Best Chicken Parmesan

Name: Best Chicken Parmesan
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons, extra-virgin olive oil; 2 , garlic cloves, minced; , Kosher salt and pepper; 1/4 teaspoon, dried oregano; Pinch, red pepper flakes; 1 (28-ounce) can, crushed tomatoes; 1/4 teaspoon, sugar; 2 tablespoons, coarsely chopped fresh basil; 2 (6- to 8-ounce), boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed, halved horizontally, and pounded 1/2 inch thick; 1 teaspoon, kosher salt; 2 ounces, whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded (1/2 cup); 2 ounces, fontina cheese, shredded (1/2 cup); 1 , large egg; 1 tablespoon, all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 ounces, Parmesan cheese, grated (3/4 cup); 1/2 cup, panko bread crumbs; 1/2 teaspoon, garlic powder; 1/4 teaspoon, dried oregano; 1/4 teaspoon, pepper; 1/3 cup, vegetable oil; 1/4 cup torn, fresh basil

199 comments

Appears in Cook's Illustrated March/April 2013, America's Test Kitchen TV

What good does it do to create a crisp crust on this Italian American standard if it turns soggy as soon as it’s sauced? We wanted a juicy cutlet that kept its crunch.

SERVES4

TIME1½ hours, plus 20 minutes resting

has video

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Traditional chicken Parmesan is a minefield of potential problems: dry meat, soggy crust, and a chewy blanket of mozzarella. To keep the meat moist, we salted the cutlets for 20 minutes, and to keep the exterior crunchy, we replaced more th...

This is a members' feature.