Chicken Parmesan Tutorial

Every once in a while I get in the mood for Chicken Parmesan... it is such a yummy and beautiful dish.

Ingredients: Chicken breasts, bread crumbs, Ranch salad dressing,* tomato sauce, pasta and sliced deli cheese (I prefer Provolone). *You can substitute a whipped egg with a little bit of milk instead of the Ranch salad dressing... but I don't recommend it (wink!!!).

TIP: If you are pulling your chicken breasts from the freezer, you can either allow them to thaw for 24-ish hours in your fridge, or you can place them in a Ziploc bag in a bowl of COLD water. Change the water every 15 minutes, and your chicken should be thawed within an hour. *Place a heavy object on top of the chicken to keep it submerged and equally thawed.

Place a healthy portion of bread crumbs and Ranch salad dressing in separate bowls. Keep in mind that there will be waste from both of these ingredients.

First, dip the chicken breast in the Ranch salad dressing- make sure to coat the entire breast well!

Then immediately dip the dripping with Ranch piece of chicken into the bread crumbs, and again, coat well.

Over low to medium heat, melt a little bit of butter or olive oil, and then add your crumbed chicken breasts. I place them top side down FIRST, since I only plan to flip them once.

Add a lid, and allow the breasts to cook for about 10 minutes. When the edges of the chicken breasts begin to turn white, carefully flip your chicken. *It may be tempting to flip the chicken with tongs- but I'd advise flipping gently with a spatula since the crusting can easily come off of the chicken. If you do happen to lose some of the crusting, don't worry! Cheese will cover any 'bald spots!'

Cheese! Glorious cheese!

Place a slice of cheese over each chicken breast after cooking for an additional 10-ish minutes after flipping. *Always check to see if your chicken is thoroughly cooked by cutting into a piece- and again, don't worry about the slice- the cheese will cover that too!

Serve over pasta mixed with tomato sauce and drizzle with an additional stripe of sauce!

Recipe Recap:
1 box of pasta
1 jar's worth of sauce
1 chicken breast per person being served
1-2 cups of bread crumbs
1-2 cups of Ranch salad dressing
1 slice of deli cheese per person being served
butter or olive oil to place in the pan