Say Goodbye To Soggy Chicken Parm By Layering Strategically

A big plate of chicken parmesan is the quintessential Italian-American comfort food. Layered with crispy chicken cutlets, tomato sauce, and bubbly melted mozzarella and parmesan cheese, it's the perfect trifecta perched atop a pile of pasta. It can also be stuffed into a bun to be eaten as a sandwich.

It's kind of hard to mess up making chicken parm, as long as you take the time to properly pound and bread the chicken cutlets, use a well-balanced tomato sauce, and top them with good quality cheese. However, there are a few simple hacks that can make an already near-perfect combination even better. Best of all, there is a way to solve the common problem of sogginess.

Almost every chicken parmesan is layered with the crispy chicken cutlet first, then tomato sauce, and finally, the cheese. The problem is that the sauce makes the chicken cutlet crust soggy while it's heating up in the oven or broiler. It seems counterintuitive to go to all the trouble of breading and frying the cutlets to make them crispy, only to kill the crunch with sauce. America's Test Kitchen came up with a different way to maintain crispiness — put the cheese down on the chicken before the sauce.

If you're skeptical about reorganizing a classic like chicken parmesan, consider the mechanics. When you layer tomato sauce on the cutlet, the dry surface will absorb all the moisture, especially in the 15 minutes or so it takes to cook. America's Test Kitchen says that reversing the order and layering the cheese on top of the chicken first creates a "waterproof layer between the crust and the sauce." 

If you are using sliced cheese, you can use the quicker route by layering the cheese first and then the sauce before baking or broiling. If you're using grated cheese, you can take the extra step of layering the cheese and then popping the chicken and cheese into the broiler for a minute or two. Afterward, you can add the sauce and finish it in the oven, which will melt the cheese and create a seal. Whether you use sliced or grated cheese, adding the extra pre-broiling step will also ensure that you don't miss out on the brown, caramelized crust you'd get if you made your parm the old-fashioned way. Regardless of whether you pre-broil or not, make sure you use enough cheese so that when it melts, it pools around the edges of the chicken cutlet. This will make sure it ends up nice and crispy.

If you're already open to breaking the rules and restructuring your chicken parmesan stacks, you could consider a third option. There is no rule that says you can only have cheese either on top of the sauce or on the bottom — try doing both. Lay some cheese down on top of the cutlet first, then spread on the sauce, and put more cheese on top before broiling. This way, you get the best of both worlds — crispy chicken and browned cheese.

If that's still not enough cheese for you, you can stuff your chicken parm cutlet with more mozzarella or a mix of Italian cheeses like parmesan, romano, or provolone. Just make sure you don't pound your chicken cutlet too thin so that you have enough meat to make a pocket for the cheese. Stuffing the chicken with extra cheese also keeps the meat from drying out. If you're not into stuffing, but your cutlets tend to be dry, try marinating them for a couple of hours before you do the breading. With a little tinkering, you can make a basic recipe that's already tasty into a dinner that's truly memorable.