Lemon Chicken Romano
These thin chicken cutlets are coated with romano cheese, extra crispy panko bread crumbs, fresh oregano, and lemon zest, and are then pan-fried to a perfect golden brown color in olive oil.
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: breaded chicken, lemon chicken
Prep Time: 18 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 500 kcal
Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (8 – 9 oz each), halved by their thickness and pounded to 1/2-inch thick
Shredded Whole Milk Mozzarella Cheese with 1/2 cup (2 oz)
1/2 cup (2 oz) of shredded cheese from Provolone (or more mozzarella)
1 large egg
1 Tbsp flour for all purposes
3/4 cup breadcrumbs for Panko
1/3 cup finely shredded Romano cheese (packed, 1.25 oz)
1 tbsp fresh oregano minced, plus 1 more tsp for garnishing
2 Tsp zest of a lemon (from about 1 lemon)
1/2 tsp powdered garlic
Salt and black pepper freshly ground
Olive oil for 1/3 cup
For each serving, 4 lemon wedges for spritzing (you can just use the one that was zested)
2 Tsp of fresh parsley minced (optional)
Instructions
1- To 350 degrees preheat the oven. Sprinkle lightly with salt on each side of the chicken cutlet and let it stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.
2- Whisk the flour and egg together in a shallow dish until smooth. Toss together Panko bread crumbs, Romano cheese, oregano, lemon zest, garlic powder, and 3/4 tsp of pepper in a separate shallow dish.
3- Pat chicken dry with paper towels, then work with 1 chicken cutlet at a time, dredge chicken in egg mixture coating both sides and allowing excess to run off, then immediately transfer to Romano mixture and coat both sides with mixture, while pressing to allow plenty of crumbs to adhere. 3- Pat chicken dry with paper towels
4-Transfer chicken to a plate with the remaining chicken cutlets and repeat the process. Into a 10-inch non-stick skillet, pour olive oil and heat over medium-high heat.
5-After shimmering, add 2 coated chicken cutlets and fry without moving until crispy and golden brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes, then rotate to the opposite side using metal tongs and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes longer.
6-Transfer chicken to a parchment-lined or spritzed rimmed baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray, repeat the process with the remaining 2 chicken pieces.
7-Mix the Mozzarella and Provolone cheese together and sprinkle over the chicken in a mound.
8-Transfer to the preheated oven to bake for approximately 8 to 10 minutes until the internal temperature is 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.
9-Remove from the oven, if using, sprinkle with the remaining 1 tsp of oregano and parsley, and serve warm over each serving with lemon wedges for spritzing.
Recipe Source by Cooking Classy
Tips on this Recipe
1. You might use dried oregano if you don’t want to use fresh oregano. In the panko, I would use 1 tsp, then just skip adding any at the end. Also, if that is what you have on hand, you could just use an Italian herb blend.
2. You can omit the Provolone and just add more mozzarella or vice versa if you don’t want to buy three kinds of cheese.
3. Then you can omit the cheese topping altogether if you want to cut the calories down a bit, but do not skip the baking step because the chicken still needs that time to cook through.
4. This is one of those recipes that you are not going to want to lose! It requires a few steps, but it should go pretty quickly, and the few extra dirty dishes are worth the end result.