Chicken Parmesan with frozen chicken breasts

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Learn how to make delicious Chicken Parmesan using frozen chicken breasts. Quick and convenient for busy weeknights.

My newest favorite thing is cooking fish fillets and chicken breasts straight from frozen. Why? Well, I don’t have to decide ahead of time what we’re having for dinner. When I’m ready to cook, I just reach into my freezer and grab what I’m in the mood for. It’s great.

I figured out a little while ago how to cook fish fillets from frozen and then how to cook chicken breasts from frozen. Both methods work great. Since then I’ve been riffing on the methods, coming up with more recipes, especially frozen chicken breast recipes. The one I’m sharing today is a true family favorite: Chicken Parmesan. How can you go wrong? Chicken, crunch breadcrumbs, tomato sauce and melted cheese. Yes. So good.

How To Prepare For The Freezer

Before you get to the cooking, it’s important to freeze your breasts correctly in the first place. You need to make sure that your chicken breasts were originally frozen individually.

If you bought them frozen, they should be all separate in the bag. You’re golden. If you bought them fresh, they probably came all squished together in a pack. You need to take them out of there and freeze them individually, in a single layer and not touching on a pan. Then, once frozen, transfer them to a ziptop bag.

Making Chicken Parmesan From Frozen Chicken

Then to make the Chicken Parmesan, here’s what you do. Get out the breasts and put them on a lightly oiled baking sheet (I really like this one. It’s thick and sturdy and holds up to the high temperature that the chicken is cooked at). Spread a bit of tomato sauce on each one. Top that with a panko breadcrumb and oil mixture.

Bake at 425ºF until breadcrumbs are brown and chicken is cooked through. Take the chicken out of the oven and preheat the broiler. Top each breast with some tomato sauce and then some mozzarella cheese. Put it under the broiler just until the cheese is melted. And then eat.

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Learn how to make delicious Chicken Parmesan using frozen chicken breasts. Quick and convenient for busy weeknights.

• ⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs
• cooking oil
• ½ tsp. salt
• ⅛ tsp. black pepper
• ¼ tsp. garlic powder
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 medium frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts (that were frozen individually and are not attached to each other now)
• ⅓ cup tomato sauce, divided
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. In a small bowl combine panko, 1 tablespoon cooking oil, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese.
3. Place chicken breasts on prepared pan and brush the top of each with about 1 teaspoon of tomato sauce. Top each with one quarter of the breadcrumbs.
4. Bake until cooked through to 165ºF, as read on an instant-read thermometer, 30-40 minutes. (*If using thawed chicken breasts, cook until cooked through to 165ºF, or about 20-25 minutes).
5. Remove from oven and preheat broiler. Top each breast with 1 heaped tablespoon of tomato sauce and 2 tablespoons mozzarella. Broil until cheese is melted, 2-3 minutes.

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Forgot to thaw the chicken? Don’t worry, you can make chicken parm using frozen chicken breasts.

One evening a couple of years ago I arrived home after a crazy day and discovered that I had forgotten to take the planned chicken breasts out of the freezer. I thought I had our dinner plans covered but it turned out that I did not.

So, I got the chicken breasts out of the freezer and tossed them onto a baking sheet and put them into the oven, with my fingers crossed. I really hoped that they would thaw and cook and not take forever.

Cooking Chicken Breasts From Frozen

To my surprise and delight, they were done in about 30 minutes. I used an instant read thermometer to make sure. Here is the method that I posted on my blog after that experience. It shows how to cook chicken breasts from frozen.

From that point on I started experimenting with different recipes that could be made with chicken breasts straight from the freezer. Today’s Frozen Chicken Parmesan is one of those. I know you’re going to love it for how delicious it is, but also for how convenient it is when you find yourself with frozen chicken breasts and no time to thaw them.

How To Make Chicken Parmesan With Frozen Chicken

First, get that oven heated to 425ºF and lightly oil a baking sheet. Since we can’t bread the frozen chicken, we’re going to mix up a seasoned topping instead. You’ll combine a tablespoon of oil along with panko breadcrumbs, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese.

Place your frozen chicken breasts in a single layer on the baking sheet and brush the top of each with some tomato sauce. Then, top each with one quarter of the breadcrumb mixture.

Bake until cooked through to 165°F as read on an instant-read thermometer, around 30-40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and preheat broiler. Top each breast with more tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella. Broil until the cheese is melted, 2-3 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Of course, if you did plan ahead and thaw your chicken, you can choose another version of this recipe from our entire series on Chicken Parmesan.

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• cooking oil
• ⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. coarse black pepper
• ¼ tsp. garlic powder
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 medium frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts that were frozen individually and are not attached to each other now
• ⅓ cup tomato sauce, divided
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. In a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon cooking oil, Panko, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese.
3. Place frozen chicken breasts in a single layer on prepared baking sheet and brush the top of each with 1 teaspoon of tomato sauce. Top each with one quarter of the breadcrumbs.
4. Bake until cooked through to 165ºF, as read on an instant-read thermometer, 30-40 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and preheat broiler. Top each breast with 1 heaped tablespoon of tomato sauce and 2 tablespoons of shredded mozzarella. Broil until cheese is melted, 2-3 minutes.

This post originally appeared in May 2017 and was revised and republished in August 2022.

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