# How to make a decent crust for chicken parmesan?



## Easton (Feb 6, 2007)

Alright, well I've had about four attempts at making chicken parmesan for dinner.  They weren't all the bad but I could go for a thicker, dryer crust.  I've been coating chicken with flour, then soaked in some eggs, and then with bread crumbs, figuring it would make for a thicker crust.  Then I just cook it on a pan with olive oil and throw it in the oven (with tomato sauce and mozz cheese on top).  Am I doing something wrong?

Aside from the crust, do you have any suggestions when you make chicken parm?


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## Alix (Feb 6, 2007)

No matter what you do, cooking the coated chicken in the tomato sauce is going to mush it up a bit. If you want it to stay crispy, then cook the chicken without the tomato sauce, you can still top it with mozza if you wish, and then serve it with the tomato sauce at the table.


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## Katie H (Feb 6, 2007)

Another thing you might try is to coat the chicken with panko, Japanese bread crumbs.  They're really, really crunchy and make for an awesome coating on everything I've put them on.  Look for them in Asian markets.

I buy mine at a place called World Market, which sells all manner of foods from lots of different places.


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## Easton (Feb 6, 2007)

Blah, that seemed so obvious; I can't believe I missed that.  Why do all the recipes I've seen suggest putting the tomato sauce on the chicken before you bake it?


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## ChefJune (Feb 6, 2007)

Alix said:
			
		

> No matter what you do, cooking the coated chicken in the tomato sauce is going to mush it up a bit. If you want it to stay crispy, then cook the chicken without the tomato sauce, you can still top it with mozza if you wish, and then serve it with the tomato sauce at the table.


Bingo!  Alix hit the nail on the head with your first reply.  no matter what you use for crumbs, if you cook it in sauce after breading, you'll lose the crispness. We always put the gravy on the side.


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## jkath (Feb 6, 2007)

Easton said:
			
		

> Blah, that seemed so obvious; I can't believe I missed that.  Why do all the recipes I've seen suggest putting the tomato sauce on the chicken before you bake it?



I've often wondered the same thing, Easton!

Alix's method is exactly what you've been looking for, I think.


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## shannon in KS (Feb 6, 2007)

I agree with not cooking in the sauce.  I add sauce and cheese the last 5 minutes a increase to high heat or quickly broil.  I heat butter and crushed garlic, and whisk in a little flour and then "marinate" the chicken for 20 minutes or so.  Then let rest in equal amounts of bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. The flour stiffens up the butter a little and gives the bread crumbs/parmesan a loose batter to stick to.  Toasting the bread crumbs helps, but is time-consuming.  I brown the chicken and then finish in the oven .


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## AllenOK (Feb 6, 2007)

I do something slightly different.  I bread and fry my chicken, completely cooking the chicken in the cooking process.  I hold my sauce hot, and have hot cooked pasta ready as well.  Plate-up is easy.  Place pasta on the plate, lay cooked chicken over pasta, ladle some sauce, sprinkle cheese, and run under the broiler for a minute or two just to melt the cheese.  Voila!


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## mad_evo99 (Feb 7, 2007)

I definitely agree on baking the breaded chicken without the sauce for most of the time. Usually I'll bake it for 20-25 minutes, then put on the cheese and sauce and bake for another 10 minutes max to melt the cheese and finish cooking the chicken.

For a healthier breading ,I just dip the chicken breast in skim milk and then into the bread crumbs. It won't give you the thicker crust you're looking for, but then again I was looking for a lighter crust 

Note when I say "I just dip..." I really mean "my girlfriend introduced me to the idea of..."  =)


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## StirBlue (Feb 7, 2007)

I use leftover fried chicken to make chicken parmesan.  Whether extra crispy or not, the breading holds up.  Of course this is a reheat style recipe and no long baking at high temperature is required.


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## tsim (Feb 7, 2007)

Glad you asked this Easton.  I'm a new guy here myself, and I've been curious about how to make Chicken Parmasan like the restaraunts.  It's nice to finally have the instructions!  

Here's the way that I usually make chicken parmasan.  Really simple.  I cover the chicken in mayo, and then sprinkle grated parmasan cheese over it (more like coat it!  ).  Then I just bake at 350 till it's done.  Gotta flip it a couple times too.  People seem to usually enjoy it.  Learned that from my folks.


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## college_cook (Feb 8, 2007)

I use the same method as AllenOK.  I prefer to have my chicken completely cooked in the fryer.  In my experience the juices can soak the bottom side of your chicken when you are finishing in the oven.  Unless you're baking on a rack over a baking pan, the water is just going to sit there and leave you with soggy breading.


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