Easy Chicken Parm-ish

Jeff the Chef

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Chicken Parm was my favorite dish as a kid. Chicken Parm-ish has all of those classic flavors, but it’s far less fussy.

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"Chicken Parm-ish," from Make It Like a Man!

I call this a “Friday night meal,” because its easy and sporadic work takes a bit more time than you might want to spend on a school night, but the results are as celebratory as the onslaught of the weekend. Not only that, but in perfect keeping with my preferred Friday evening vibe, the work required is easy and takes almost no brain power. There’s a ton of unattended time in between tasks, there’s never much of a hurry about any of it, and none of the tasks have critical timings. All of this will leave you free to get out of your work clothes, and enjoy a very large glass of wine while catching up on whatever you’ve been DVRing, checking on things every other commercial break or so. It also gives you an excuse to use a kitchen torch. All of that, and it’s delicious.

What you need for 4 servings:

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 Tbs olive oil, divided
1 batch of Ridiculously Easy, Insanely Meaty Pasta, sauce only (see notes)
2½ lbs broccoli
3 large cloves of garlic
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1 lb. orzo
4 slices of provolone, optional
Shaved or grated Parmesan, or flaked sea salt, for serving
Parsley, chopped, for serving, optional

How to do it:

  1. Preheat a sous vide water bath to 145°F. Meanwhile, prepare a single vacuum bag that will accommodate all the chicken.
  2. Season the chicken generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Drizzle with 1 Tbs olive oil and rub the breasts on all sides to coat each one with oil and seasonings. With the bag lying flat on the countertop, place the breasts into the bag in a single, flat layer. Vacuum seal the bag, using the “moist,” “normal” settings. Place the chicken into the bath and cook for 2 hours. Meanwhile, make the sauce.
  3. Remove the florets from the broccoli and place them on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Thinly slice the garlic and add it to the sheet. Add zest. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with remaining 1 Tbs oil, and toss thoroughly. When the chicken is about 25 minutes from being done, preheat the oven to 425°F. Once the oven’s hot, bake the broccoli until tender and crisped, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prep the orzo according to package directions. When it’s done, strain it and stir a large spoonful of sauce into it, to keep it from sticking.
  4. Once the chicken is done, snip the bag open and drain its liquid contents into the sauce. Bring the sauce to a vigorous simmer, stirring occasionally. Taste to correct seasoning.
"Chicken Parm-ish," from Make It Like a Man!
  1. To plate, place a generous serving of orzo into a large, shallow bowl or onto a plate. Top it with sauce. Top that with a chicken breast. (Lay a slice of provolone over the chicken. Melt and slightly brown it with a culinary torch.) Top that with a bit more sauce, if desired. Garnish with Parmesan and/or flaked sea salt (and parsley). Tuck a serving of broccoli along one side of the bowl.

Notes:

Prepare the Ridiculously Easy, Insanely Meaty Pasta sauce, sauce only – without the penne called for in that recipe. Also, decrease the ground pork by 50%. This sauce may be made ahead and reheated – in fact, it’s better that way.

Get the most out of this meal:

Buy a “family pack” of chicken – 3 lbs or so – and cook all of it in the sous vide, in a single bag. Leftover sous vide chicken is FANTASTIC. Reheated, it’s flat-out lovely. Or, use it cold for chicken salad, or for sliced chicken sandwiches, or for cold chicken medallions with a fancy mayo-based condiment.

If the breasts are too large for a single one to provide a single serving, slice them and divide the slices into servings after sous viding, but before torching.

Once you hit the 2-hour mark, timing isn’t critical on the chicken. You can let the sous vide keep it warm if you’re not quite ready for it. Timing isn’t critical on the broccoli, either – it’s delicious even if it cools to room temperature.

Don’t discard the broccoli stems. Peel them, chop off about 1 inch of the bottom end and discard the bottom piece. Slice the remainder of the stem into coins. Steam until tender. This will leave you with a wonderful, healthy snack, or a great addition to a vegetable salad.

"Chicken Parm-ish," from Make It Like a Man!
Chicken Parm-ish

Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! Thank you, Kesor. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. In preparing this post, I relied upon an excellent post I found on Anova’s website, and a recipe I found in Cooking Light, ed. by Heather Averett; Birmingham, AL: Oxmoor House, 2009; pg. 311.

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34 thoughts on “Easy Chicken Parm-ish”

  3. Chicken Parm looks perfect and delicious , and your presentation makes it even more tempting! Recipe looks great , my kids would surely love this! Thanks for sharing this!

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  6. 🙂 … “almost no brain power” and “a very large glass of wine”, you have me laughing here!
    Wonderfully written!
    That sounds yummy, I might do it in the pan, though, but thank you for the input – you help me really to get into cooking (I lost my job, never cooked, but this is healthy fun!).
    Iris Flavia recently posted…T STands For NoT ChocolaTe

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    • I’m so sorry you lost your job! I’ve lost jobs before and my only regret – not having fun in between jobs!

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  7. Any excuse to use the kitchen torch is a good one if you ask me! I also happen to love chicken parm so I know this recipe would go over well here in our house. I’m digging the addition of orzo here, too. Oh, and the fact that I need to pour a good glass of wine in order to make this recipe makes it all the more appealing!
    David @ Spiced recently posted…Mulligan Stew

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  8. Absolutely delicious Jeff! I love everything about this recipe, including serving with orzo, what a delicious combo. 😋. I can’t believe I’ve never thought to use a kitchen torch for anything besides desserts! You’ve totally inspired me, I’ll certainly be using one on cheese now YUM.
    Shannon recently posted…Aquafaba Hummus (The BEST Hummus Secret)

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  10. ok, now you’re making me want a sous vide. (You’re much more convincing than that guy at the gym who keeps asking me whether I’ve bought one yet.) Regardless of the cooking vessel, this dish sounds super-tasty and so satisfying. Worth it even without the sous vide. Nice!

    Reply

    • Agreed! I do like the sous vide, but there are lots of good ways to cook chicken!

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  11. First, I love any recipe that uses “-ish” at the end. I do like the rhythm of the recipe… Get home, start a task, get into your pajamas, chop something or other, pour wine, do another task, avoid the news, and then eat. It’s perfect.

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  14. I’m all up for having a very large glass of wine on a Friday Jeff. And with our lockdown I have to confess most other nights too! With things the way they are at the moment I’m all about easy meals and your easy chicken parm-ish definitely hits that spot. Hope you are well and Happy New Year!!
    Neil recently posted…Healthy Creamy Chicken Potato Soup

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  16. This sure looks a lot better than my “wing it” version of chicken parm. Serving with orzo and broccoli makes such a yummy meal!

    Reply

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