This creamy garlic parmesan chicken recipe is a low-carb dinner made easily with just 4 simple ingredients! Tender and juicy chicken breasts are smothered in a rich garlic parmesan sauce, perfect for pairing with pasta, rice, or veggies.
Why I Love Garlic Parmesan Chicken
This baked creamy parmesan chicken is a must have recipe for any busy cook! If your weeknights look anything like mine (I’ve got three kids, five cats and two dogs), you know the importance of a quick dinner recipe. Garlic parmesan chicken is one of my favorite weeknight entrees! Not just because it’s quick, it’s also SO GOOD and made with just a few simple ingredients. Here’s why we return to this winner of a chicken dinner often:
- Amazing Flavor: Tender chicken breasts are topped with a perfectly seasoned, creamy, and garlicky sauce then baked until juicy with a golden parmesan cheese topping.
- Easy: With only four basic ingredients and a little salt and pepper, this garlic parmesan chicken provides a super simple fix to the dreaded question, “What’s for dinner?”.
- Low Carb/Gluten Free: Delicious, creamy, parmesan chicken works well for some of the trickiest dietary preferences. Expect requests for second helpings no matter who sits at your table!
- Make Ahead: Easily assemble the recipe together up to two days ahead. Double check “sell by” date on chicken. Store in the fridge and simply pop in the oven when ready to bake.
Looking for more easy low-carb chicken breast recipes? Try my flavorful lemon caper chicken, this juicy Greek chicken souvlaki or Jorge’s favorite jalapeño popper chicken!
Key Ingredients
Below you will find helpful notes for key ingredients used to make this garlic parmesan chicken recipe. You likely already have them in your kitchen right now! Scroll down to the recipe card for full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- Chicken Breasts: I use the thinly sliced chicken cutlets because they cook faster. You could also use this recipe for boneless, skinless chicken thighs!
- Mayonnaise: Surprise! No fancy alfredo sauce required here. Use regular or olive oil based mayo, not fat-free for the juiciest chicken. I personally do not like mayo, but I promise you will not taste the mayonnaise once baked!
- Parmesan: I recommend shredded parmesan for the most flavor. You could also use asiago cheese or Roman cheese.
- Garlic Cloves: Use freshly chopped if possible for the most flavor, but the jarred version will work in a pinch.
How to Make Garlic Parmesan Chicken
This is literally a 1-2-3 and into-the-oven kind of dish! Read over the steps and you will be enjoying this garlic parmesan chicken in no time at all. Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions.
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- Mix: Stir together mayonnaise, part of the cheese, and seasonings.
- Spread and Sprinkle: Arrange chicken in a single layer in a greased baking dish or on a baking sheet. Spread the cheese mixture on top of the chicken and scatter the remaining shredded parmesan on top.
- Bake: Cook for about 40 minutes. The internal temperature should reach 165°F on an instant read thermometer and the edges should look golden brown and bubbly.
- Serve: Sprinkle with parsley and more freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional). Serve immediately and enjoy!
Chef’s Tips and Variations
- Mayonnaise: You need some fat to seal moisture into the protein and bind the cheese. Using fat free mayo has an odd texture when cooked. Plan to use regular mayo or the olive oil version also works well!
- Thin the chicken: If your boneless, skinless, chicken breasts are large or thick, split them lengthwise. Then, cover with plastic wrap, and pound with the bottom of a pot, or meat tenderizer, to about 1/2 inch thickness. This will make your chicken cook faster and a lot more tender!
- Swap the protein: Try swapping the chicken for firm, white fish fillets, such as trout, flounder, snapper, or cod. The added moisture from the topping produces amazingly juicy, succulent fish. Simply increase the oven temperature to 400°F and reduce the cooking time to about 20 minutes.
- Add-ons: You might decide to add some crunch for an additional texture. Sprinkle French fried onions or bread crumbs on top right of chicken and cheese before baking.
- Southwestern variation: Try this in place of parmesan, salt/pepper and parsley for a southwestern version – use mayo, cheddar, Adobo seasoning and chopped green onion. Delicious with a side of black beans!
What to Serve with Baked Parmesan Chicken
This parmesan crusted chicken plays the starring role here, no doubt. But, you may consider rounding out dinner with a few simple, tasty side dishes. Here are a few of our favorites to try:
- Salad: This cucumber tomato salad adds a great lightness to your plate.
- Vegetable Sides: Anything from these tender sautéed green beans to this parmesan roasted broccoli would go great! You also can’t go wrong with my creamed spinach recipe!
- Starchy Sides: Make your plate even more hearty with creamy make-ahead mashed potatoes, or go for the low carb version with my best mashed cauliflower. Homemade garlic knots or this baked mac and cheese are always hits with the kids!
Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, thinly sliced
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 1 ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese, divided
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic salt, or seasoned salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
- chopped parsley, optional garnish
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9×13 casserole dish or large baking dish. Place chicken breasts in an even layer in the dish.
- In a small bowl, whisk together mayo, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, minced garlic, salt and pepper.
- Spread mixture over chicken breasts. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup parmesan cheese over the top of the chicken.
- Bake for 40 mins, or until an internal temperature on an instant-read meat thermometer reaches 165°F. Serve hot and garnish with parsley, if desired.
Notes
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Any chance using grated parmesan cheese will work over shredded?
Hi Kristine! Yes, you could use either in this recipe, both will work!
Hey! I wonder what happened with mine. It turned out soo greasy. Like an inch of grease!
Huh! You have me stumped! Can you share what kind of mayo and parmesan you used? I’d love to help figure out how that happened!
delicious!!!
I pounded out Pork Loin chops to 1/2 inch thick, Added 2 tablepsoons of Dijon Mustard to the Mayo. Then coated the chops with the Mix, then dredged them in Parm and Bread crumbs, Added the remaining Parm on top of them. baked them at 350′ for about 20 min!
Very tasty. NO added salt as the Mustard and Mayo have enough.
My friend wanted Pork instead of Chicken as he Cooks a lot of that himself.
Sounds great! Love the swap!
Just wondering the sodium level is high is this because of Mayo?
No, sadly the nutrition is automatically calculated by a program I pay for and sometimes it gets sodium a little wonky. The only salt in this recipe is 1 1/2 teaspoons of seasoned salt.
Did you bake yours with aluminum foil covering the dish? I did not and had to scrap off the top layer of Parmesan which ended up crispy golden brown, not at all like the picture showed. My daughter enjoyed the flavor, but unfortunately I most likely won’t make this dish again.
Hi Nicole! No, I did not use foil. Did you use thinly sliced chicken breasts? That’s the key to making sure the chicken cooks through before anything else would ever have time to burn. 😉
I am drooling over this chicken! Great idea for dinner tonight!
This Creamy Parmesan Chicken is seriously making me hungry!
Because we are big fans of mayo this chicken was perfect for our family! It cooked perfectly and tasted great!
This looks too good to pass up! Adding to my dinner line up for next week; looks amazing!
My kids are obsessed with anything parmesan right now! I’d also never heard of the mayo trick! Hubby isn’t a huge fan of mayo – but he doesn’t have to know! 😉
I was recently introduced to mayo for chicken! It’s one of my new favorite tricks! This sounds delicious! Looking forward to trying it!