This “Skinny” healthy Chicken Parmesan has all the tasty goodness of the classic meal, without the extra calories!
Comfort food gets lightened up with this Skinny Chicken Parmesan that is healthy, easy and totally delicious! Keep it on the light side by serving it up with Strawberry spinach salad or Tomato mozzarella salad!!
Healthy Chicken Parmesan
Today I’m sharing one of my family’s favorite quick and easy dinners that’s lighter on the calories – Skinny Chicken Parmesan (similar to our Skinny Chicken Piccata if you haven’t already tried it)! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been trying to eat better this month and have devoted myself to eating healthier dinners.
The normal version of Chicken Parmesan (which we still love) is usually fried and topped with lots of sauce and cheese and served with spaghetti. This version of Chicken Parmesan uses lean chicken, pounded thin, and then coated with a light bread crumb mixture.
The chicken is then baked and topped with a little spaghetti sauce and cheese. It still has all the same great flavors, but it much healthier than the original!
How to Bake Healthy Chicken Parmesan
PREP. Preheat oven to 350ºF and prepare a cookie sheet. Mix together bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning in a medium sized bowl.
COAT. Place chicken in between layers of plastic wrap and pound with mallet until about ¼” thick, or cut chicken breasts in half lengthwise so they are thinner. Beat egg in another medium sized bowl and dip each chicken breast in the egg and then dredge in bread crumbs.
BAKE. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Top each chicken breast with about 2 Tbsp. marinara sauce and about 2 Tbsp. mozzarella cheese. Bake for about 5-10 more minutes, until cheese is melted and sauce is warmed up. And voila!
*Note* Follow our recipe here for homemade marinara sauce
Tips + SToring Info
Although the heaps of sauce, cheese, and pasta in a regular chicken parm recipe are pretty yummy, there are ways to achieve the same delicious flavors while keeping it light. Here are some ideas to keep chicken parmesan light:
- Instead of pasta, serve your chicken with spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles.
- Omit the noodles all together and opt for a side salad instead.
- Roast some veggies (like broccoli or brussel sprouts) to serve on the side.
If you want a lighter and crispier texture you can substitute the normal bread crumbs for panko crumbs.
If the breading is getting soggy it is most likely that your chicken wasn’t completely dry before you started dredging the chicken. That extra moisture is now making the flour soggy and it won’t allow the breading to stick to the chicken properly.
Make this in an air fryer: Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees and cook for 5-6 minutes on one side before flipping the chicken and cooking for another 5-6 minutes. Depending on the size of your chicken breasts it may take longer. Make sure that the breading is golden brown and that the internal temperature of the chicken is at least 165 degrees.
FREEZE the breaded chicken before cooking, OR freeze the cooked chicken before topping it with sauce and cheese. Either way, wrap it in plastic wrap/tinfoil or seal in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to three months. If you freeze it uncooked, let it thaw in the fridge before cooking. Cook according to the recipe.
For even more baked chicken recipes:
- Bruschetta Chicken
- Baked BBQ Chicken
- Crispy Baked Ranch Chicken
- Baked Chicken Fingers
- Baked Pesto Chicken
Skinny Chicken Parmesan Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated, refrigerated
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- salt
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 egg beaten
- 1.5 lbs chicken breast filets
- your favorite marinara or spaghetti sauce
- mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside.
- Mix together bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning in a medium sized bowl.
- Beat egg in another medium sized bowl.
- Place chicken in between layers of plastic wrap and pound with mallet until about ¼" thick.
- Dip each chicken breast in egg and then dredge in bread crumbs. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.
- Top each chicken breast with about 2 Tbsp. marinara sauce and about 2 Tbsp. mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for about 5-10 more minutes, until cheese is melted and sauce is warmed up.
- Serve with salad, spaghetti squash, or pasta. Enjoy!
Thank you for sharing Jen here from Yummy Healthy Easy.
This looks so good, I am so making this for dinner!
Let us know how it goes. 😉
Chicken Parmesan is one of my favorite dishes, this skinny version looks amazing! And serving with a salad instead of pasta means I can have it every week!
One of my family’s favorite dishes! I need to try your version!
Lovely recipes. Thank you Jen and Kristen.
😀
This looks really good. I love parmesan cheese. Great easy quick dinner idea.
Perfect quick and healthy weeknight dinner!
You can’t go wrong with chicken parm….especially when it’s skinny! Definitely saving this one!
I know, right?! Chicken Parm is the best!
Baked chicken parm is the best! I’m thinking I need to make this for dinner tonight.
Good afternoon!! Do you happen to have nutrition for this recipe??
This recipe is from my contributor, Jen, so I don’t know that info. Here is her link, if you’d like to ask her and she can probably let you know…http://www.yummyhealthyeasy.com/ Hope that helps!!! Thanks!
Just wondering how many calories this is? I’ve made it and it’s so delicuous!
This is a contributors recipe. Here is her info, if you’d like to ask her. Her name is Jen at http://www.yummyhealthyeasy.com/. Hope you find what you’re looking for. Thanks so much!
Gonna try this tonight with zucchini noodles instead of regular pasta 🙂 Thanks for posting!
Let me know how it goes – I think zucchini noodles would be great!
This is delicious! It’s also very easy. I recommend saving time by buying chicken breasts that are already thinned. Paired it with parmesan couscous and it was a hit!
Perfect! I am glad you liked it 🙂 Thank you so much!
Very delicious anD simpl enough for my kids To make.
Totally is! Glad you think so!
I am a little confused about the nutrition picture.. does that mean each piece of chicken is 1161 calories?
We loved this. It’s so easy to make and is a step up from the regular spaghetti dinner but not much more work.
I am glad you did! Thank you for sharing that!
My family loved this! Definitely adding it to the regular dinner rotation.
I love lightened up recipes, and this one looks fantastic! Adding it to my ever growing list of recipes to try. 🙂
This recipe is a keeper! I love having quick healthy dinners!!
Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thank you for sharing!!
Can’t wait for you to try it! Thank you so much!
Nutrition Facts to me seen a little to high…lol
This was great – I saved some time by using thin sliced chicken breasts, other than that following the recipe. This is a keeper!
Great idea!! Glad you liked it 🙂 Thank you for sharing that!
Great receipe but Calorie count listed CANNOT be correct…1162 calories per serving?
Think i might try but your nutritional information might be a little off. Dont think 1 serving is 1161 calories
Are you sure the calories on this recipe is correct?
I love Chicken Parmesan and was so thrilled to find a healthier version. This recipe is so delicious and easy to make too. I served this with steamed broccoli on the side, and a Caesar salad. It was such a wonderful meal! Thank you so much!
You are so welcome! Steamed broccoli and Caesar salad sound like great compliments to the Chicken Parmesan. What a tasty meal! Thanks for sharing.
Did you mean 4 ounces was roughly 300 calories instead of 4g you listed? Just trying to figure out nutrition before making to see if it’s really worth it!!!