Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Creamy Lemon-Chive Sauce has a buttery crisp coating and is ultra moist on the inside!
This easy parmesan crusted chicken recipe is amazing with Rainbow Roasted Vegetables or Air Fryer Au Gratin Potatoes!
Parmesan Breaded Chicken Recipe
This lovely breaded chicken is made in one pan, so that’s magical all on its own.
The creamy lemon-chive sauce brings such an aromatic flavor to the dish! It’s one of those sauces that you end up also dipping your vegetables in, mixing with some pasta or rice, or licking off the bottom of your plate. It’s THAT good.
Ingredients Needed
Here are the basics for what you’ll need to make the parmesan-crusted chicken and the creamy lemon chive sauce.
- Chicken Breasts – boneless skinless are best, can be thawed from frozen.
- Ritz Crackers – crushed up, they make the perfect crunchy, salty breading material for this chicken.
- Chive and Onion Cream Cheese Spread – this is the creamy base for the delicious sauce! It’s found in the dairy section of the grocery store near the regular cream cheese.
- Lemon Juice – the tangy and bright flavor pop that makes the sauce amazing!
- White Wine – adds rich flavor to the sauce, and the alcohol cooks out as it reduces.
How To Prepare Parmesan-Crusted Chicken
Here are the step-by-step instructions for how to make sauce for parmesan-crusted chicken, and how to bread the chicken.
Prepare Chicken
Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness using a heavy rolling pin or meat mallet. Lightly coat the chicken with olive oil.
Bread Chicken
After crushing the Ritz crackers, combine them in a bowl with the parmesan cheese and salt and pepper on a shallow-rimmed plate. Dip the chicken in the crumb mixture, coating each side well.
Pan Fry
Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a skillet. Add the chicken breast halves and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165℉.
Remove from the skillet and rest on a plate loosely covered with foil.
PRO TIP: Resting the chicken helps the proteins in the chicken to relax and make the meat tender after cooking.
Make Sauce
To the hot skillet, add the white wine and the lemon juice and cook it to let it reduce to half the amount of original liquid, making sure to scrape off any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet to deglaze the pan.
Don’t skip the step of scraping the bottom of the pan, that’s where all that delicious flavor is!
This will essentially bring a bolder flavor to the sauce, and also cook off the alcohol at the same time.
Lastly, add the Chive and Onion cream cheese spread to the pan and cook until bubbly and thick.
Serve the chicken with a tablespoon of lemon cream sauce on top.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Prepare the chicken breasts as directed, then air fry at 375℉ for 12-14 minutes until the internal chicken temperature reaches 165℉. The sauce would still need to be cooked in a pan.
Yes! Simply omit the cracker crumbs from the recipe or you can also find a gluten free cracker to use in place of the Ritz.
Yes! Prepare the chicken, coat it in the cracker mixture, cover and refrigerate until you are ready for dinner. Then, just continue with the remaining recipe instructions.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Storage: Once cooled, refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. I recommend storing the sauce separately to prevent fogginess.
- Reheating: Can be done in an air fryer (400 ℉) or in a heated skillet for 30 seconds on each side.
- Serve it with Homemade Marinara Sauce for a fun switch!
- Make it with Pork or Fish – you can replace the chicken to make parmesan-crusted pork or tilapia, just make sure the slices or filets of fish are thin!
What To Pair This With
There are so many options! I love a simple green salad with Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing, but here are a few of my favorite cooked side dishes that go with parmesan breaded chicken and lemon cream sauce.
- Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts Recipe
- Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes Recipe
- Asparagus Pasta Salad
- Simple and Savory Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Carrots
Put this on your easy chicken dinner rotation! It’s one of the best ways to use chicken breasts ever, and has quickly become a family favorite!
Parmesan Crusted Chicken with a Creamy Lemon-Chive Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
- 8 Ritz Crackers, crushed into crumbs
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup White Wine
- 1 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- ⅔ cup Chive & Onion cream cheese spread
Instructions
- Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness using a heavy rolling pin or meat mallet. Lightly coat the chicken with olive oil.
- Combine Ritz crackers, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper on a shallow rimmed plate. Dip the chicken in the crumb mixture, coating each side well.
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil over medium high heat in a skillet. Add the chicken breast halves and cook for 3-5 minutes per side, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Remove from skillet to a plate and cover loosley with foil.
- Add wine and lemon juice to the hot skillet and let it reduce to half the amount of liquid, making sure to scrape off any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
- Add the chive and onion cream cheese spread and stir until bubbly and thickened.
- Serve each chicken breast half with a tablespoon of sauce on top. Enjoy!
The Juiciest Turkey Burgers
Marti Moran
I browned the chicken and then put in oven to finish. Otherwise would have burned with the cheese. It was ok. The sauce was pretty rich. I like it but wouldn’t make it again. Too tangy for me.
Shawn
I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe fully Marti. You could try adding a little chicken broth to the sauce if you felt it was a little too tangy. That will help mellow out the flavor.
Judith Goodman
I am a huge fan of the recipes on this site and have many of them on regular rotation. This is the first flop. I followed the instructions to a tee but, as other reviewers have mentioned, the cheese/ cracker topping burns before the chicken is cooked through. The sauce was a disaster as well. I was so disappointed. I will not try this recipe again.
Shawn
Hi Judith, I’m so sorry you had trouble with this recipe. I would just make sure you reduce the heat on the stove top if your chicken coating is browning too fast.
Devon
This is a good “idea” for a meal but the recipe is rubbish. I cooked it the first time and the chicken looked perfect. Took a bite and the chicken was raw. Cooking the chicken the recommended time on each side, even adding a couple of minutes and on high wasn’t enough to cook the chicken at all. The second time i made it, by the time the internal temp of the chicken was 165, the cheese coating was burnt to ashes and my kitchen was in smoke. These were thin chicken breasts no less. In other words, by the time the coating gets done, the chicken isn’t, and by the time the chicken is the coating is a charred disaster. Will try baking the chicken next time or maybe cooking the chicken first and then putting the coating on. But after two nights wasted on this recipe not working out, I’m a bit annoyed.
Shawn
Hi Devon, so sorry you didn’t get great results from this recipe. You’ll want to make sure you’re using chicken breast HALVES, meaning it’s a chicken breast that’s been sliced in half horizontally, creating an ultra thin chicken breast. Secondly, it sounds like your stove top temperature was too high. You’ll want just medium-high temperature so you don’t end up with burnt coating. If you’re stilling having trouble getting your chicken breast cooked through, you can sear the chicken on each side then pop them in the oven at 375 degrees F to finish cooking. I hope this helps you trouble shoot this recipe and any future cooking. 🙂
Sheila
No offense but, actually, you’re mistaken about what a chicken breast half really is. A full chicken breast is the two halves connected by the breast bone. So what you’re really doing is taking a chicken breast half and slicing it in half which, technically, would then be only a quarter of the chicken breast. I’m really glad I saw this comment before I tried it because I would have had the same problem based on how the recipe reads. I will be trying it as soon as I can get to the store for some shredded parmesan but I think I will be cooking it mostly in the oven. And I’m also planning to use panko bread crumbs because the crackers don’t sound very appealing to me and besides, they’re already crushed so less work for me, and less work is always a plus. lol
Shawn
Hi Sheila, I’m glad that it now makes sense to you. I’ve never in my cooking career referred to a halved chicken breast as a quarter chicken breast, but if that makes sense to you, awesome! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Thomas
Substitute for the Lemon flavored wine?
Rach M
Hi! I’m so trying this, it looks so good I could cook it right now and it’s MIDNIGHT! I wanted to tell you that I’ve been hearing tons lately (you probably know when this happens) about washing or not washing chicken and which is best? (And I’ve been dying to know the answer!) Well, NOT washing/rinsing is better! So, you can google it or something and maybe it’s a long habit of yours that will be hard to break but the thing is, it get’s chicken germs all over your sink and it’s said to get those germs also splashed in a certain distance around your sink and on your faucet handle, etc. all for NOTHING since you’re actually not rinsing off e.coli or anything. Those bacteria cannot be washed off by water anyway. So, look into it if y’all feel like it but rinsing chicken supposedly does nothing but slash more germs around your sink area that you’re unlikely to clean! Hope that helps someone! xoxoxo ~R 🙂
Dana
This looks fantastic, Shawn!! Totally making this sometime this week!! { it’s also a great excuse to go food shopping since our fridge currently resembles a college dorm room fridge}.
Claire
I’m looking forward to sweet potatoes!
lyonaria
this looks amazing! going to try it one of these days.
just one thing. it’s Chanel, only one n. i thought you meant a cable channel or something for a moment.
Shawn
Oh my heck, I am laughing so hard right now!! I can’t believe I spelled that wrong! Too Funny!! 🙂
meredith
i love stuffing and cranberry sauce!!
Renee
Red potatoes!! Lol!!
Renee
It was DELICIOUS!!!! I made
A bag of steam fresh Ted potatoes with butter sauce. Yummy!! Thanks for the recope. Gotta try the other flavors!
bianca @ sweet dreaming
sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie! yay beta carotene 🙂
Jessica L
I am really looking forward to my homemade pumpkin pie!
Jessen
Looking Forward to Cooking up a Great Meal for the FAM. =)
Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious
Haha I really enjoy those Brad Pitt commercials. I was dying during the SNL skit of it! And I’m totally onboard with this dish. Quick, easy and such an awesome blend of flavors!
Kristen M.
I’m looking forward to sweet potatoes!
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love.
This is totally my kind of dinner!! So yummy!!
I’m not sure what Thanksgiving will be like this year for me since we just moved away from my mom, but I sure am going to miss her stuffing!
Tracie Trump
Looking forward to squash casserole and homemade cheesecake, my fb is Michelle Trump and my email is [email protected]
Lisa
I love Thanksgiving because it’s one of the few times that I can find pearl onions in abundance, and I love to make creamed onions as a side dish.
barbara n
Of course I am looking forward to the turkey, but my sister in law also makes a great squash recipe that I look forward to every year
Stefani
One good thing about not living in a swing state, I haven’t seen too many ads…but definitely not enough of Brad’s Channel ads! 🙂 This chicken looks awesome – I know what we’re having for dinner tonight! For Thanksgiving, I’m definitely looking forward to making a sweet potato casserole…one of my favorite things. Thanks so much for the giveaway. 🙂
Gerry @ Foodness Gracious
Okay Brad’s commercial is reeeediculous!! But this chicken dinner is so not reeeeediculous, looks all crunchy and how I like it!!
Leslie
This looks terrific. Thank you for the fun giveaway, so I can try it out myself.
Kara D
I love catching up with friends and family over Thanksgiving!
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie
I am most looking forward to my dad’s pumpkin pie
april
This looks delicious! I’m a huge fan of their cooking wines!
Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel
This meal looks fabulous, Shawn! I love that sour cream + chive cream cheese and always forget to use it in dishes to make sauces–so genius!