Keto Chicken Parmesan
Chicken Parmesan is one of the dishes at every Italian restaurant in the US. I know why: it’s delicious! My low carb keto chicken parmesan recipe is fast, grain free, gluten-free, & and kid-approved!
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Chicken Parmesan is one of those dishes on the menu at every Italian restaurant across America. It is a classic and there is a good reason, it’s delicious! But… it can be very labor-intensive to make it at home.
I’ll never forget one Saturday when we first got married that we invited over some friends for dinner and decided to make chicken parm at the last minute. Not the brightest idea. I was still breading and pan-frying the chicken when the company arrived. And then it needed to bake for 45 minutes. I think we finally ate dinner after 8. Oops!
I promise this baked low carb gluten free chicken parmesan is much easier. It is a perfect easy keto diet dinner and a favorite chicken recipe among my whole family.
Ingredients
Chicken breasts – If they are very large cut in half into thinner chicken cutlets.
Egg – Egg binds the topping to the chicken.
Grated parmesan cheese – Parmesan replaces the bread crumbs in the traditional recipe.
Dried minced garlic & onion – Feel free to substitute very finely minced fresh garlic and onion or garlic powder and onion powder.
Dried oregano, basil, & parsley – You can substitute an Italian seasoning blend instead of the individual herbs but I prefer to add the ones we like separately.
Freshly ground black pepper & salt – Enhances the other flavors of the chicken.
Marinara sauce – Make your own or check store-bought for added sugar.
Shredded mozzarella – Sliced works too!
Want to try a chicken breaded with ground pork rinds? Try my Keto Breaded Chicken Breast.
How to Make Keto Chicken Parmesan
The lazy way to make chicken parm is to just bread it and then bake it in the oven. Since the coating is flourless you can just bake it without pan-frying it first. That cuts the prep down to about 10 minutes. As much as I enjoy being in the kitchen I also love easy prep meals.
First Step: Dip a chicken breast into the beaten egg mixture. Coat in the parmesan cheese mixture. Place in a greased casserole dish. I normally just drizzle some olive oil in the bottom of my baking dish. Repeat.
Second Step: Bake the chicken at 400 for 30 minutes.
Top Tip💡
This time is for using whole medium-large chicken breasts. If you are making this with thin cutlets or chicken tenderloins only bake for 15 minutes before adding the sauce and cheese. If your chicken breasts are gigantic cut them in half first.
Third Step: After par-cooking the chicken top with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese.
Fourth Step: Bake for an additional 10-20 minutes until the chicken reaches 160 degrees on a meat thermometer and the cheese is melted.
Expert Tip: Broil for 2-3 minutes, watching constantly, to get a nice golden brown look on the cheese.
Keto Chicken Parm Tips
- Do not overcook the keto parmesan chicken. Please buy a digital meat thermometer if you do not own one. This is the key to enjoying tender and juicy chicken. Only cook it until it is 158-160 degrees and then let it rest.
- Use a delicious marinara sauce. Marinara sauce is not all the same. In a simple dish like this, you can really taste the difference between homemade and store-bought and between cheap store-bought tomato sauce and quality sauce. Watch for added sugar in jarred sauces when buying them for keto recipes. Since you only need a little bit this is a time to splurge on the good stuff.
- If you want to give this a kick mix some red pepper flakes into your pasta sauce before adding it.
Common Questions
Is Chicken Parmesan Keto?
Traditional chicken parmesan is coated with flour, egg, and bread crumbs. It is not keto because of the flour and bread crumbs. But it is very easy to swap out those ingredients for keto friendly parmesan cheese in the breading.
How to make Chicken Parmesan without Bread Crumbs
I simply use a combination of parmesan cheese and herbs instead of traditional bread crumb breading in my keto chicken parmigiana. Coconut flour or almond flour will not give the same result. Crushed pork rinds work a bit better than the low carb flours.
Can I use chicken thighs?
Yes, if you want to. I prefer the milder flavor of boneless skinless chicken breasts in this low carb chicken parmesan recipe but boneless skinless chicken thighs will work fine.
Can I make this in the air fryer?
Sure. Just grease the air fryer basket and add the chicken in a single layer. When it is 80% cooked add the sauce and cheese.
What to serve with Baked Chicken Parmesan
Our favorite side dish for keto chicken parmesan is my homemade caesar salad.
Other great side dish options are roasted green beans, garlic broccoli, balsamic mushrooms, cauliflower rice, or zucchini noodles!
Or for a vegetarian version sub the chicken for cauliflower and try my Cauliflower Parmesan.
I hope your whole family loves this lazy baked keto chicken parmesan!
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Video
Keto Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients
- 2.5 – 3 lb chicken breast
- 1 egg
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tbsp dried minced garlic
- 1/2 tbsp dried minced onion
- 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tbsp dried basil
- 1/2 tbsp dried parsley
- 1/4 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
- pinch salt
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 6 oz shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400. Line a large baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
- Beat egg in one small wide bowl. In a second bowl combine the parmesan cheese with all the spices and mix.
- Dip each piece of chicken in the egg and then the cheese, coating both sides. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 min. You want to chicken to be about 145-150 degrees before you add the sauce and the cheese.
- Top each piece with sauce and then shredded mozzarella. Bake for another 5-10 min until the chicken is 160 degrees when checked with a meat thermometer and the cheese is melted and bubbly. You can broil for a minute or two at the end to brown the cheese.
Notes
Nutrition
For more Italian-inspired Keto Dinner Recipes try these:
Originally Published March 7, 2016. Revised and Republished with October 13, 2023.
Oh my!
This recipe is perfect. Delicious, low carb, low sugar and easy. Thank you for sharing ❤️
This was simple and awesome! Both my husband and I enjoyed this recipe! Will make again!
Thinking that topping with a slice of Provolone instead of shredded mozzarella is what I will be trying.
I made this for dinner tonight as well as the garlic broccoli side it was A-mazing!!!!
Does this work better with fresh Parmesan or the dried kind you buy in a jar?
Either works but should be finely grated, not shredded.
I assume this recipe is for 4 people?
It has 6 servings (this is listed at the top of the recipe card near the times).
Which marinara sauce do you use?
I normally buy Classico Tomato and Basil or Roasted Garlic. At this time, both of those do not have added sugar. Make sure to check the labels though.
Fantastic! I used those thinly sliced chicken breasts and put these in cast iron. Amazing flavor and SO EASY! Served them with some buttered steamed beans and we’re stuffed. This one is going on heavy rotation in our house!
Fantastic recipe. I used thighs (because that’s all I had) and it turned out great. I just cooked it a bit longer. Thanks for sharing!
Delicious. Mixed in crushed pork rind into the Parmesan for crunch (think breadcrumbs) and it worked really well.
The pork rinds don’t go all soggy?
This recipe doesn’t use pork rinds. But you can bread chicken with them.
Every time I’ve ever used pork rinds they get soggy and nasty.
What’s the serving size
1/6th. That should be one chicken breast with sauce and cheese.
What an awesome idea. I buy ground beef and chicken in 5lb bulk bags and have always divided it up ready to cook and stored in the freezer, but pre-cooking would save so much more time. Have you found that the cooked/reheated meat does or doesn’t absorb your spices as well? That would be my only concern, although I think you could avoid the bland meat scenario by putting some garlic, salt, pepper and some other “general” seasonings (parsley, minced onion) in there when you cook in the crock pot. I would think these are common enough to most things you do with the finished meat that you wouldn’t endanger the final dinner product.
Can you make this ahead and put the chicken breast with the coating on it in the refrigerator over night? I wasn’t sure if it would get soggy….
I think it will be fine to bread the chicken ahead of time but I haven’t tried that yet.
I am so very pleased with this recipe, will be making this monthly!
How would you recommend reheating this lovely dish?
I added some leftover marinara covered in foil and out in the oven
Yes, you can reheat in the oven or microwave.
Best Chicken Parmesan recipe I have found. I love that it is coated with cheese and not bread crumbs like so many other recipes. I make a homemade Rose’ sauce to top it with and my family completely devours it. Thank you for posting this recipe!
This was unbelievable! So tasty, thank you.