Enjoy crispy, oven baked gluten-free parmesan chicken that tastes even better than the original! This easy parmesan crusted chicken recipe comes together in less than 30 minutes using affordable and simple ingredients!
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Best Gluten-Free Chicken Parmesan Recipe!
This easy gluten-free parmesan chicken is a crispy, oven baked chicken dinner option, loaded with flavor, and uses basic ingredients you may already have in your pantry. With a prep time of 10 minutes and a cook time of 20 minutes, you can whip up this easy recipe in no time!
I like how the hands-off oven baked method means I don’t have to stand at the stove frying. If I can figure out a way to make a recipe just as good without frying (hello, baked chicken meatballs) then I am all in!
The quick and simple homemade marinara using a can of crushed tomatoes, garlic, and spices. For easier dinner prep, substitute a jar of your favorite store bought marinara sauce.
The gluten free breading is made up of GF bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and seasonings. Use store bought bread crumbs or opt to easily make your own GF breadcrumbs to save some money!
You can also skip the breadcrumbs and use this almond flour crusted chicken recipe for the breading. I especially love this particular breading to make my famous gluten-free eggplant parmesan as well!
It is difficult to find gluten free recipes that my husband enjoys. He LOVED this dish. So did I! Thank you!
—Frances
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Let’s Make This Together!
One bite of this gluten free chicken parmigiana and you will feel like you’ve been transported to a 5-star Italian restaurant, or maybe even the coast of Italy! Top this easy-to-make comfort food with a delicious homemade marinara sauce and melted cheese, and watch it disappear!
Quick stove top marinara
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add the garlic, and sauté for 30 seconds. Next, remove the pan from the burner to avoid splatter (learn from my mistakes!) and add the crushed tomatoes and seasonings to the pan. Bring your sauce to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat and bring down to a simmer. Cook the red sauce, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, while you prep the chicken.
Easy breadcrumb dredge
I like to keep it easy, especially when you can simplify prep without any sacrifice. Therefore, I just toss the chicken breasts in a little olive oil and dip it into the breading. As an added bonus, it gives an extra layer of crispiness when it bakes in the oven. Mix the seasoned GF breadcrumb mixture in a large bowl and dip in the chicken to bread on both sides.
Quick bake time and enjoy!
Transfer the breaded chicken to the prepped baking sheet and repeat until all the cutlets are coated. Bake in a 425°F oven for 10 minutes, flip, and continue to bake for 5 to 10 minutes more.
Once it’s cooked through, remove from the oven, move the oven rack to the upper position and preheat the broiler. Push the baked chicken together into the center of the pan and sprinkle with grated cheese. Broil until the cheese is melted, gooey, and golden brown. Top with marinara sauce and serve with gluten free pasta for an unforgettable meal.
Yummy Ways To Serve
For a traditional flair, serve chicken parm with pasta or gluten-free risotto. I prefer to use spaghetti, but you can use whatever type of pasta you like – just make sure it is gluten free. If you aren’t in the mood for pasta, simply serve with roasted or steamed veggies and a side salad. A big ‘ol wedge of crispy, golden gluten-free focaccia bread is never a bad idea either!
If you’d rather use something besides GF bread crumbs to coat the chicken, swap out an equal amount of almond flour, crushed potato chips, gluten free crackers, or crushed cereal, like corn or rice Chex.
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Did you make this recipe? I love hearing from you! Leave a star rating and comment below the recipe card. It helps others when searching for recipes and I appreciate feedback from our community. You will always hear back from me! -Melissa
Crispy Gluten Free Parmesan Chicken (No Frying)
Ingredients
Quick Marinara
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Gluten Free Breaded Chicken
- 1 ½ – 2 pounds chicken breasts, butterflied into thin cutlets
- 2 tablespoons olive oil , divided
- ½ cup gluten free breadcrumbs
- ½ cup grated Parmesan
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 1 ½ cups freshly grated mozzarella
Instructions
Marinara
- Over medium heat in a medium saucepan, heat oil. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds.1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 cloves garlic
- Remove pan from burner to avoid splatter. Add crushed tomatoes and remaining marinara seasonings. Bring pan back to the burner, bring to a boil, then simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, or until reduced and slightly thickened.28 ounces crushed tomatoes, ¾ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon sugar, ¼ teaspoon dried oregano, ¼ teaspoon dried basil, pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Gluten Free Breaded Chicken
- Preheat oven to 425°F. On a baking sheet spread ½ tablespoon olive oil to grease pan. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl mix together, gluten free breadcrumbs, grated parmesan, cornstarch, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Mix together breading with a fork.½ cup gluten free breadcrumbs , ½ cup grated Parmesan, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon garlic powder, ¾ teaspoon Italian seasoning, ¼ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- Drizzle remaining 1 ½ tablespoons olive over chicken breast cutlets and toss to evenly coat chicken with oil. Place a chicken cutlet, one at a time, in the breading mixture. Press down slightly and use the fork to flip over and coat other side. Transfer breaded chicken to greased baking sheet and repeat with remaining chicken.1 ½ – 2 pounds chicken breasts, 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Bake for 10 minutes, flip chicken, and then continue cooking for 5-10 minutes more, or until internal temperature reaches 165°F. Remove from oven, move oven rack to upper position, and preheat broiler.
- Move baked chicken together so it is all in the middle of the pan. Sprinkle grated cheese over top.1 ½ cups freshly grated mozzarella
- Broil for 2 minutes, or until cheese is melted and starts to brown. Top with sauce and serve with cooked gluten free pasta.
Notes
Air Fryer Directions
- Preheat air fryer to 390ºF. Spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray. To avoid overcrowding the chicken and keeping the breading crispy, you may have to work in batches.
- Place breaded chicken in prepared basket and cook for 5 minutes. Flip chicken over and bake for an additional 4-7 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken.
- Remove and keep warm while the remaining chicken is cooked.
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Made this tonight for myself and my husband (he was craving chicken parm). The quick marinara is delicious and will likely become my go to rather than buying jarred sauce. The chicken was cooked perfectly and the dish had amazing flavor. I wholeheartedly disagree with the person that said it needs to be fried first, this recipe is perfect as written. Thank you for a wonderful recipe, it has made its way to my “favorites” binder and will definitely be made again and again!
Thank you so much, Kim. I really appreciate this!
Best,
Melissa
I made this recipe tonight in the oven and it was DELICIOUS! I am newly gluten intolerant and was craving chicken parm. This was so close to the real thing! The chicken wasn’t quite as crisp as frying it but the broiling crisped it up pretty nicely and the flavors were incredible! Thank you for this! Will definitely be making this again!
Thanks for sharing, Catherine! I know it’s hard to transition to a gluten-free diet. I hope you find many more recipes on the site to help you!
Best,
Melissa
My husband and I loved it. I lined my pan with nonstick foil for easy turning. The last 2 to 3 minutes I turned on the broiler to crisp the coating. I served it over a glutin free rotini. I omitted the garlic(my preference) and it was still delicious.
This is Sue again. I forget to mention that I left off the mozzarella.
Thanks for writing, Sue! Love the broiler tip!
Best,
Melissa
The marinara is on point, but do yourself a favor. Fry the chicken properly. The baking definitely peav a something to be desired when it comes to the texture.
Thanks for the input, Steve.
Best,
Melissa
Thanks for the recipe, Melissa, as well as the helpful tips!!
My family’s opinion is that it was absolutely fine to not first fry these in oil. I had no “mess” as some others have mentioned, and the breading did not come off any more than I expected when I turned them after 10mins; wish we could figure out what makes the difference?? Maybe for me because i used half Corn Chex cereal which I easily crushed up with my fingers. AND I *did* press the coating against the meat as you directed.
Your post was very detailed and easy to follow, which I appreciate!
Love how you give the options– I bought the more-expensive chicken breasts that were already sliced thin for me, filled the foil-lined baking sheet from edge to edge with the breaded cutlets (I used half gluten-free panko & half crushed Corn Chex cereal), baked it in the oven for the stated time and when I checked the internal temp was definitely at least 165, then I added the motz & broiled it and it crisped up perfectly….. my family raved about it!! :):)
Your marinara was so tasty & simple, I was glad I didn’t just opt out and buy it. Served the chicken with your 20-min Roasted Zucchini wedges (which were indeed “NOT soggy!”) and we had a delicious somewhat healthy meal!
Thanks again for posting! Keep up the great work!
This made my day, Theresa! I’m so happy to hear you find the post and tips helpful. I try to be as thorough as possible because I know we aren’t all innately “cooks.” Watching my husband and kids cook is a good reminder of this 🙂 Shhh, don’t tell them. But it is good research for not leaving out assumptions!
Best,
Melissa
It is difficult to find gluten free recipes that my husband enjoys. He LOVED this dish. So did I! Thank you!
This makes me so happy, Frances. Thanks for sharing!
Best,
Melissa
Hi! I made this last night and it was really good! This is the third recipe of yours I’ve used where my son needs to try a gluten free diet (and also a fodmap diet). All have been delicious! I can see why that person wrote about a gooey mess with the breading – mine was like that when I went to flip the chicken during cooking. I would recommend using tongs vs a fork. Once I turned them tho, they baked up really nice! With my son on the fodmap diet also, I deleted using the garlic powder and added a little parsley instead. Before putting them under the broiler, I put sauce on the chicken and then the shredded mozzarella (only because that’s how I’m used to making chicken parm). We had sauce on the side too for anyone who wanted to add more (aka, my husband)! I did not make the marinara sauce, I used Rao’s. Thank you for another great recipe! Laurie
Hi Laurie,
I really appreciate you writing in to let me know and the low fodmap adjustments. So helpful for others!
Best,
Melissa
I made this recipe just as is. This was the most disgusting looking chicken I have ever made. The seasoned bread crumbs were left on the baking sheet. I flipped the chicken over after 10 minutes. Baked another 15 minutes to crisp the chicken but the bread crumbs turned to glue. I probably will make this again but I will fry my chicken in oil before baking it. Otherwise, the seasoning smelled very good and making the recipe was easy. Just too much GOO.
Hi Kay,
I’m so sorry the recipe did not work out for you. I spend a lot of time and effort testing my recipes and I would never intentionally publish something that didn’t have excellent results. It sounds like there may have been an issue with the breadcrumbs. Were they purchased or homemade? Again, I apologize you had a frustrating experience. I never want that to happen.
Best,
Melissa