This Keto Chicken Parmesan is an easy and delicious dinner recipe everyone will love. Chicken breast is coated in a quick low carb “breading”, then pan-fried and finally baked in marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. Serve with zoodles (zucchini noodles) for a great healthy meal! Great for low carb, Trim Healthy Mama (THM S), Keto and gluten free diets.
Raise your hands: Who loves a good Chicken Parm at Olive Garden?! Can’t deny it, the tasty breaded chicken, the marinara, the mozzarella, the Parmesan… It just goes so well together!
But it can be a little heavy (especially with spaghetti… and breadsticks… and drinks… and, err, dessert?). So more often than not, when I get a Chicken Parmesan craving (yes, they happen!), I’ll make my own low carb version at home. It’s so delicious served over zoodles, you’ll hardly notice you’re only eating around 10g NET carbs ☺️
This low carb Chicken Parmesan
- is quick to make – the breading can be a little finicky, but otherwise it’s super easy!
- can be made as crispy or as saucy as you like!
- has just 9g NET carbs (if using a sugar free low carb marinara sauce)
- is grain free, sugar free, gluten free (if using certified gf ingredients) and extremely delicious!
Watch the recipe video
Ingredients to make Keto Chicken Parmesan
This is just an overview of the ingredients needed. Skip to the recipe for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Almond flour: I tried to keep this recipe very simple, but if you prefer you can use THM Baking Blend in place of the almond flour to save some calories. (See my recipe for Homemade Baking Blend here!)
- Marinara: I used a homemade Marinara sauce. If you’re using a jarred sauce, make sure it’s a low carb/sugar free one! Look for 10 NET carbs or less per cup of sauce. Alternatively, use a can of crushed tomatoes and season it with a little salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, Italian seasoning and olive oil.
- Parmesan: Feel free to use freshly grated if you’re so purist you refuse to buy pre-grated. I’m quite the purist (and cheese snob!) myself, but for a low carb breading I honestly 100% prefer the pre-grated stuff.
How to make this recipe
Recipe tips
- Breading: The breading can be a little tricky (no matter if low carb or not – it’s just always a little finicky). Make sure to follow the steps exactly and press the coating well onto the chicken.
- Pan-frying: It’s an absolute must to let the chicken brown undisturbed for 4-5 minutes per side. Otherwise you’ll rip off the coating immediately! You’ll also need to use a slim spatula to gently slide underneath the chicken before flipping to help release it from the pan. And this recipe works best in a nonstick skillet.
- Sauce amount: This recipe can be totally customized! I like to use a lot of marinara in this recipe, because I love the sauciness. But this also results in the breading softening quite a bit. If you want to keep the chicken very crispy, only use a few tablespoons of sauce! Entirely up to your taste.
Serving suggestions
I love to serve this recipe with zoodles (zucchini noodles) in place of the classic spaghetti side dish it usually comes with at the restaurant to keep the meal THM S/low carb/keto.
A nice big salad from leafy greens, cucumbers, tomatoes and olives with Italian dressing is also a good side if you’re looking to go heavy on the vegetables! I usually go light on the dressing because there’s already plenty of fat in the chicken and I try to avoid calorie abuse.
For my children and husband, I often add a slice of sourdough bread to mop up the sauce. Or I make them regular spaghetti sometimes when they ask nicely ?
More THM S/Keto/low carb dinners
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Keto Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 1 pound chicken breast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Egg wash:
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan breading:
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt & pepper to taste
Sauce and cheese:
- 1/2 (25-oz) low carb sugar free marinara sauce see notes!
- 8 oz mozzarella cheese sliced OR shredded (I used half shredded, half sliced to use up leftovers – worked great!)
Instructions
Bread chicken
- Prep: If chicken breasts are large, slice each in half. Season with salt and pepper.
- Dry mix: Combine Parmesan cheese, almond flour, Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder and salt & pepper in shallow dish. Lightly coat each chicken breast.
- Egg wash: Whisk eggs, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper together in medium bowl. Add chicken breasts and generously coat.
- Dry mix again: Dredge each chicken piece individually through dry mix to create a thick coating. Lightly press down on the chicken to create a firm layer.
Cook chicken
- Heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Pan-fry chicken in batches until golden on both sides, not turning chicken until it releases from the pan (about 3-5 minutes per side; if turning too soon breading will fall off).
Finish dish
- Heat oven to 425°F.
- Cover bottom of baking dish with marinara sauce. Nestle fried chicken on top, then spread each chicken piece with remaining sauce. Top with cheese and bake on middle rack for 8-10 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and chicken is done.
Stacia Cowan says
I made this yesterday and it was very good. I ate it as leftovers today, and it was even better. I will definitely make this again!