When I cook I turn on Frank Sinatra radio, don my favorite apron, and spin around the kitchen making dinner like June Cleaver. Ummmmm, yeah right! Who am I kidding? Many days my hair is in a messy bun, I’m wearing yesterday’s yoga pants (that I slept in too!), and my idea of cooking involves calling Dominos. Most weeknight meals fall somewhere in between these two extremes, lol! I try really hard to have home cooked meals at least 6 times a week but sometimes they are throw-together dinners like this Lemon Parmesan Chicken. It’s easy-peasy, doesn’t require a whole lot of brain power, and there’s only one pan to clean afterwards!
Start by heating your oven to 400 degrees and lining a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil onto the foil so the chicken won’t stick. Then put 3/4 cup of Italian bread crumbs into a medium sized bowl with 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.
In a separate bowl, combine the juice and zest of one lemon with 2 tablespoons of melted butter. You will also need to add in 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning, and a dash of Kosher salt and pepper. Prep 6-7 boneless skinless chicken breasts and set them on a plate.
Set up your dunking station ahead of time so that you only have to dirty your hands once and you aren’t dripping chicken juice all over your counter! One at a time, dip your chicken breasts into the lemon butter mixture and then into the breadcrumbs. Make sure all the sides of the chicken are covered in lemon butter before dredging in the bread crumbs.
Then place your lemon parmesan chicken on the foil lined baking sheet. Place a lemon on top of each piece of chicken and then drizzle any remaining lemon butter on top. If you don’t have any leftover, that’s A-ok!
In a small bowl chop up some veggies into bite-sized pieces. Use whatever veggies you like roasted. I opted for zucchini and broccoli because I have a bunch of it from the garden. Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil on top. Throw in a pinch of Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper and then toss it all together.
Sprinkle the veggies around the lemon parmesan chicken, being careful to make sure none are on top of the chicken. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is golden in color and tender.
Wasn’t that a slam dunk?! Simple, healthy, and family friendly! And you can even make it with a messy bun and yoga pants.
If you’re like me and try your best to make home cooked meals but don’t want them to be time consuming or complicated, I have some new, fresh ideas for you! My favorite 30 Minute Meals are my Chicken and Black Bean Fajitas, a simple 5 Ingredient Tomato Pesto Pizza, and Creamy Fettuccine Vegetable Primavera. I also live out of my slow cooker. I have more than 20 Crockpot Meals on my site, but my favorites are 5 Ingredient Orange Chicken, Healthy Enchilada Quinoa, and Thai White Chicken Chili. In addition, I have a free E-book with 7 more Crockpot Meals not listed on the website.
If all these suggestions don’t tickle your fancy, you can check out my Pinterest Boards where I’m always adding more fresh and fabulous ideas. Happy cooking y’all!
30 Minute One Pan Lemon Parmesan Chicken
Ingredients
- 6-7 boneless skinless chicken breasts about 1.5 to 2 lbs
- 3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Juice and zest of one large lemon
- 2 Tbsp melted butter
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- dash of Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 cups fresh broccoli florets
- 1 medium zucchini chopped
- 2 Tbsp olive oil divided
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cover a baking sheet with foil and drizzle with 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Smear around on foil.
- Mix bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese together in a bowl. Set aside.
- Melt butter and combine with the lemon juice, zest, and spices in a separate bowl. Set aside.
- Clean chicken breasts and set on a plate.
- Set up dredging station to save time and avoid contamination.
- Dip each chicken breast into the lemon butter and then coat generously with bread crumbs.
- Place chicken on cookie sheet 1 inch apart from each other.
- Repeat the dredging process for each chicken breast.
- Place a lemon slice on top of each chicken breast.
- Drizzle any remaining lemon butter on top of the chicken if you have it.
- In a small bowl, coat broccoli and zucchini in 1 Tbsp olive oil and dash of salt and pepper.
- Pour the veggies around the chicken on the pan.
- Bake lemon parmesan chicken for 20 minutes at 400 degrees or until golden brown and tender.
This recipe was delicious. The lemon and parmesan flavor hits your tongue just right. I especially liked the lemon kick! We paired this with a homemade rice pilaf and broccoli. I believe this will be another Heidi’s home cooking favorite in our home!
I love your rice pilaf idea! I bet the lemon sauce tasted good in that too!
This was a big winner with my husband and kids. I’m gluten free, so I substituted the bread crumbs with crunched up veggie straws. I used two eggs with the butter and lemon to make sure my topping would stick. We had a head of cauliflower on hand, so we chopped it up and used it as our veggie in the dish. We drizzled melted butter on the cauliflower before baking. This dish made the house smell like an Italian restaurant and the food was devoured!
What great substitutions you made! I love the crunched veggie straw idea. How creative you are!