Lemon Chicken Parmesan with Arugula
Make Lemon Chicken Parmesan with Arugula to spruce up a weeknight meal.
It’s ridiculously easy, but it’s elegant enough to make for the boss. And it’s so fast, you can make it when you get home from work.
It’s a light meal as well – the key is in the egg whites. Beat them with a whisk for about 30 seconds until they are light and frothy.
Combine the breadcrumbs and Parmesan thoroughly. Don’t tell the food police, but I used pre-shredded parm, and it turned out just fine.
Pounding the chicken all the same thickness makes it cook at the same time as well as cook faster. A tip that works well for me is putting the chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap with a few drips of water on it – it makes it much easier to pound the chicken and contains the mess.
After you season the pounded chicken, dredge in the egg whites then the Parmesan-panko mixture. I have found that the chicken breasts I am seeing are getting bigger and bigger – these ones were enormous (they probably weighed in at 9 or 10 ounces each). If you have standard, 4 to 5 ounce breasts, plan on one per person.
Brown in an ovenproof skillet (I used my big cast iron skillet affiliate link) then finish cooking in the oven. Serve on top of a very basic arugula salad with lemon wedges. I present the lemon wedges on the side for this because my eaters can be a little picky, and I find it irritating when they say something tastes “too lemony”. If they add it themselves, I’m not responsible. Ha!
Lemon Chicken Parm with Arugula
Instructions
Chicken
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pound Chicken to uniform thickness and cut each breast into two even pieces. Sprinkle liberally with thyme, salt and pepper on each side.
- Whisk egg whites briskly in small bowl until frothy, about 30 seconds.
- Combine Parmesan and Panko in small bowl.
- Set large oven proof saute pan (I used my big cast iron skillet) on medium high heat with olive oil.
- Dip chicken in egg whites then dredge in Parmesan-bread crumb mixture until well coated. Once pan is hot, add butter. After butter is melted and beginning to brown, add chicken pieces.
- Cook for about 5 minutes until chicken is browned on the bottom. Turn chicken over, and put pan in preheated oven. Cook until instant read thermometer reads 180 degrees, or cut chicken piece in half to check for done-ness, about 15 minutes.
Salad
- Mound arugula on serving plate and tear handfuls of it until it is in uniform, smaller pieces. Drizzle olive oil, honey, and vinegar on top, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Toss. Spread across platter.
- Place chicken on top of salad, and place cut lemon chunks on platter to be squeezed on top of chicken when presented.
Super easy, fast and elegant. Trifecta!
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