Lemon Pepper Chicken Parm
Chicken parm is one of my all time favorite meals, and lemon pepper wings have become my new obsession since moving to Atlanta, so I thought, why not combine them! The bright flavors of lemon pepper seasoning lend themselves perfectly with the crispy parmesan cheese breading.
The inspiration for this recipe
Someone asked me what a good meal would be to define my life right now, and I immediately thought of lemon pepper chicken parm, even though I hadn’t made it yet! It combines my history with my present life in a perfect way. So now that I had dreamt it up, I had to figure out how to make it! I didn’t think a traditional tomato sauce would work, so I did a sort of cross between a vodka sauce and a lemon pepper wet sauce.
Start with the lemon pepper chicken parm
A typical breading station with flour, egg, and breadcrumbs. There is also parm, parsley, lemon zest, and black pepper to add into the breadcrumbs for the chicken.
Perfectly seasoned breadcrumbs!
Breading the chicken
Dip the chicken in the flour first, then into the eggs, and then into the lemon pepper parm beadcrumbs.
Then fry it crispy on both sides! When it is done, transfer to a wire rack to rest while you make the sauce.
Make the lemon pepper pink sauce
Butter and onion first, then add flour. Then the tomato paste and some vodka.
Finish the sauce with dijon mustard, then heavy cream and parsley. I made this to be a combination of lemon pepper wet and vodka sauce. I also made a few specific tweaks to prevent the cream from separating when you add lemon.
Add in the pasta, then some hot sauce, and parmesan cheese. Last add lemon juice.
How good does that look!
Serve the lemon pepper chicken parm
When the pasta is about ready, bake the chicken with some cheese on top. Then serve the pasta with the chicken on top and a little bit of lemon pepper sprinkles and some more parmesan cheese!
I was worried about the chicken parm flavors clashing with the lemon pepper but in the end they melded really nicely.
So nice I had to put an extra photo!
Twists on this recipe
If you wanted to just make a classic chicken parm and add some lemon pepper to the breading that would be good, I just personally thought it wouldn’t work as well with the traditional heavy red sauce. Also to note, be careful making this recipe because a cream sauce can split if it’s too hot and you add acid to it, you know, like lemon juice. If you follow exactly you shouldn’t have an issue.
If you have never had lemon pepper wings, check out this amazing recipe.
For more fun twists on chicken parm, check out my double chicken parm with giardiniera, or these chicken parm tacos.
Lemon Pepper Chicken Parm
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning
- 1 cup flour
- 2 eggs
- olive oil for frying, about a cup
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 small onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 2 ounces tomato paste
- 1 ounce vodka
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1 pound bucatini pasta or other pasta of your choice
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons cayenne hot sauce
Instructions
Make the Chicken
- Place parchment paper on the work surface and put one of the chicken breasts on it.
- Place your palm on top of the chicken breast and use a sharp knife moving parallel to your palm in between your hand and the table to slice the chicken in half the long way, creating two thinner chicken breast cutlets.
- Place another piece of parchment on top of one of the chicken pieces and use a kitchen mallet or other heavy tool to gently pound the chicken to make it thinner and wider. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.
- Get 3 shallow and wide bowls out. Put the breadcrumbs into one and mix in the lemon zest, black pepper, parsley, and half the lemon pepper seasoning into them.
- In the next bowl, whisk the eggs, and in the third bowl, add the flour, a pinch of salt, and the remaining lemon pepper seasoning.
- Fill a large frying pan with about 1/2 inch of oil. Bring to a medium high heat.
- Grab one of the pieces of chicken and dredge it in the flour. Shake off excess. Then dip it into the eggs. Again, shake off excess. Now put it into the breadcrumbs and make sure to press the chicken into the breadcrumb mixture to coat it really well on all sides. Add it to the oil and cook to brown on both sides, repeating with all the chicken.
- As they finish, transfer to a wire rack and set aside until ready to use. You don't need to put them in the fridge if you start making the sauce right away.
Make the sauce
- Preheat oven to 400
- Add the oil to a sauce pan over medium heat and add in the onions. Season with salt and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes to soften.
- Add in the garlic, butter, black pepper, and lemon zest. Cook 3 minutes. Add int the flour and cook another 5 minutes, stirring to remove any lumps.
- Add in the tomato paste and cook 3 minutes, breaking it up and mixing it in with the butter. Add in the vodka and again, stir to combine and cook for 5 minutes.
- At this point, top the breaded chicken with the mozzarella and get it into the oven to warm up. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add in the pasta.
- Back to the sauce- stir in the mustard, cream, and milk. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.
- Remove the sauce from the heat. When the pasta is tender, set aside 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Strain the pasta and add it right into the sauce. Stir in the parmesan, parsley, and lemon pepper seasoning. Finally, stir in the lemon juice. Add a little of the pasta water if needed.
- Serve the pasta, and top with the chicken. Top with more parmesan and lemon pepper sprinkles if needed.