Looking for flavorful griddle chicken recipes for the Blackstone or other flat top grill? This griddle chicken parmesan sandwich should be at the top of your list!
If you’ve ever watched any of my griddle cooking videos on YouTube, then you know that I’m all about elevating flavors. With a little extra effort, you can make restaurant-quality meals right on your back deck. And I love to help you prepare griddle recipes that you can be proud to serve your family.
Sometimes I take shortcuts and up the flavor by kicking up a jarred pasta sauce. But every now and then I like to take my time in the kitchen and enjoy the process of cooking everything from scratch. So that’s what I did with this Chicken Parmesan Sandwich.
From blooming the yeast and kneading the dough for the perfectly soft Italian bread to crushing the canned plum tomatoes for a homemade marinara sauce, every bit of this sandwich was homemade… and it was delicious!
Can you open a jar of your favorite marinara sauce and warm it up in a sauce pan? Of course!
Can you buy a loaf of Italian bread or French bread from the grocery store? Absolutely!
However you choose to make it, this griddle chicken parmesan makes the perfect sandwich to feed your Italian comfort food craving!
Ingredients for this Homemade Chicken Parmesan Sandwich
Because I made everything for this sandwich from scratch, the ingredient list is quite long. But don’t let that deter you from making some awesome chicken parmesan on the griddle! You can definitely just follow the recipe for the actual chicken breasts, and skip the homemade marinara and bread.
You could even make the fried chicken parm and just serve it over top of some pasta with your favorite spaghetti sauce!
For the Chicken
For the actual fried chicken parmesan, I recommend using boneless skinless chicken breasts and then pounding them thin so that they cook evenly on the griddle.
You will also need to set up a 3 step dredging station with 3 separate wide-bottomed bowls. For the dredging station for your fried chicken breasts, you will need these ingredients:
- flour
- eggs
- Italian breadcrumbs
- salt and pepper
- dried basil
- dried parsley
- dried oregano
- garlic powder
- crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- *You can also substitute an Italian seasoning instead of using the individual dried herbs like basil, oregano, and parsley.
For the Marinara Chutney
This chicken parm sandwich has a homemade marinara “spread” instead of a marinara sauce. I didn’t want the sandwich to be too soggy because then it would take away from the crispiness of the chicken breasts, so I chose to make a rustic tomato chutney with all of the flavors of a homemade marinara sauce.
Here are the ingredients for the marinara spread:
- canned whole peeled tomatoes – I would recommend high-quality Italian canned tomatoes. The brand that I used was very good! *Or you can substitute crushed tomatoes if you wish.
- jarred sweet cherry peppers (optional) – I really like these sweet Italian style peppers, so I added a few in to my marinara for a little extra flavor.
- tomato paste
- minced garlic
- diced onion
- good quality olive oil
- fresh basil leaves
- parmesan rind (optional) – I had a rind leftover in the fridge from a block of Parmesan Reggiano that I had just finished, so I threw that in the skillet as well.
For the Italian Bread
You can definitely make your own Italian bread like I did for this Chicken Parmesan Sandwich. If you’ve never baked bread from scratch before, then you may be a bit intimidated by the process, but it’s actually very easy to do. And because all of the ingredients are pretty inexpensive, if you mess up it’s not a big loss.
Of course, you can also substitute a fresh Italian loaf or twin french bread from the bakery section of your grocery store.
If you do want to bake your own Italian bread, you will need these simple ingredients, and you can find my Italian bread recipe at the end of this post:
- bread flour
- salt
- sugar
- active dry yeast
- olive oil
- 1 beaten egg and sesame seeds (optional – for garnishing the top of the loaf before baking it)
How to Make a Chicken Parmesan Sandwich on the Griddle
This homemade from scratch chicken parmesan sandwich recipe may look like it has a lot of steps, but each step is very easy to do. Here’s how to make this griddle fried chicken sandwich:
Step 1: Start the marinara sauce.
Start by finely chopping some fresh garlic and onion. Then, add a few good tablespoons of olive oil to a heated skillet on the griddle, and begin cooking down the onions until they are close to translucent. Add the garlic and continue to cook for a few more minutes. Your skillet should look something like this:
Then, add in the full can of tomatoes. If you’re using whole peeled tomatoes like I did, you can crush them up yourself to the consistency that you like. I personally like more of a rustic sauce for this sandwich, so I left some larger chunks of tomatoes. You can also use a can of crushed tomatoes if you prefer.
Next, add in the basil leaves, some diced sweet cherry peppers (if you’re using them) and a tablespoon or two of tomato paste. Sprinkle in a bit of salt and pepper, but don’t over-season at this stage. You can taste the sauce again once it has had a chance to reduce and all of the flavors are married together.
Allow the sauce to reduce for another 5 or so minutes, and then taste it for seasoning. Add more salt and pepper to taste, and continue to cook the sauce, stirring occasionally, until it has reduced to your liking.
I wanted more of a sandwich “spread” instead of a sauce, because I didn’t want the marinara to overpower the perfectly fried chicken breasts, so I reduced mine down for quite a bit. Here’s what my marinara spread looked like when it was done… more of a tomato chutney consistency:
*NOTE – If you want a saucier, thinner marinara sauce, you can just cook it down for less time. The more that you cook the sauce in the skillet, the more that the liquid will reduce and the thicker your marinara will be.
Step 2: Pound out and bread the chicken breasts.
To prep the chicken for chicken parmesan, you’ll first need to pound out the chicken breasts so they are uniformly thin. If you were to bread the breasts without pounding them out first, then the thicker parts of the breasts would take longer to cook on the griddle while the thinner areas would overcook.
To easily prep the chicken, just place one breast in between a piece of plastic wrap. Then, use the bottom of a skillet to pound out the chicken breast until it is more even in thickness.
Your chicken breasts should look something like this:
When all of the chicken breasts have been pounded out, it’s time to bread each piece for chicken parmesan.
First, you’ll need to set up a 3-step dredging station with the following bowls:
- Bowl 1: Flour
- Bowl 2: Beaten eggs
- Bowl 3: Italian breadcrumbs mixed with the dried Italian herbs
Then, simply coat the chicken breasts for perfectly crispy chicken parmesan on the griddle. Here’s some photos showing the dredging process and what your chicken breast should look like at each stage:
Bowl 1: Flour
In the first bowl, add enough flour to coat each of the chicken breasts with a thin, even coating. You can always add more flour to the bowl later if you think that you’ll need more. Remember, whatever flour remaining in the bowl will need to be thrown out.
For the first step in the dredge, just add the chicken breasts to the flour one at a time. Use a fork to evenly coat the breasts in a thin coating of flour. The purpose of the flour is to give the egg in the next step something to stick to.
Bowl 2: Egg Wash
Once the breast is floured, immediately add it to the bowl with the beaten eggs like this:
Use a fork to dip the floured chicken breast in the egg wash, turning it over to make sure that it is fully coated.
Bowl 3: Italian Breadcrumbs
Lastly, transfer the floured and egg-dipped breast to the Italian breadcrumb mixture and toss to coat evenly like this:
Then, shake off the excess breadcrumbs and transfer to a plate while you bread the remaining chicken breasts.
Step 3: Shallow fry the chicken breasts on the griddle.
Once all of your chicken breasts are breaded, it’s time to shallow fry them on the griddle. Add some of your favorite cooking oil to the griddle surface, and allow it to get hot for a few seconds. Then, place the chicken breasts in the oil and cook them on the first side like this:
As your chicken is cooking, you may need to use your bench scraper to direct the excess cooking oil towards the chicken so that there is enough oil to fry the breasts and get them nice and crispy. If needed, you can also use your squirt bottle to add a bit of extra oil to the griddle surface around the breasts.
When the first side is nicely golden brown, it’s time to flip the chicken to the second side. I always add fresh oil to an empty area on the griddle before flipping. Your chicken should look something like this after you flip it:
Continue to cook the chicken parmesan on the second side until it reaches at least 160 degrees F internal temp (USDA recommends 165 degrees F). This is where a good internal probe instant read thermometer comes in handy… You can see my favorite one and my other must-have griddle accessories here.
Then, place the fried chicken breasts on a wire rack to elevate them off the griddle surface so they don’t overcook and burn. Add some sliced fresh mozzarella to the top of each piece of chicken, and dome the chicken with a melting dome to help the cheese to melt a bit.
Your griddle chicken parmesan should look something like this:
*NOTE – You can definitely top the chicken breasts with some of your marinara before adding the cheese, but I was trying to preserve the crispiness of my chicken parmesan, so I chose to add the marinara to the bread instead.
Step 4: Toast your Italian bread and build the chicken parmesan sandwich.
While the cheese is melting on your chicken, go ahead and add some butter and some more minced garlic to the cut sides of your Italian bread. Then, toast the bread cut side down on the griddle like this so that the butter melts and the garlic becomes fragrant:
Then, it’s time to build your chicken parmesan sandwich.
I added a layer of the thickened marinara sauce to the bottom and top of the bread. Sprinkle on some fresh parmesan cheese, and top with the fried chicken parmesan.
And here’s what your awesome Italian chicken parmesan sandwich should look like when you cut into it:
Want some more Italian griddle recipes? Check out some of these posts:
- Stuffed Italian Sausage Bread with Quick Bruschetta Topping
- Flat Top Grilled Meatballs – Easy Italian Griddle Recipe
- Easy Pizza Quesadillas with a Parmesan Herb Crust
Chicken Parmesan Sandwich Recipe
Want to make this chicken parmesan sandwich on the griddle? You can print the recipe cards down below and add them to your griddle recipes notebook!
And if you want to bake your own homemade Italian bread, then be sure to scroll down to the end of this post for that recipe as well!
Chicken Parmesan Sandwich with Homemade Marinara Spread (Griddle Sandwich Recipe)
Ingredients
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ¾ cup flour
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1½ cup Italian breadcrumbs
- 2 tsps garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- frying oil of your choice
- 5-6 slices fresh mozzarella or substitute shredded mozzarella cheese
For the Marinara:
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ medium sweet onion finely diced
- 28 oz can tomatoes (whole plum tomatoes, crushed, etc) *good quality Italian tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 4-5 fresh basil leaves
- 4-5 jarred mini sweet cherry peppers, de-seeded and diced (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Italian Bread:
- 1 homemade Italian bread loaf or substitute store-bought Italian bread or French bread
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 cloves minced garlic
Instructions
For the Marinara:
- Set a skillet on the griddle surface. Heat griddle on low or medium.
- When skillet is hot, start making the marinara by adding about 3 tablespoons of a good olive oil to the skillet. Add the diced onion to the oil, and cook until the onions start to get translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Then add the minced garlic to the skillet, stir, and allow the garlic and onions to cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Add the canned tomatoes to the skillet. *If using whole plum tomatoes, use a spatula or fork to roughly crush the tomatoes. Stir to combine the tomatoes with the onions and garlic. Allow to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is almost reduced to your liking.
- Taste, and add salt and pepper to taste. Add basil leaves, tomato paste, and jarred sweet peppers (if using). Stir to combine. Continue to cook on low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, until reduced to your liking.
For the Chicken Parmesan:
- While the marinara is reducing in the skillet on the griddle, set up a dredging station by preparing the following wide-bottomed bowls: Bowl 1 – flour; bowl 2 – beaten eggs; bowl 3 – Italian breadcrumbs, garlic powder, dried parsley, dried basil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flake (if using).
- Pound out the chicken breasts until they are even in thickness (about ⅓ – ½" thick).
- Bread the chicken breasts by adding them to each of the dredging bowls in order, one at a time. Coat one chicken breast in a thin even layer of flour and shake off excess. Transfer the flour-coated breast to the egg bowl, and coat with the egg. Then, transfer the breast to bowl 3 with the Italian breadcrumbs. Gently toss to coat the breast in the breadcrumb mixture. Then, transfer the breaded chicken to a plate. Follow these steps until all chicken breasts are breaded.
- Add a good amount of oil to the heated griddle surface, enough to shallow fry the chicken breasts. Add the breaded chicken breasts to the oil, and cook on the first side until that side is golden brown and crispy. *You may need to use your scraper to move the oil towards the chicken, so there is enough oil to get the chicken crispy.
- Add another bit of fresh oil to the griddle in a clear spot, and flip your chicken breasts to the second side in the fresh oil. Continue to cook on the second side until chicken is golden brown and reaches an internal temp of 165 degrees F.
- Place a wire rack on top of the griddle surface. Transfer the cooked chicken to the wire rack, and top the chicken with mozzarella cheese. Place a melting dome over the chicken to melt the cheese. When cheese is melted, transfer chicken to a plate.
To Build the Sandwich:
- While cheese is melting on the chicken breasts, slice the Italian bread in half length-wise. Add butter and minced garlic to the cut side of the bread, and toast on the griddle.
- Spread the top and bottom of the bread with the marinara sauce, add the fried chicken parmesan, sprinkle with some fresh parmesan cheese, and serve warm.
Notes
- For a thinner, more saucy marinara, cook for less time in the skillet.
Homemade Italian Bread
Ingredients
- 2¼ cup bread flour
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 cup warm water *Ideal temperature is 110-115 degrees F
- ¼ oz active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 2 tbsp olive oil *plus more for oiling the bowl
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp yellow corn grits (optional – for the bottom of the bread loaf)
- 1 beaten egg
- sesame seeds (optional – to garnish top of the loaf)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour and the salt. Set aside.
- To a small bowl, add the 2 teaspoons of sugar and the warm water (110-115 degrees F). Then, sprinkle the 1 packet of active dry yeast evenly on top of the water, but do not stir it. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes untouched on the countertop. After 10-15 minutes, the yeast should look foamy on top of the water.
- To the stand mixer bowl with the flour and salt, add 2 tablespoons of good quality olive oil. Then, pour in the water and yeast. Mix on low speed with the dough hook attachment to incorporate ingredients, about 1-2 minutes. Change speed to medium and mix for about 5-7 minutes, or until a sticky dough forms. *If the dough is sticking too much to the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in a very small amount of flour.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead the dough about 5 or 6 times, just to get the surface of the dough smooth and taut and to shape the dough into a large ball. Add the dough ball to a large oiled bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour. The dough should double in size.
- Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of yellow corn grits on the bottom of a large baking sheet.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Turn the proofed dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently form it into a long even loaf about 14-18 inches long, taking care to not overwork the dough. Transfer the dough loaf to the baking sheet on top of the yellow corn grits. Cover the dough with a tea towel and let rise for an additional 30 minutes.
- Carefully brush the top of the dough loaf with the beaten egg. Then use a knife to cut a few diagonal 1/4" deep slits in the top of the dough surface. Sprinkle top of loaf with sesame seeds (if using).
- Bake the Italian loaf in the oven at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Allow the Italian bread to cool about 30 minutes to 1 hour before slicing.
Pinterest User? Don’t forget to PIN this awesome Chicken Parmesan Sandwich to your griddle recipes board:
love me some chicken parm!
Will be trying this one next. Thanks Neil.
I’m trying this one on the weekend. It looks absolutely delicious and I know my family will love it. Great videos, keep them coming.
Awesome recipe. Will try this weekend for Father’s Day.
Without a griddle, I had to use a cast iron skillet. It turned out great and my family loved it.
This is another dish that we tried the very next day after watching the video. My wife and I love the style of chicken sandwich, but oddly enough, we never tried making it. But this one really got my attention and I was really curious about the homemade sauce, then off to the store we went. Our kids stopped bye about halfway through dinner and they trade it in the first thing they asked me was why didn’t I cook more when they were growing up? Because of your recipes and videos my wife usually cooks inside and I cook outside. This chicken sandwich had so much flavor and that sauce was amazing. It’s definitely another staple in our menu.
5 star sandwich!
Another Italian favorite. This one is a crowd pleaser!
Chicken cutlets are one of my favorite things to make on my blackstone, and when I asked my son what he wanted for his birthday dinner he said “chicken parm! but you HAVE to make it outside on the blackstone!”
Awesome! It’s hard to beat a good chicken parmesan fresh off the griddle!