By Meredith Hayden
Meat

Grilled Chicken Parm

June 4, 2024

This dish has all of the flavors and textures of your traditional chicken parm, but with a summer twist. Chicken is first marinated in a sweet but savory homemade Italian Vinaigrette, which tenderizes the chicken and also imparts TONS of flavor. Seriously, you’ll be doing this to all of your grilled chicken moving forward. Then, we embrace the sweetness of summer tomatoes with a raw (or almost raw) tomato sauce that comes together with 4 ingredients in under 10 minutes. And we’re ditching the whole flour, egg wash, breadcrumb dredge-then-fry charade and opting for a perfectly crispy toasted panko sprinkle. This minimal effort, maximum flavor cooking is what summer is all about.

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Grilled Chicken Parm

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Ingredients

  • 2-3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded thin
  • 1 batch of homemade Italian Vinaigrette, or sub with 3/4 cup of your favorite store bought
  • 4 large tomatoes, grated on a box grater yielding about 4 cups of sauce
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely grated on a microplane
  • 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
  • 2 tablespoons of salted butter, optional
  • Stracciatella cheese or burrata
  • Freshly grated parmesan cheese for serving
  • Fresh basil for serving
  • sea salt, or kosher salt
  • flaky salt for serving
  • freshly ground black pepper

Toasted Garlic Panko (optional)

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 medium garlic clove, finely grated
  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs

Instructions

  1. Marinate the chicken: Combine the chicken and the Italian Vinaigrette in a large zip top bag and refrigerate over night.
  2. For the Panko (optional): Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil and butter. When the butter has melted, stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then add the panko and toss to coat. Toast until the breadcrumbs are golden, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 7 minutes. Turn off the heat, add a pinch of salt, and transfer the breadcrumbs to a bowl.  Store the breadcrumbs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
  3. Make the Tomato Sauce: Combine the grated tomato with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 tsp of sea salt or kosher salt, and the finely grated garlic. Mix to combine, taste and adjust as needed. You can leave the sauce as is, or reduce it on the stove slightly. If reducing: add everything to a medium saucepan over high heat, bring to a boil and reduce to a medium simmer for about 5 minutes until the sauce has slightly thickened. Whisk in butter if using.
  4. Grill the Chicken: Throughly clean and grease your grill grates. Preheat your grill to medium high. Grill the chicken until you get nice grill marks on the outside and the inside registers 150 degrees, about 3-5 minutes a side depending on the thickness of your chicken and the heat from your grill.
  5. To Assemble: Ladle the tomato sauce over each butterflied cutlet. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese, a few dollops of stracciatella cheese, flaky salt, freshly ground black pepper, toasted panko, fresh basil, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
   
HOT TIP: Make a little extra sauce to toss with pasta for serving.

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What do you think of this recipe?

made this a few weeks ago in a wok (easy to fry in) and it turned out perfectly! served with the sauce and fettuccini noodles with a Ceasar salad. 10/10 will make again. I am Gluten free so i didn’t use your panko ingredients but what i have made in the past.

Literally my favorite recipe of the summer. The family keeps asking for it and I’m more than happy to oblige.

Holy S**t Meredith! Not even kidding – my boyfriend and I inhaled this. It was SO DELICIOUS!

This is perfection. Do not, I repeat, do not, skip marinade or basil. 1M/10

Made this immediately. It was so easy and perfect to add to my summer rotation. I did luck out in the sense that I live in CA and have heirloom tomatoes readily available. So easy to follow and my guests complimented the meal multiple times. This will definitely be in my summer rotation.