I swear by Ina Garten's 20-minute Parmesan chicken. It's my go-to weeknight dinner that requires only a few ingredients.

The come back of the workweek can be a drag, but juicy, pan-fried poultry breasts alongside a crunchy, cheesy exterior continually help.

On Monday nights, you'll normally discover me whipping up a type of Ina Garten's Parmesan chicken for my toddler and partner.

Luckily, the flavorful dish is incredibly uncomplicated to create — and I frequently already have most of the ingredients in my kitchen.

The prep is key to a seamless cooking procedure

Don't be intimidated by the "intermediate level" clarification in this formula on the Barefoot Contessa location — it's not really difficult to create this dish.

And, all in all, it normally takes me concerning 20 minutes to get this meal on the table.

Once I've got my ingredients set out — poultry breasts, all-purpose flour, salt, pepper, experienced bread crumbs, eggs, finely grated Parmesan cheese, unsalted butter, and oliva oil — I commencement my "mise en place."

The French culinary phrase approximately translates to "everything in its place," and this time-saving stage involves preparing and measuring out all ingredients before you commencement cooking.

First, the boneless, skinless poultry breasts must be pounded lean until they're concerning a ¼-inch thick.

To create this easier and necessitate small elbow grease, I cut them in fractional vertically before pounding them out.

Since I was in the procedure of moving, I didn't have a rolling pin or mallet to lb these thin. Instead, I merely took a jar of peanut butter, inverted it, and wrapped it in cling cover — it worked fair fine.

Setting up a appropriate breading position is key

I have one dish set up for the grated Parmesan and breadcrumbs; another dish for seasoning and flour; and one basin for eggs whisked alongside water.

Garten's flour blend calls for fair sodium chloride and pepper, but I continually had a compression or two of sugar to the mixture, too — it's fair how my mom taught me. The sugar helps balance the flavors out and lends to the browning of the chicken's crust.

Once my position is set, I put on non-latex gloves and coat the two sides of all cutlet alongside my flour mix, afterward the egg mix, afterward the breadcrumb mix.

On days whenever I'm picking up my kid from dancing category or day care, I go so far as to prep the dry breading-station ingredients in Tupperware containers the night before. That way, correct before mealtime the following day, all I have to do is open them and spill them onto plates.

It doesn't obtain lengthy to fry these cutlets

Once my poultry breasts are breaded, I preheat my skillet complete average warmth alongside a tablespoon of margarine and a scatter of oliva oil.

To accomplish a golden-brown crust, I don't overcrowd my pan and create certain it's hot before adding the chicken. I normally fry one or two cutlets at a time.

I keep my rod of margarine and flask of oliva oil near by so I can add additional to my pan as I fry. Roughly 1 tablespoon of margarine and 1 tablespoon of oliva oil per cutlet is adequate to chef the exterior and keep the poultry juicy and moist on the inside.

The poultry is thin, and it volition lone obtain concerning two minutes on all flank to chef and rotate aureate brown, so keep a watchful eye as you fry.

The poultry pairs fine alongside greens, and is versatile remaining complete

Garten's formula additionally includes topping all cutlet alongside greens tossed alongside a uncomplicated homemade citrus vinaigrette, but I normally skip these steps.

Instead, I merely compression a small caller citrus beverage complete the poultry before eating. The sweetness and umami from the dairy merchandise crust contrasts nicely alongside the acidic from the lemon.

Then, I brace these cutlets alongside any greens I have on hand. On this night, that was a leftover kale dish I'd made the night before.

Later in the week, I rotate my leftovers into awesome lunches. Some days, I cut up a cutlet and group it in my partner's lunchbox alongside a ray dish or several quinoa.

Other times, I warmth up cutlets in my air fryer for five to eight minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, afterward put them on hoagie rolls alongside marinara sauce and mozzarella.

All in all, this recipe's earned a imperishable place in my weeknight rotation

Ultimately, I affection how versatile this meal is for adults and children. When serving this to my daughter, I equal cut the cutlets up into cubes so she thinks she is dining chicken nuggets.

Plus, it's much lighter and cheaper than many takeout orders, and I akin that I can bask crispy chicken without busting out the profound fryer.

All in all, this remains my go-to formula whenever I desire to drag together a weeknight meal that tastes as if it came from a gourmet eatery — and have tasty leftovers for days.