Oven Fried Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches

It’s National CHEESE day today! Time to pay tribute to one of my very very favorite foods (in case you hadn’t noticed), yes, it’s cheese. I freaking LOVE cheese. Especially really good cheese. I get crap from my lactose intolerant friend and occasionally from my kids too, who are both (at least a little) lactose intolerant, but they still want their cheese.

That’s how I would be if I were lactose intolerant. So what if it upsets my tum … I still want my CHEESE! (Luckily, I’m not.)

But, like I said, my kids both are somewhat lactose intolerant, so when they wanted to make these super cheesy chicken sandwiches, I was a little concerned, but they would not let go of the idea. So I agreed I would help make them. My son did the chicken pounding and also cut the slices of mozzarella super thick, so yeah, they were super cheesy … here are some behind the scenes pics of my daughter’s eating experience:

and then there was this … love that drizzly cheese! She gobbled up the whole thing. So yeah, if you cut the mozzarella slices as thick as my son did (about 1/4 inch thick), this is what you might expect. It’s pretty amazing for the cheese lovers of the world (and for the lactose intolerant folks who love to torture themselves.)

Alternatives for lactose intolerant peeps who want to take care of their tums could skip out on the cheese and make a chicken sandwich with your favorite lactose-free burger sauce (or hey, ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions, tomatoes, lettuce … all the traditional fixings work here too).

Or just go ahead and take a splurge day in honor of National Cheese Day! I didn’t have a whole sandwich to myself (I don’t normally eat dinner), but when my son declared he couldn’t finish his, I took several bites and had a hard time setting it down. Sooooooo good!

Also, for those that are watching your carbs, skip the bun and just enjoy the chicken parmesan with some steamed veggies or zoodles and sauce on the side. Or just limit yourself to half of a sandwich.

Oven Fried Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: as many as you like!

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Ingredients

For the chicken:

• Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• Salt, freshly ground pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, Italian Seasoning
• Cornstarch
• Egg (1 egg for each thigh)
• Panko bread crumbs or crushed rice chex
• Olive oil

For the rest:

• Your favorite marinara sauce
• Fresh mozzarella, sliced thick
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Brioche or hoagie buns (here’s my recipe for brioche buns), toasted
• Fresh basil leaves (optional)

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Put on an apron! This can get messy … just sayin’ … Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray and brush with olive or avocado oil.
2. Set a chicken thigh on a plastic cutting board and sprinkle both sides of the chicken with salt, pepper, and seasonings. Flip and salt/pepper/season the other side.
3. Cover the chicken with parchment paper. Use a meat mallet to pound the thighs very thin (1/8 – 1/4 inch thick). It might get really wide and some bits might split off. That’s okay. You can make “chicken bites” with these bits! Repeat with the other chicken thighs, allowing one thigh per person.
4. Set up three bowls: the first containing cornstarch, the second with whisked eggs, the third with panko (or other) bread crumbs. Pick one hand as your “dry” hand and one for your “wet” hand. With your wet hand, grab the first chicken bit (best to start with a little one) and dredge it in cornstarch to coat fully. Use your dry hand to plop it into the eggs. Use your wet hand to turn the chicken over and make sure all the dry bits are fully dredged in egg. Take the chicken from the egg with your wet hand and set it in the breadcrumbs. Now switch to your dry hand. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the wet side facing up, flip and sprinkle a couple times until the whole thigh is covered with crumbs. Gently lift and set on the baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.
5. Gently brush both sides of each chicken bit with olive oil.
6. Bake at 425 for 10 – 12 minutes or until starting to brown on the bottom, then flip and cook on the other side for 10 – 12 minutes.
7. Remove the chicken from the oven and turn the heat up to 450 F. Spread the top of each of the breaded chicken with marinara sauce, then top with mozzarella slices and shredded parmesan. Set back in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese is nicely melted.
8. While the cheese is melting, toast the buns. Set the cheesy chicken on the buns, top with fresh basil leaves (if desired) and enjoy!

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

© Copyright 2018, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.

This recipe was shared at Tip Me Tuesday.