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Easy Chicken Parm Sandwiches

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By Pillsbury Kitchens
Updated Sep 30, 2024
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A classic Italian American comfort food favorite, the chicken Parm sandwich, is a go-to meal for busy schedules. It's quick and easy to make and sure to please every diner at the table. The combination of crispy chicken, savory marinara sauce, and melted mozzarella cheese is irresistible, and a few key shortcuts make it a delicious and convenient option for any day of the week.

Sandwiches are almost always a great grab-and-go option when time is of the essence, but a cold sandwich doesn’t always feel like a meal. Not true in the case of the chicken Parmesan sandwich. This hot and comforting dish is sure to satisfy even the biggest of appetites.

Using a few premade, easy-to-find, timesaving ingredients, like Pillsbury™ French Bread and Muir Glen™ Marinara Sauce , or even pre-shredded cheese, makes this homemade meal not only easy to pull together but easy on the pocketbook, as there’s no need to buy a long list of ingredients.

In our chicken Parmesan sandwich recipe, we slather the sauce on top of the melted cheese-covered chicken, which keeps the crispy coating crisp and allows each person to add as much or as little sauce as they like.

You can always turn to our chicken Parm sandwich recipe whenever you need a delicious, convenient meal that satisfies your hunger pains and fits into even your most hectic schedules.

How To Make a Chicken Parm Sandwich

For a meal that tastes like you spent all day making it, our easy chicken Parm sandwich is surprisingly quick and easy to pull together. Many of the ingredients are pantry staples, like flour, panko crumbs, and jarred marinara sauce.

Panko crumbs, they are extra-crispy, extra-light bread crumbs that add the best crunch possible to any dish. They’re our secret ingredient for oven-fried anything, crunchy-topped casseroles and so much more.

We use plain Progresso™ Panko Bread Crumbs in our Parm sandwich along with Parmesan cheese to coat our boneless, skinless chicken breasts, which we cut in half to make thinner, quicker-to-cook cutlets that are the perfect thickness when tucked inside the warm, Pillsbury® French Bread.

We like Parmesan in this chicken Parm sandwich recipe because it has a mild, nutty flavor, but if you like, feel free to substitute Asiago, Pecorino, or any other dry, aged cheese for the Parmesan in this recipe.

Each panko-breaded cutlet is pan-fried to golden brown, crispy perfection, topped with mozzarella, and baked just long enough to melt the cheese. That’s when the marinara sauce is spooned over the top, and then the whole thing is nestled into the warm French bread.

Store-bought marinara is an easy short-cut, but if you have time to make your own sauce this Fresh Bell Pepper Pizza Sauce is a delicious option.

If you want to know more about frying chicken, check out How To Make Fried Chicken for loads of hints and tips for getting crunchy, juicy results.

How To Store and Reheat Chicken Parm Sandwiches

It’s easy to prepare parts of this chicken Parm sub in advance, which can save you lots of time when it comes to getting it on the table for dinner.

You can bread the chicken cutlets, place them on a rimmed baking sheet and freeze them until firm, then transfer them to a freezer bag. The chicken can be pan-fried directly from the freezer. You just have to add a few minutes to the cooking process to ensure your chicken is fully cooked. Then all you have to do is follow the rest of the steps in the recipe to complete the sandwich.

If you are making the chicken Parm sandwich recipe and know you’re going to have leftovers, it’s best to refrigerate the cooled leftover fried chicken cutlets before adding the cheese.

When you’re ready to use them, just top them with the cheese and pop them into the oven, as directed in the recipe, to reheat the chicken and melt the cheese.

It’s best to spoon the sauce over the top just before serving. If you want to give your chicken parmigiana sandwich leftovers a fun flavor twist, you can substitute the marinara sauce with this yummy Lemon Herb Mayonnaise.

Easy Chicken Parm Variations

As much as we love a good chicken Parm sandwich, and hope you try our chicken Parm sandwich recipe, we know that the flavors of this classic comfort food can take on many different forms.

When you’re looking for a hearty meal on a busy night, try this traditional, but ultra-easy Simple Chicken Parmigiana. You can serve it on its own, or over a pile of spaghetti.

We enjoy chicken Parm so much, we even found a way to make it into a soup! Imagine throwing a few ingredients together in the morning and coming home to a house filled with the fragrance of your favorite Italian American deli. That’s exactly what will happen when you make our Slow-Cooker Chicken Parmesan Soup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Is It Called Chicken Parm?

While chicken Parmesan has been spotted on Italian restaurant menus in the US for many years, you won’t often see it served in restaurants in Italy.

That’s because chicken Parmesan was created by Italian immigrants here in the US, inspired by another famous dish from their homeland, melanzane alla Parmigiana or eggplant Parmesan.

The word “Parmigiana” is thought to come from the cheese we all know and love, Parmesan, which was always included in the eggplant version of the dish, although others believe it comes from a Sicilian word that means slabs on a roof, referring to the thin slices of eggplant covered in the sauce.

Either way, when Italians arrived here in the U.S., they found the same proteins that were expensive in Italy to be much more accessible on this side of the pond. So, it only made sense that they would begin to swap the vegetables they relied on so heavily back in their homeland for meat. And so, chicken Parmesan was born and along with it, the chicken Parm sandwich. Or should we say chicken Parmigiana sandwich?

What To Serve with Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches?

When you’re thinking about what to serve with your chicken Parmesan sandwich, you also have to think about how you want to serve it.

Our chicken Parm sandwich recipe is so quick and easy that you might have enough time on your hands to try a few new and delicious side dishes.

If you need a grab-and-go type of dinner, of course, a go-to sandwich sidekick is potato chips. This is no ordinary sandwich though. Because it’s so extraordinary, we think you should try our new recipe for Homemade Potato Chips to go alongside your chicken Parmesan sandwich.

On the other hand, if you’re enjoying your chicken Parm sandwich as a sit-down meal, you may want to consider more fork-friendly options, and we’ve got you covered with dishes like Easy Homemade Mashed Potatoes or Corn with Fresh Herbs or Bourbon Glazed Carrots.

Easy Chicken Parm Sandwiches

  • Prep Time 30 min
  • Total 1 hr 10 min
  • Ingredients 13
  • Servings 4
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Ingredients

  • 2 cans (11 oz) refrigerated Pillsbury™ Original French Bread
  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (6 to 8 oz each)
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 cup from 1 box Progresso™ Plain Panko Crispy Bread Crumbs
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • Vegetable oil
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)
  • 1 1/3 cups from 1 jar Muir Glen™ Organic Classic Marinara Pasta Sauce, warmed

Instructions

  • Step 
    1
    Bake French bread as directed on can. Cool loaf 10 minutes.
  • Step 
    2
    Halve each chicken breast horizontally so you have 4 cutlets that are evenly thick.
  • Step 
    3
    Meanwhile, season both sides of chicken cutlets with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Position oven rack 4 inches from broiler. Set oven control to broil.
  • Step 
    4
    In shallow pan, stir together flour, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. In shallow bowl, beat eggs and water, using whisk. In another shallow bowl, stir together bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning. Coat both sides of chicken with flour mixture. Dip chicken into egg mixture; turn to coat. Dredge in bread crumb mixture, coating completely.
  • Step 
    5
    Add enough oil in 10-inch nonstick skillet to come 1/2-inch up side of skillet. Heat over medium-high heat until hot (350°F). Carefully place 2 cutlets in skillet; cook 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until bottoms are crispy and deep golden brown. Using tongs, carefully flip cutlets; cook on second side 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until deep golden brown and chicken is no longer pink in center. Transfer cutlets to paper towel-lined plate; repeat with remaining cutlets.
  • Step 
    6
    Place cutlets on ungreased rimmed baking sheet; sprinkle 1/4 cup of the mozzarella cheese evenly over each cutlet. Broil 1 to 3 minutes or until cheese is melted and beginning to brown. Remove from oven.
  • Step 
    7
    Cut each warm loaf in half crosswise and then again lengthwise. You should have 8 pieces to make 4 sandwiches.
  • Step 
    8
    Place chicken Parmesan on bottom half of each piece of bread; top each cutlet with 1/3 cup warm marinara sauce; cover with top half of bread. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

990 Calories
40g Total Fat
46g Protein
111g Total Carbohydrate
10g Sugars

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Sandwich
Calories
990
Calories from Fat
360
Total Fat
40g
61%
Saturated Fat
9g
46%
Trans Fat
0g
Cholesterol
120mg
41%
Sodium
2090mg
87%
Potassium
950mg
27%
Total Carbohydrate
111g
37%
Dietary Fiber
4g
15%
Sugars
10g
Protein
46g
% Daily Value*:
Vitamin A
8%
8%
Vitamin C
0%
0%
Calcium
30%
30%
Iron
40%
40%
Exchanges:
5 1/2 Starch; 0 Fruit; 2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 3 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 4 1/2 Fat;
Carbohydrate Choice
7 1/2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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