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These Crispy Baked Chicken Cutlets are oven-baked and will be your new favorite way to eat chicken. They are so crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Easy to make and perfectly baked crispy chicken that the whole family can enjoy!
You may also love my chicken cutlet sandwich or my baked parmesan-crusted chicken.
These crispy oven-baked chicken cutlets are so tender and juicy on the inside and super crispy and crunchy at the same time. Made with a delicious garlic parmesan coating and tastes just like fried chicken. My kids love this crispy chicken dish because it’s their favorite thing to order at restaurants and they get to now enjoy it at home. Winner winner!
An easy weeknight meal that’s ready in just about 30 minutes and a healthier alternative to the classic fried crispy chicken without missing out on flavor. Serve this easy chicken recipe with garlic-roasted vegetables or crispy parmesan roasted potatoes over salads like this Italian Chopped Salad or pasta like this lemon ricotta pasta.
Why I love it
- So good: this baked chicken recipe is so crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. If you are a fan of the fried chicken cutlets that most Italian restaurants serve, you will be pleasantly surprised with this healthier (and tastier!) homemade version!
- Kid-friendly: just like adults, the kids will love these crispy chicken cutlets! The ingredients are simple, and you can even serve this crispy chicken with your kiddo’s favorite pasta to make it even more delicious.
- Simple and easy: it’s really easy to prep these chicken cutlets and pop them in the oven. No frying is needed, which means no oil popping all over the stove. And because the ingredients are so simple, you might already have all, if not most, of them on hand already! It’s a win-win!
Ingredients for Baked Chicken cutlets
- Chicken Breasts: You will need about 4 chicken breasts for this easy chicken cutlet recipe. I always opt for boneless and skinless because it’s just so much easier!
- Italian Seasoning: Such a versatile seasoning, this is one that most people already have in their spice cabinet. It yields an aromatic and simple flavor that helps to make this chicken amazing.
- Olive Oil: A great vegetable oil that can be used at high temperatures, high-quality olive oil has natural aromatic flavors that are robust and so delicious.
- Egg: The egg in this crispy baked chicken recipe helps to hold all of that delicious breading on the chicken cutlets. A quick dip in the egg mixture ensures that you get the maximum breading without being too thick.
- Milk: When whisked together with the egg, the milk helps to perfectly coat the raw chicken cutlets so that the perfect ratio of breadcrumbs to chicken sticks on.
- Panko Breadcrumbs: The combination of panko, fresh Parmesan cheese and garlic powder makes the ultimate breading for your chicken! It’s light but still packed with flavor for the perfect combination.
- Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese: Freshly grating your cheese is always the way to go! Pre-shredded cheese has a harder time melting, and once you grate your own, you’ll never go back! The taste is so much better.
- Garlic Powder: The breading is what really sets this oven-fried chicken recipe apart, and that’s where the garlic powder comes in. It gets added to the breading mixture to give a rounded-out and perfectly seasoned outer coating to the chicken.
- Smoked Paprika: Pungent dried paprika is used to season the chicken with classic aromatic flavors. If you do not have smoked paprika, then regular paprika will work.
- Sea Salt and Pepper: The seasonings for this crispy chicken cutlet recipe are really so simple, but that’s what makes them so delicious! You can use salt and pepper to taste, but I like to use sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.
- Cooking Spray: I like to use avocado cooking oil spray to keep things light and healthy. However, any neutral oil spray will work here, such as an olive oil spray.
- Fresh Chopped Parsley: To add a little bit of color and freshness to our baked chicken, I like to sprinkle some fresh parsley at the end! Of course, if you don’t have any on hand you can omit it with no problem.
How to make crispy baked chicken cutlets
Follow these simple steps on how to make simple baked crispy chicken breasts. They are easy to make and can be ready in no time. If you can marinate the chicken ahead of time then great, if in a hurry and don’t have much time on your hands don’t fret.
Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. This will help prevent the baked chicken from sticking to the pan.
Prepare the chicken: To prepare the cutlets, pound each chicken breast to an even 1/4 inch thickness. Next, rub the chicken with Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and olive oil. We want the chicken to really absorb the flavors of the seasonings.
Marinate: If time allows, marinate it for one hour to overnight. This will give you the most tender and moist chicken! The longer you allow the chicken to marinate, the better it will taste!
Coat chicken: In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, a pinch of salt and pepper. In a shallow dish, combine the panko, garlic powder, with parmesan and smoked paprika. Dip the chicken cutlets into the egg mixture, then dredge it into the panko mixture, lightly pressing to coat.
Bake and Garnish: Place the chicken onto the prepared baking sheet and spray with cooking oil spray. bake the chicken cutlets in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then flip them and bake for 5-8 minutes more, or until golden and cooked through. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley, and serve immediately with your favorite healthy side dishes!
Frequently asked questions
An easy way to know for sure chicken is done is to cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 165F when you check with a digital food thermometer. But to give you an idea of how long it takes when you bake at 350-400F. At 400F thinly sliced boneless chicken breasts should take no longer than 15-20 minutes. At 350F it may need 25-30 minutes depending on how thin the chicken is sliced.
If you are trying to keep your chicken warm and crispy just for a few hours until ready to serve, simply place then on a cooling rack without parchment paper and keep it in the bottom of the warm oven. This works for these oven-baked chicken cutlets since they aren’t fried. For actually fried chicken, drain as much oil as you can from the chicken before you place it on the rack to cool off or keep warm in the oven.
Allow crispy chicken to cool off completely on a cooling rack before placing it in an airtight container and storing it in the fridge for 3-5 days. If the chicken is fried and oil, try to drain as much oil from it as you can before cooling it off and storing it in the fridge.
What to serve with crispy oven-baked chicken
Crispy chicken can be served alongside some roasted veggies to keep it as healthy as possible. They will taste great with some roasted potatoes, over some salad, or over creamy or tomato-based pasta.
Here are a few side options for these easy crispy baked chicken:
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Crispy Baked Chicken Cutlets
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds Chicken Breasts , skinless, boneless, (about 4)
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil, or avocado oil
- 1 Large Egg
- 2 tablespoons Milk, any milk
- ¾ Cup Panko bread crumbs , or italian style panko
- ¼ Cup Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- Sea salt and pepper, to taste
- Avocado cooking oil spray
- 1 tablespoon Fresh Chopped Parsley, to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To prepare the cutlets, pound each of the 1.5 pounds Chicken Breasts to an even 1/4 inch thickness.
- Next, rub the chicken with 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning, Sea salt and pepper, and 1 tablespoon Olive Oil. If time allows, marinate it for one hour overnight. This will give you the most tender and moist chicken.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the 1 Large Egg, 2 tablespoons Milk, a pinch of salt, and pepper.
- In a shallow dish, combine the 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder, and ¾ Cup Panko bread crumbs with ¼ Cup Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese and 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika. Dip the chicken cutlets into the egg mixture, then dredge it into the panko mixture, lightly pressing to coat
- Place the chicken onto the prepared baking sheet and spray with Avocado cooking oil spray. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, then flip the chicken cutlets and bake for 5-8 minutes more or until golden and cooked through.
- Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon Fresh Chopped Parsley, and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Depending on how thin you slice each chicken breast will determine how many strips per serving.
- Each serving will be one full chicken breast. Which should be sliced into 2-3 pieces.
- You can use seasoned panko breadcrumbs and skip the Italian seasoning.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
DAYUM. I mean for real. I used Progresso Italian breadcrumbs and pounded the chicken breasts to a little thicker than 1/4 inch so I baked them for 15 mins on one side and 8 on the other. I didn’t miss the fried-ness at all. I did still find the chicken a tiny bit dry – so maybe I overcooked it despite their thickness, or I wonder if brining would help (but I’m not sure if that would ruin the healthy nature of this meal). I ate one for dinner with the Trader Joe’s avocado tzatziki sauce + Jalapeño sauce for dinner!
Sounds delicious
I was looking for a different way to make Chicken Cutlets with out frying them, so I noticed this email came up on my IPad so I looked at the recipe and read the ingredients, I’m usually picking on certain things to eat and this recipe had everything I liked, so then I decided to give it a try. The only thing was I didn’t see I should’ve marinated the Chicken Breast for 1 hour to over night, and only had 1 hour to marinate the Chicken before I cooked it.
It was absolutely delicious and had a lot of wonderful flavor. Even my husband who usually doesn’t like Chicken Breast, said it was delicious.
Thanks for the feedback. Glad you loved it
Winner! Chicken came out moist, crispy and flavorful. I baked using the convection oven. I also made the seasonings for marinading the chicken into a blend, like a pesto, and spread it on the pounded chicken breasts. I let the marinating breasts sit in a pan on the counter. I have read, and found out, that cooking chicken when it’s cold produces dry chicken. So, the combo produced very nice results. The smoked paprika added so much flavor. Thanks. Rave reviews from my 11th grader!
So glad you loved it. Thanks for the feedback.
What do you usually serve this with? Excited to try it but would love some ideas from anyone who has made it what they served it with. Sauce? Don’t want to do Parmigan.
I have served it with a side of fettuccine alfredo and roasted broccoli
Tried today , thank you very much for excellent recipe.
Thanks. Glad you loved it.
Side of broccoli and rice.
I served this tonight with twice roasted potatoes in the air fryer and shaved brussel sprouts. We had baked potatoes the other night and there were two left over. I cut the baked potato into 1/4 inch slices, and sprayed with olive oil spray and a bit of garlic salt, then air fried them at 350 until they were brown, then turned over and did the same. My son loved them.
Yay. Perfect. Thanks for the feedback.
Hi I wanted to know can you cook this in the Air fryer and if so how high and how long do I leave it for. Thank you.
I would say air fry at 400F for 8-10 minutes. The time does vary based on the thickness of the chicken
This is the best recipe I’ve ever made of baked cutlets. Never going to Fry again. So moist and tasty. Cook exactly as directed and you won’t go wrong!
Was going to use as chicken parmigiana, but now wondering why I’d want to cover up this flavor!
Thanks for the amazing feedback. This is one of our favorite recipes!
I want to make this, but I’m confused. The bread crumbs in your photo do not look like panko, but Italian style bread crumbs. Also your recipe doesn’t call for mixing any herbs into the bread crumbs, but they are there in the photo?
Hi there. I fixed the ingredient to say you can use Italian Style Bread crumbs which is what I used. Either one would work.
I’m writing down this recipe and I don’t know what is pinko. Is it optional?
Sorry, that should be panko bread crumbs, fixing it now.
Do you spray the cooking oil spray directly onto the chicken???? Or just on the baking sheet. Thank you.
on the baking sheet. You could also spray on the chicken.
On the baking sheet? You said parchment paper. So you are spraying avocado oil directly on to the parchment paper?
Hi Steve. No, you will be spraying the chicken. We have a video uploaded you may find helpful.
My grandpa died from covid a couple months ago. After he died I stopped wanting to do anything for myself, let alone cook. Cooking this recipe was the first time I’d cooked since he passed. I’m really grateful to have had this experience. It was delicious and comforting.
Blessings.
I am so sorry, Charles. Glad you have found comfort in this recipe
So sorry to read about your grandpa. Prayers to you and your family.
Hi,
I made it tonight and it was amazing. Sooo yummy
I want to make it in big batch and freeze it. Is that possible? Can I prepare it with the spices, eggs and the breadcrumbs and before cooking it put it in the freezer and just defrost it and put it in the oven?
yes, you sure can! add parchment paper between each slice if you can
This recipe is sooooo good. I was looking for a new meal prep for this week and I wanted chicken cutlet, but I didn’t want to eat something fried. I loved this recipe soooo much!!!!!! I added more seasoning and parmesan cheese than instructed and let me tell you, yum!
That’s amazing. So glad you liked it.
Can I bread the chicken in the morning, store in fridge for the day and then cook in evening? Would the chicken still come out crispy? Or is it best to bread chicken right before baking?
Hi there. Yes you can certainly bread ahead and store in the fridge
Can I substitute Italian flavored breadcrumbs for the pinko?
Yes. That’s perfect!
Just made this for dinner….Perfect!
So glad you liked it
Baked on stone and came out perfect, thanks!
Glad you liked it.
When do you add the garlic powder?
Hi Cristina. Sorry, I just updated the recipe. I left out the garlic. It goes in with the panko and parmesan mixture.
This sounds excellent!!! Friends in for dinner Saturday….going to try…will let you know how it is received.