Good morning! Good afternoon! Good evening! Regardless of when you are tuning in, I hope you’re having a good whenever and this recipe for Lemon Parmesan Chicken is about to make it even better!
This is a sunny flavored Parmesan encrusted chicken is one of my husband’s favorites. I actually based this recipe off of a parmesan encrusted tilapia recipe in my second book, Come Home To Supper, because he liked that so much. Note: this recipe is pretty far off the path of the tilapia one so if you want to make that, check out the original in my book. This chicken is easy as can be to pull together and most of the “work” is just waiting on it to cook. A great weeknight supper, Saturday lunch, or Sunday dinner to add to your files.
Y’all ready to cook? We gotta eat eventually, so let’s get started…
To make this bright and cheesy chicken you’ll need: Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts*, Mayo, Grated Parmesan, Dried Basil, Lemon (or bottled juice), Salt (not pictured) and Butter.
*Can I make it with other cuts of chicken or bone in chicken? Sure! You’ll need to watch it and adjust the cooking time according to when your chicken gets done. I can’t tell you the cooking time for other cuts because I always just use boneless skinless breasts but you got this!
Cut your lemon and squeeze out the juice.
Now listen, don’t freak out over the size of the lemon. Any lemon will work. If it’s small, you’ll have a little less juice, if it’s big you’ll have a little more juice. No big deal either way. If you don’t want to buy a lemon, you can use bottled juice. Remember, you are the boss of the recipes in your house.
Place chicken and lemon juice in zipper seal bag and seal.
Place this bag in the refrigerator, turning every now and then (when you think about it) for about an hour (or so).
You don’t have to put your lemon slices in the bag but I do because, well because I want to. In my kitchen, that is reason enough. 🙂
Before you get started cooking your chicken place parmesan, mayo, 1/2 of the butter, basil, and salt in a bowl. Stir together until thoroughly combined.
When it’s all stirred up together it will look like this and you may think “That is not enough cheese for all of this chicken” but it is. It really, really is.
Place the remaining butter in large skillet over medium heat and let melt. Add chicken (lemon juice and all) and cook until lightly browned on both sides and no longer pink in the center, turning once during the cooking process. This will take anywhere from fifteen to twenty minutes or so, depending on how thick your chicken is and the temperature of your stove eye.
*Cultural education time: Apparently “stove eye” is a Southern thing and the folks in other areas call them “burners”. I learned this a few years ago from y’all. I could see it being called a burner if the stove was gas and there was an actual fire going on. I’ve always had an electric stove and all my life every cook I’ve ever personally known (mother, grandmothers, aunts) has called it a stove eye so that is what I do.
Here is our cooked chicken. Ain’t it purty?
Once chicken is fully cooked, transfer to a baking dish or rimmed baking sheet. I am using this enamel pan that also happens to be the perfect size for a batch of biscuits. Check it out on my Preston Rolls post if you’d like.
Spread your cheese mixture over the top of each piece of chicken and place this in a 350 degree oven for about ten minutes to finish off the chicken. Now you may be thinking “That cheese is going to melt and go everywhere”. But it really isn’t. This mixture is gonna sit happily, melt, and pretty much stay put. Don’t believe me? See below 🙂
Serve immediately, with lemon slices in case folks want to add a little extra burst of citrus to theirs.
Ingredients
- 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 lemon plus one for garnishing if you like*
- 1/2 cup butter at room temp (salted or unsalted)
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 3 tablespoons mayo
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts in gallon zipper seal bag. Juice lemon and pour juice in bag. Seal and place in the refrigerator for about an hour, turning every now and then.
- Place 1/4 cup of butter in a large skillet over medium high heat until melted. Add chicken breasts (and juice in bag) and cook, flipping as needed, until browned and no longer pink in the center, about 20 minutes.
- In a small bowl, stir together remaining butter (1/4 cup), mayo, parmesan cheese, salt, and basil until fully blended.
- Remove cooked chicken from skillet and place on baking sheet. Spread cheese mixture evenly over tops of chicken. Place in 350 oven for about ten minutes, or until cheese is melted.
- Serve with slices of fresh lemon, if desired.
Notes
This post is part of the Weekend Potluck at Country Cook!
Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy.
~Lao Tzu
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Yum 
This sounds delicious! If I use an ovensafe skillet to fry, can I do the baking right in it as well? (I’m kind of lazy – always trying to reduce dishwashing.)
You sure can! That’s just plum brilliant 🙂
Thanks, Christy! Took a package of chicken out of the freezer this morning 🙂
I hope you enjoy Quinn!!
That sounds and looks great.
Can’t wait to try it.
You can smell it
hey girl this looks really good!
Thank you so much Shawnna!
I think the mayo/cheese mixture should also work on grilled salmon. Just cook the salmon then spread some of the mixture on the pieces and let them continue on the grill just long enough to melt the cheese into sort of a sauce. I think I’ll not only try it on chicken but with some salmon too! YUM!!
I bet it would too LaFern!! Let me know if you try it!
This sounds delicious and I cannot wait to try it!
Thank you Stacey, I hope you get the chance to try it soon!
Sounds and looks amazing!
Thank you Barbara!!
What would happen if I put the mixture on the raw chicken and baked it? Would it work?
My mother makes a recipe similar to this, minus the lemon. She spreads the mixture on raw chicken and bakes it, covered with foil. It’s delicious! You just won’t get the nice browned chicken, but it’s still tasty. Hope you don’t mind me sharing this, Christy!
I appreciate your help! I’m traveling a little today for meetings so you came at the perfect time!
I have a very similar recipe, the only difference is there’s no lemon marinade and I put it on raw chicken and bake it in the oven. Turns out good.
Thanks for explaining the stove eye, and this looks like a good recipe. Thank you for it.
I hope you get the chance to try it soon Kathy!
Christy,
This looks divine. I will be making this very soon. Best of luck to you on the launch of the magazine. I will be buying it. Wish I could make it to the launch. Hopefully I can sign up for a cooking class soon.
Thank you Dawn!! I hope to get to see you soon!
Thanks for the recipe Christy. I am making chicken parm tonight, but I am going to try this recipe before the weekend it looks so tasty.
Regards from The Netherlands.
Heather
I hope you enjoy it Heather!!
Looks delish! Except I hate mayo 🙁 I know, right, blashphemy for a southern girl! I am going to try it with sour cream or greek yogurt instead.
Aaaah, but I am right there with you! I really don’t like mayo. I use it in recipes, though. If you ever see it in one of my recipes know that it passes the muster of a fellow mayo disliker (I’m not saying hate because they’ll be coming up the hill with torches…)
OK, I made this tonight. When my husband walked in the kitchen, he immediately reached in the fridge for his favorite meat condiment. But he waited to pour it on his chicken, and when he took the first bite, he said, “Honey, this is a home run! I’m throwing this bottled sauce in the trash!” It was delicious!!!! My little variation was this: I used 3 tbsp of “mayo with olive oil” and used half the butter (2 tbsp) and added a little pepper to make the parmesan spread. Next time I may leave the butter out all together. Anyway, we both loved it! And I’ll be making this regularly, I’m sure! Thank you, Christy!
I am so glad it was such a hit Celia!!!
I see the recipe calls for grated Parm but the picture shows shredded. Which should be used?
Whichever you grab first 🙂
What a yummy idea for all those nights that chicken sounds a bit boring. Definitely a keeper.. By the way, good luck with your magazine too.. You will NEVER run out of new ideas… You’re just plain amazing!
Thank you Judy!!
I made this last night and my picky eater kids devoured it. Super yummy, super easy. I will make this again and again, thanks for this great recipe Christy! And good luck with the mag!
Can I leave the mayo out or use something else because I do not like mayo? Thankyou
I don’t like mayo either so I sympathize! I don’t taste it in this recipe and therefore always make it just as it is written. You could try adding more butter if you like but I’m not sure how it will turn out 🙂
Yum, yum. Just had this for dinner with raves all around. The only change I made was to add a bit of dijon mustard to the mayo/cheese mix for a bit of kick. As suggested by another reviewer, I will try this on salmon as well. Served with twice baked potatoes- and some asparagus that that I stirred around in the pan with the butter I browned the chicken in. A keeper for sure!
I am so glad you liked it Jane!!!
What does everybody serve it with?
My brain has quit functioning. And that’s the hardest part – what to serve with it that isn’t white or yellow!
Right now we are eating a lot of green beans, cooked broccoli, and salads, so that is what comes to mind off the top of my head. 🙂
I am making this yummy looking chicken tonight. I am quite a fan of your recipes and use so many of them. Thank you soooo much.
I was wondering how in the world you lost 25 lbs in 5 weeks??? Would you share your tips….I need to find something to get me motivated.
Thanks again for your recipes and your uplifting stories! They help us all get through the week!
Hi Cheryl!! Thank you so much for all of your support and for trying some of my recipes!! I am eating low carb. It is so easy to follow and I feel so much better!!
I made this for dinner last night and it was fantastic. Even my husband, who is very anti-fruit with meat, loved it.
I am so glad it was a hit Dee!!!
I am trying to decide if the grandbabies would be suspicious of the lemon flavor, the cheese and mayo they’re totally on board with. last night, Sister cut up okra real little and roasted it with sea salt and a little olive oil, it sure was good! She also roasted green beans (bean beans to the babies ) with a tiny bit of honey along with the usual salt and a bit of oil. We tore that plumb up! Rev. Rogers had grilled some chicken and it sure made a nice little meal. We went around the table telling what had brought us the most joy that day and Sister wrote it down in the Joy Journal. The three year old usually gets to decide what brought baby brother the most joy and tells it for him. Nothing like being the big sister!
I made this Monday and it is delicious. The chicken breasts were rather small so I cooked them too long in the pan. Next time (and there will be a next time), I’d take them out before they’re quite done and transfer them to the baking sheet. After all, they’ve got 10 more minutes to cook in there.
And…you’re right, most of the cheese stays on top and no, you don’t taste the mayonnaise. Some of my topping melted off since the chicken breasts were small but I just scooped the extra up when I served it.
I made this using the thinner chicken cutlets and they turned out great. This is a recipe that I will be making again. So easy.
Can this be made on the grill?
Hello Christy,
I made the Lemon chicken for my family tonight for the first time, we all loved it!! I’m happy to see its on your Low Carb receipes. I just started my version of the adapt low-carb eating lifestyle this week, please pray that I will be faithful. Thank you for giving us great recipes but more importantly, your sweet spirit, kindness and love for The Lord.
Oh my goodness, thank you so much Mary, you have made my day!! You can do this, I have faith in you!! Remember the first week or so is the hardest part and the easiest time to give up. DON’T, keep going!
I’ve pinned this for later. I’d love to lose weight and it sounds like you have done well. Just the thought of low carb sends me into a food deprivation panic. Nearly every meal I eat has one or more carbs, and there is now way I’m giving up potatoes…ever. That said, I may give it a (modified) try.
That should be “no way” instead of “now way”. 🙁
I thought the same thing at first Linda, but it is actually much easier than you would think. Once I saw how much better I felt and the results, it was pretty easy to break up with carbs. They are like that bad boyfriend that just kept holding me back 😉
Hi Christy
Love this recipe
It’s a winner
Worth turning on my oven even in this South Georgia heat wave
🙂 That says it all!! I am so glad you liked it Becky!!
I made this a couple of weeks ago. Delicious!
I am so glad to hear that you liked it Beverly!!! Thank you for giving it a try!
Great Recipe!
Thank you, Emily! Hope you have a great evening!
My oven isn’t working at this time but would love to make this for dinner tonight. Is there any way I could cook this all in the stove top?
Yes, you can make it all in a skillet, just brown your chicken and then add the cheese at the last step and cook until melted. It won’t brown on top but will be just fine and still yummy 🙂
I think this flavor of spread would work on several species of fish fillets and probably pork chops and pork loin.
You’re absolutely right. I’ve personally had it over tilapia and it was delicious – and I hate fish! 🙂