterest, and it just looked amazing. I made it for dinner the other night, and it was soooooo good! By far my favorite chicken parm recipe!
Thank you for sharing!
Lacey Baier
Yay!!!!! 🙂
Monique
I've made this twice now and both times it's SOOOO good! I use Rao's pasta sauce but other than that it's the same. I'll make this again and again. Thanks so much!!
Lacey Baier
You're so very welcome, Monique! I'm glad you have enjoyed it twice so far 🙂
Nadia
I use those mini toaster ovens that only go up to 425 or 450 degrees. How long will I have to bake the chicken with those temperatures?
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Hi Nadia,
Unfortunately, I don't have an exact answer for you. I'd just do trial and error and see how much longer you'll need. Best of luck!
PositivelyPesistentteach
I made this, but it definitely was not fully cooked after the time listed here. Had to add more time in the oven. Next time I might cook it on a lower temp for a longer time.
Lacey Baier
Thanks for the feedback. I'm sorry it didn't cook through for you. Perhaps taking longer to brown it in the skillet would help, too.
Harini
Hi there! I love the look fo this recipe and I cannot wait to make it for my friends and family. I just wanted to ask, how many people does this recipe serve?
Lacey Baier
Depending on how much chicken each person wants, it serves 2-4 people.
Bodia Scott
Just made this for dinner tonight! Simple recipe (mine came out amazing and my cooking skills are limited to instant mashed potatoes hehe
), and very yummy ! Thanks for sharing..
Lacey Baier
You're very welcome!
KLynn
This was yummy! I like and appreciate your recipes for the step-by-step directions and photos depicting the sight along the way. My cooking skills are steadily improving but are still novice and the pictures work as a safety net and story/directions written as a chat, feels as if a cordial chill, which makes cooking fun and relaxed. Thanks for sharing.!..
Lacey Baier
Awesome. I am so glad the photos of the process help you -- I really appreciate your feedback. Best of luck with your continuing cooking!
Maria
I found your recipe on Foodgawker so I decided to try it out.. So glad I did.. This was DELISH!! Thanks for Sharing. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes 🙂
Lacey Baier
Yay for Foodgawker. Thanks for stopping by, trying the recipe and letting me know how it went 🙂
Judit @WineDineDaily
Your chicken parmesan looks very delicious! Have to try it...
Cheers:)
Lacey Baier
Thanks, Judit! I hope you enjoy it 🙂
Dulce
As I was making this, my daughter saw the tomatoe sauce and immediately refused to eat dinner with us!! As the chicken was in the oven she comes back to the kitchen and is like "What smells so good?" Once it was ready I gave her a bite to try and she absolutely loved it! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe, it was a huge hit with my daughter and she is the pickiest person I know. Needless to say, it came out super delicious!!
Lacey Baier
YES!! Thanks so much for sharing this, Dulce. Nothing makes me happier than to read picky eaters --especially kids! -- loving the recipes I share. I'm so glad it all worked out 🙂
Nicole
Found this on Foodgawker.com. I am making this for dinner tonight! I will be using jarred tomato sauce because I dont have time to make my own.
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Enjoy! 🙂
Megan
What side do you typically make with this meal? Do you serve it with pasta, over pasta, or something else? Thanks - sorry for the silly question!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Oh, that's fine, Megan! I usually serve it alongside some simple linguine and use left-over marinara sauce with it. I hope that helps!
Megan
Update: Delicious!! I've made it twice and the second time I flattened out the chicken and then coated it. Yum! I had even more of the incredible breading. So great!! Thanks again!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
You're so welcome, Megan. Thank you for the update!
Jasanna
Can't wait to try this for my husband. Have to make those deceptively healthy things, you know! 🙂
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Yep! 🙂 I know.
Kara
Found ur website when I had googled spaghetti sauce and I'm so glad I found it, this was the first recipe I tried. I had my fingers crossed, my husbands very critical of anything italian, his late grandmother was italian, making him a quarter and I have tried a couple homemade sauces but nothing measured up, but after making this, I got a very good from him, which was amazing! I thought this tasted like restaurant quality, I can't wait to try more of ur recipes, thanks so much for this one!
Lacey Baier
YES! That is so awesome -- what a compliment 🙂 I'm so glad it turned out well for you and your husband, Kara 🙂
Lisa
I have made a version of this dish from Americas test kitchen for the last few years. It has now been replaced by this one. Loved the tomato sauce, added a bit of pesto as suggested. Very yummy!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Wow, Lisa, that's quite a statement. Here's to many, many years of using this Chicken Parmesan (and tomato sauce!) recipe, eh? 🙂
Dustin Baier
Some chicken Parmesan sounds really good. we should do this again. 🙂
lacey - a sweet pea chef
You're right, Dustin...it does sound really good. Definitely need to put it on the list!
Dan Ricaud
Thanks, thats very useful to know! I admit to being a bit of a failure in the kitchen, but I'm trying my best to learn. Admitting iis the first step right!? I promised to cook something for my wife this weekend for the first time - very exciting! I found some really simple recipe at this website, seems to be designed exactly for me, which is fantastic! Anyway, thanks for your tips, I'll be sure to subscribe to your site to read more.
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Hi Dan! Good luck with your cooking plans!
Lauren
I just made this for dinner and it was FABULOUS! I had altered it to be gluten free and I was so happy with the results! Can't wait to make it again!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Ooh -- I'd love to know how you altered it to be gluten free, Lauren! I'm always looking for ways to make my recipes more 'palatable' to different diets. Thanks for sharing!
Jessica
I made this tonight. It's really yummy 🙂
Sweet Pea Chef
Yay, Jessica!! Thanks so much for sharing! I'm glad you liked it. It's one of my favorites.
Carla
Wow, I want a plate of that! Yummy!
Sweet Pea Chef
Hi Carla! It's all yours 🙂