Parmesan Crusted Chicken is the dish people order at LongHorn when they do not want a steak, and it has quietly become one of the most requested things on the menu. It is a marinated chicken breast with two layers on top: a melted Parmesan-and-provolone paste spread over it, then a buttered panko topping that goes under the broiler until it turns the colour of a good biscuit. The crust crackles when your fork goes in. That sound is most of the appeal.
It is also one of the easier restaurant dishes to get right at home, because nothing about it depends on equipment you do not have. There is no sous vide, no specialty cheese, no sauce that has to be held at temperature. It is a marinade, a hot pan, a bowl of cheese in the microwave, and three minutes under the broiler. The whole thing is closer to assembly than to cooking.
What it does depend on is a couple of small decisions that are easy to get wrong, and that is where most homemade versions fall down. The topping slides off in one piece. Or the panko goes black while you are turning away. Or the chicken comes out dry with a lovely crust on top of it, which is the worst outcome of the three because everything looked right. Each of those has a specific cause and each is avoidable, and they are called out at the step where they happen rather than gathered up in a list at the end.
At the restaurant this runs $18.99 for one plate. The version below makes four for roughly the cost of one, and you can put more crust on it than they do, which is what most people secretly want anyway.
Why This Recipe Works
Four things separate this from a chicken breast with cheese on it:
- •The cheese is melted into a spreadable paste before it goes anywhere near the chicken. A slice of provolone laid on top looks right and then slides off in one piece, taking the topping with it. Melted with ranch, it spreads into the surface and grips.
- •The chicken is pounded to an even thickness before it is cooked. A breast is thick at one end and thin at the other, so cooked whole it is always either dry at the tip or underdone in the middle. Flattening it removes that problem entirely.
- •The panko is tossed in melted butter rather than bound with egg. Egg sets into something closer to breading; butter keeps the flakes loose so the topping shatters instead of turning leathery, and it browns evenly instead of scorching at the tips.
- •It finishes under the broiler, not in the oven. You want colour on top in three minutes without cooking the chicken any further. A 400F oven takes long enough to brown that the chicken overcooks while it waits.
How to Make It
Marinate and sear. Pound the breasts to half an inch, marinate in Italian dressing for at least thirty minutes, then sear four to five minutes a side in a hot pan until golden and cooked through.
Melt the cheese and spread it. Microwave the Parmesan, provolone and ranch in fifteen-second bursts, stirring between each, until it comes together into a thick paste. Spread it over the chicken while it is still warm and soft.
Top with panko and broil. Toss the panko with melted butter and garlic powder, scatter it over the cheese, and broil three to four minutes until evenly gold. Watch it the whole time.
Tips for the Best Results
- •Swiss, mozzarella or Munster all stand in for provolone and melt about the same. What does not work is anything sharp or aged, which splits in the microwave.
- •No broiler? Top rack of a 475F oven for four to five minutes, but expect a paler topping. The colour comes from heat radiating down, so height in the oven matters more than temperature.
- •Doubling the panko topping is the change most people make after cooking this once, and nothing about the amount above is structural.
- •A cast-iron pan handles the sear and goes straight under the broiler, which saves moving the chicken and losing topping in the transfer. The same pan trick is worth using for our Olive Garden Chicken Alfredo, where the sauce is built in the chicken pan.
- •For a low-carb version, skip the panko and broil the cheese layer on its own. It browns and bubbles rather than crisping, which is a different thing, but it is still good.
- •If the paste stiffens before you get it spread, ten seconds back in the microwave brings it round. Do not add more ranch to loosen it or the topping runs under the broiler.
Make Ahead & Storage
Keeps three days covered in the fridge. Reheat in a 350F oven for eight to ten minutes rather than the microwave, which turns the crust soft and rubbery in about twenty seconds. It does not freeze well for the same reason. For more restaurant dishes worth making at home, see all our copycat recipes.
What to Serve It With
Mashed potatoes and a green vegetable is what arrives with it at the restaurant, and it is hard to improve on. Roasted broccoli or green beans both cut through the richness of the cheese layer. If you are building a whole steakhouse dinner at home, the LongHorn menu is a decent list to steal sides from, and our other copycat recipes cover a few of them.
