Panko & Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breasts

This is every one's favorite chicken! The Panko Bread Crumbs & Parmesan Cheese give it a crunchy, delicious texture & pan frying keeps it tender & incredibly light tasting. The thin chicken breasts cook up so quickly making this a great dish for any night of the week! Ingredients:

2 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

1/2 cup All Purpose Flour

3/4 cup Plain Panko Bread Crumbs

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 tsp dried Italian Seasoning

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp Paprika

Salt & Pepper

1 Egg

2 tbsp Olive Oil

2 tbsp Butter

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place chicken breasts between 2 pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper & pound thin, about 1/4". As you can tell, these make huge servings. You could easily cut the breast in half & make 2 servings out of one! Set up your assembly line. Place the flour on one plate, lightly beat the egg with 1 tsp of water on another plate. Combine the Panko, Parmesan & seasonings on the third plate. You could substitute regular bread crumbs but I think the Panko gives it a much crispier & lighter texture. Dredge the thinned chicken breasts (one at a time) through the flour, then the egg, then coat in the Panko & Parmesan mixture.

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil & 1 tbsp of butter in a skillet over medium/ low heat. I used a 10" skillet & cooked 1 at a time, but I was only making 2 chicken breasts. If you are making more, use a larger skillet & add more olive oil & butter accordingly. Fry the chicken breasts, until the 1st side is golden & the chicken is partially cooked.

Gently flip & cook the other side until the chicken is fully cooked. This is such a quick cook, it cooks in about 3-5 minutes on each side.

Remove & place chicken on a sheet pan (I like to line the sheet pan with parchment paper first). Keep warm in the oven, heated to 200 degrees, while you cook the other chicken breasts & get the rest of your meal together. I usually wipe out the bread crumbs & excess oil from the pan with a paper towel in between cooking so the bits don't burn.

I sprinkled some extra Parmesan Cheese on top & served it with Panzanella Salad this evening.

This is my version of another Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa) creation, Parmesan Chicken.