Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Parmesan

A breaded chicken breast topped with melted mozzarella in a pan with marinara sauce for Baked Chicken Parmesan.

Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Parmesan

This classic oven-baked Chicken Parmesan tastes JUST like it's from a restaurant. Better yet, it's STUFFED with Mozarella cheese and covered in a crispy Parmesan breading with warm marinara sauce.

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Calories: 567kcal

Author: Stephanie

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese separated
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese separated
½ cup flour
1 ¼ teaspoons seasoned salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 eggs
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
2 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons olive oil
Fresh parsley to garnish
2 cups marinara sauce
Fresh Parsley to garnish

Instructions

Note: I recommend a 12 or 13 inch oven-safe pan for this recipe. A large dutch oven will also work. Otherwise, transfer the chicken to a lightly greased casserole dish after browning. Add the sauce/cheese, and bake as directed.

Stuff the Chicken

Pat the chicken breasts completely dry.
Cut a slice in middle of each chicken breast to create a pocket, don’t cut all the way through to the other side. PRO TIP: Flash freeze the chicken for 10-15 minutes to firm it up for easier cutting.
Stuff each one with 2-3 Tablespoons of mozzarella cheese, close to seal.

Bread the Chicken

Create an assembly line for breading the chicken:
Plate #1: ½ cup flour + 1 ¼ tsp seasoned salt + 1/4 tsp pepper.
Bowl #2: 2 whisked eggs + ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Plate #3: 1 cups breadcrumbs + ¼ cup shredded Parmesan
Coat the chicken in the flour mixture and tap to rid any excess.
Dip into the whisked eggs just long enough to lightly coat the chicken, let the excess drip off the edge of the bowl
Generously coat in the breadcrumb mixture.

Brown the Outside

Heat the oil and butter to a pan over medium heat.
Brown the chicken in batches of 2, leave room around the outside to allow the edges to crisp.
Cook for about 4 minutes per side, until light golden brown. Add more oil if needed. (I use 2 spatulas to carefully flip the chicken.)
Remove from heat and place the chicken on a paper towel lined plate. The paper towels absorb the excess oil, leaving you with crispier chicken. Note: The inside is still very raw.

Bake

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Return the chicken to the pan or transfer to a casserole dish. Spoon marinara sauce around the sides and on the top.
Sprinkle generously with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.
If desired, increase heat to 450 degrees and cook just until it browns more on top, watch closely the whole time.
Remove from the oven, garnish with parsley, and serve!

Notes

The chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Romano cheese can also be added to the mix.

If you have trouble keeping the mozzarella in the chicken, a toothpick or two will help keep it in place.

Be sure to serve this with my 20-minute Creamy Tomato Pasta and some Garlic Bread with Cheese!

Nutrition

Recipe Source: TheCozyCook.com - For pro tips, step-by-step photos, storage information, and to save it to your account, visit https://framework-keystone.live/baked-chicken-parmesan/%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-31713":{"type":"food","name":"Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Parmesan","slug":"wprm-cheese-stuffed-chicken-parmesan","image_url":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Baked-Chicken-Parmesan.jpg","rating":{"count":9,"total":45,"average":5,"type":{"comment":9,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"uid":0,"amount":"4","unit":"","name":"boneless skinless chicken breasts","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"id":4202,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"4","unit":"","timestamp":1778514407000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"4","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"uid":1,"amount":"2 \u00bd","unit":"cups","name":"shredded mozzarella 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