Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan has a crispy coating with juicy tenderloins and has quickly become a favorite recipe in this house. The homemade marinara is quick and easy, but is definitely worth simmering for a time to develop further depth of flavor. The first time I tried making this dish, Russ said, “This is the best Chicken Parm I have ever eaten.” That made my mind up. I knew I had to perfect the recipe to share with the rest of you.
I absolutely love how crispy the chicken is with this easy recipe, yet it remains juicy and tender inside. No need for a knife, your fork easily slices through the cutlets. Plus, using the air fryer is much healthier for you than deep frying in oil. You also cut down on the messy cleanup that frying always involves.
Using chicken cutlets reduces both the prep time and cooking time. With the cutlets, there’s no need to butterfly or pound chicken breasts to an even thickness. Simply sprinkle the cutlets with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and you’re ready to go with the dredging station.
While this recipe uses a homemade marinara sauce, you can also use your favorite store-bought marinara to cut down on cooking time for a super quick and easy weeknight dinner. Whether you incorporate the homemade sauce or not, I’m sure your family will love this Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan as much as we do.
FAQs:
The reason I prefer rice flour is that it gets much crispier than all purpose flour. With that said, if you don’t have access to rice flour, substitute all purpose flour mixed with corn starch. For this recipe, I’d start with 4 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons of corn starch.
like Rao’s Homemade Marinara.) We all have those nights that we need quick and easy. However, when you do have the time, I highly recommend trying your hand at your own sauce. You can control exactly what ingredients are used and create your own unique flavor profile.
How to Prepare Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan with Homemade Marinara:
Begin by placing your chicken cutlets on a plate or cutting board, and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. I used about a half teaspoon of each. Place the chicken (uncovered) in the fridge while you prepare the dredging station and marinara.
Next, set up your dredging station. Whisk together the rice flour, garlic powder, and onion powder in a shallow bowl. In a second bowl, whisk a large egg. For the third bowl, mix together the panko crumbs and the parmesan cheese.
Using one cutlet at a time, dredge in flour mix, then coat with egg, and finally dredge in the panko mix. You want to really press the panko mix into the chicken to achieve a good coating. Place each dredged cutlet on a plate, and refrigerate for at least 20-30 minutes.
If you’re making your own marinara, get the sauce simmering while the chicken is resting. Start by chopping the onion and mincing the garlic. Add the extra virgin olive oil to a heavy saucepan over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the onion, and cook about 4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the tomato paste, red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning blend. Stir continually for about 1 ½ minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, sugar, and salt, and stir to combine well. Bring to a simmer, then turn to low and cover. Let simmer while you finish working with the chicken.
To cook the chicken, you can either use your air fryer basket (a little messy), or insert a small roasting rack (Spray with your favorite non-stick spray.) in a foil lined tray that will fit in the air fryer. (Note: I use the Emeril Power Air Fryer 360 and simply covered the tray that comes with the fryer.) Preheat the air fryer to 360ºF. Mine has a preheat function, but if yours does not, simply allow the fryer to heat for about 3 minutes.
Place the chicken into the air fryer and cook for 8 minutes. With the Emeril air fryer, there is no need to flip the chicken during cooking. However, if you have a basket style air fryer, you will want to turn the chicken over about two-thirds of the way through cooking. Carefully remove the chicken from the fryer, and spoon marinara sauce over the top being careful to leave the outer edges of the chicken exposed. (You will have extra marinara.) Top each cutlet with about 1 tablespoon of mozzarella cheese.
Return the chicken to the air fryer and cook for 3 more minutes until the cheese is melted. Alternatively, you could broil the chicken at this point to get a nice browning on the cheese. Note: Use a meat thermometer to ensure that the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF.
We served our Chicken Parmesan with Banza linguine and the extra marinara, but see below for some additional serving suggestions.
Serving Suggestions:
- Serve with the extra marinara over your pasta, with a side salad (such as a delicious Caprese Salad) for a complete, easy meal.
- If you prefer a lower carb version, serve the Chicken Parmesan over sautéed greens, zucchini noodles, or spaghetti squash. If you’ve never made zucchini noodles, Check out Jessica Gavin’s guide for a 15-minute recipe.
- You could even transform this into a delicious Chicken Parmesan sandwich.
- Try the homemade marinara as a dipping sauce for Air Fryer Zucchini Fries.
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Recipe Notes:
- We absolutely love our Emeril Power Air Fryer 360. It’s about the size of toaster oven, and is a multifunctional cooker that we use nearly every day.
- Banza is a gluten-free pasta made from chickpeas. It’s a staple in our house.
- I used shredded mozzarella to save time, but you could also top with thin slices of fresh mozzarella.
- 4C Gluten-free panko is my breading choice. It stays nice and crispy when cooked, but any panko bread crumb will work for this recipe.
- The reason I prefer rice flour is that it gets much crispier than all purpose flour. With that said, if you don’t have access to rice flour, substitute all purpose flour mixed with corn starch. For this recipe, I’d start with 4 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons of corn starch.
- Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan with Homemade Marinara was adapted from Bon Appetit’s Best Chicken Parm.
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card and/or a review in the comments section at the bottom of the page. Are you following along on Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook?
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Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan with Homemade Marinara (Gluten-free)
Gluten-free Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan? Yes, please! It’s crispy on the outside and juicy and tender on the inside, plus smothered in homemade marinara and ooey-gooey mozzarella.
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- ¾ pound chicken cutlets
- ½ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder (divided)
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup rice flour
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ¾ cup gluten-free panko
- ⅓ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 6 tablespoons grated parmesan
For the Marinara Sauce
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 ounces tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend
- 1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- ½ teaspoon coconut palm sugar
- 1 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
Instructions
- Begin by placing your chicken cutlets on a plate or cutting board, and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. I used about a half teaspoon of each. Place the chicken (uncovered) in the fridge while you prepare the dredging station and marinara.
- Next, set up your dredging station. Whisk together the rice flour, garlic powder, and onion powder in a shallow bowl. In a second bowl, whisk a large egg. For the third bowl, mix together the panko crumbs and the parmesan cheese.
- Using one cutlet at a time, dredge in flour mix, then coat with egg, and finally dredge in the panko mix. You want to really press the panko mix into the chicken to achieve a good coating. Place each dredged cutlet on a plate, and refrigerate for at least 20-30 minutes.
- If you’re making your own marinara, get the sauce simmering while the chicken is resting. Start by chopping the onion and mincing the garlic. Add the extra virgin olive oil to a heavy saucepan over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the onion, and cook about 4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the tomato paste, red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning blend. Stir continually for about 1 ½ minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, sugar, and salt, and stir to combine well. Bring to a simmer, then turn to low and cover. Let simmer while you finish working with the chicken.
- To cook the chicken, you can either use your air fryer basket (a little messy), or insert a small roasting rack (Spray with your favorite non-stick spray.) in a foil lined tray that will fit in the air fryer. (Note: I use the Emeril Power Air Fryer 360 and simply covered the tray that comes with the fryer.) Preheat the air fryer to 360ºF. Mine has a preheat function, but if yours does not, simply allow the fryer to heat for about 3 minutes.
- Place the chicken into the air fryer and cook for 8 minutes. With the Emeril air fryer, there is no need to flip the chicken during cooking. However, if you have a basket style air fryer, you will want to turn the chicken over about two-thirds of the way through cooking.
- After 8 minutes, carefully remove the chicken from the fryer, and spoon marinara sauce over the top being careful to leave the outer edges of the chicken exposed. (You will have extra marinara.) Top each cutlet with about 1 tablespoon of mozzarella cheese. Return the chicken to the air fryer and cook for 3 more minutes until the cheese is melted. Alternatively, you could broil the chicken at this point to get a nice browning on the cheese. Note: Use a meat thermometer to ensure that the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF.
Notes
- Serve with the extra marinara over your pasta, with a side salad. (I used Banza chickpea pasta, but use your favorite.)
- If you prefer a lower carb version, serve the Chicken Parmesan over sautéed greens, zucchini noodles, or spaghetti squash.
- I used shredded mozzarella to save time, but you could also top with thin slices of fresh mozzarella.
- 4C Gluten-free panko is my breading choice. It stays nice and crispy when cooked, but any panko bread crumb will work for this recipe.
- The reason I prefer rice flour is that it gets much crispier than all purpose flour. With that said, if you don’t have access to rice flour, substitute all purpose flour mixed with corn starch. For this recipe, I’d start with 4 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons of corn starch.
Nutrition Information
Yield 3 Serving Size 2 cutletsAmount Per Serving Calories 791Total Fat 35gSaturated Fat 8gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 24gCholesterol 210mgSodium 1808mgCarbohydrates 75gFiber 8gSugar 16gProtein 46g
Note: Nutritional information is an approximation. Different brands and/or quantities will change the nutrition profile. Nutritional information does not include pasta or other accompaniments to the dish.
CTHY
Dad says YES lets try this
Inspired Fresh Life
It's an easy one that you guys will like 😊