Recipe: Gluten-Free Chicken Parmesan

Before our house was gluten-free, we never made Chicken Parmesan because we could order it when dining out. Truly authentic Chicken Parmesan would surely take a lot of time to prepare – homemade sauce, the finest Italian cheese and all that. However, we’re neither Italian or quite that persnickety about cooking.

For the last four years the only times I’ve had Chicken Parmesan was when I’ve made it at home. I’ve found that a very tasty version of this dish can be made fairly easily and quickly without a lot of muss and fuss. Each time I’ve made this classic dish, my husband raves about it. Though I agree that it’s delicious, there isn’t much work involved in making it so.

Gluten-Free Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

• Boneless chicken breasts (one per person)
• Parmesan cheese
• Italian red sauce (we use Newman’s Own Tomato & Basil sauce with a little Italian Blend spice)
• Gluten-free flour blend (we use Jules flour now but Gluten-Free Pantry works fine too)
• Eggs (optional, not needed with Jules flour)

Instructions:

• Coat chicken breasts with flour (use egg wash if your flour does not coat well without it – with Jules flour, the egg step can be skipped if desired).
• Put a little olive oil in saute pan over medium heat and saute coated chicken until brown on each side. Remove from heat.
• Spray baking dish with cooking spray and place chicken breasts in the dish. Top with Italian style red sauce and shredded Parmesan cheese.
• Bake in 375 degree pre-heated oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

We serve the chicken over gluten-free pasta mixed with a little red sauce. By adding some green veggies and a nice green salad, you have a hearty tasty meal that’s deliciously gluten-free. Last week when I made this, I used Tagliatelle pasta from Schar but any gluten-free pasta will work. Schar pasta is made in Italy and is an exceptional gluten-free pasta. It’s available in some stores and from the Gluten-Free Trading Company.

Most gluten-free flours will work well as a coating for chicken, crab cakes, onions and other savory things. When baking gluten-free foods the type of flour is very important but for coating foods, the choice of flour is not that important. You want to avoid flours with strong flours that might take away from your dish but simple flours like rice, tapioca, and cornstarch all work fine for coating purposes. Using flours with a lot of xanthan gum for fried foods might result in a gummy texture. If you use a flour blend with xanthan gum in it, don’t add any extra when cooking in hot oil.

To save money, buy less expensive flours for coating needs and save the high end mixes for gluten-free baking. Gluten-free baked goods are much less forgiving than foods that have just a little flour in them – a sauce or quiche for instance. It’s hard to get away with penny pinching on flour for pie crusts, breads and treats. Thought there might not be many, there are a few ways to save money when cooking gluten-free without sacrificing great taste. This delicious Chicken Parmesan proves that point.