If you love eating at Longhorn restaurants, you'll love this homemade copycat Longhorn parmesan-crusted chicken recipe that is the perfect show-stopping dish to impress your friends and family!
This delicious recipe is easy to follow, and the key to this dish is the Parmesan crust, which gives the chicken breasts a crispy exterior and a cheesy, savory flavor.
Contents
🌟 Why this recipe works
This copycat recipe is an easy-to-follow dish with a step-by-step guide on how to create a Longhorn restaurant quality meal right in your own kitchen. It's perfect for home cooks who want to impress their friends and family with restaurant-style food at home.
Longhorn parmesan chicken is a popular dish made with tender golden brown chicken breasts, coated in a parmesan and provolone cheese, ranch dressing sauce, and topped with a crunchy panko breadcrumbs mixture.
The chicken breasts are prepared in a buttermilk & ranch dressing marinade that helps to tenderize them and add a delicious depth of flavor.
They are fancy and great for special occasions or a weeknight meal and are commonly served with mashed potatoes, greens, or country-style white gravy.
This recipe is also versatile and can be easily adapted to your liking. For example, you can add additional spices to the Parmesan crust or use different cheeses in the crust. Check out the variations section for delicious suggestions!
🍽 Key Ingredients
What makes this Longhorn parmesan crusted chicken recipe so special and extremely popular at restaurants is the crunchy parmesan crumb topping combined with a creamy ranch spread for the chicken breast.
Chicken breast - You'll need boneless skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. The chicken will be pounded and marinated to make them tender, juicy, and full of flavor.
Ranch dressing - The ranch dressing is needed for the marinade and creamy parmesan cheese crust.
Worcestershire sauce - This is a key ingredient in the marinade that adds savory depth of flavor.
Garlic - Minced garlic and garlic powder are used in both the marinade and Parmesan crust for flavor.
Oil - You'll need vegetable oil to brown the chicken and olive oil for the marinade.
Acidity - A mixture of white vinegar and lemon juice gives the marinade a slight acidity that helps to tenderize the chicken.
Cheese - Parmesan cheese and provolone cheese are used in the Parmesan crust.
Panko breadcrumbs - These are mixed with melted butter and garlic powder to form a crispy and crunchy topping for the chicken.
Seasoning - Salt and pepper are used to season the chicken breasts.
Substitutions
Cheese
For the parmesan crust, Gruyere, cheddar, or Asiago cheese would be delicious substitutes for Provolone.
Chicken breast
An alternative chicken would be to use turkey breast instead and cut them into steak-sized pieces.
🔪 How to make
To make this copycat Longhorn parmesan crusted chicken, you'll need to make a flavorful marinade for the chicken breasts before frying them to a lovely golden color and broiling them with a simple ranch spread and parmesan crumb topping.
Preparations
- Peel and mince the garlic cloves.
- Use a box grater to grate the parmesan and provolone cheese.
Cooking instructions
Making the chicken
Step 1
Whisk the marinade ingredients together in a mixing bowl until well-combined and uniform in consistency.
Step 2
Place each chicken breast in a freezer bag, remove the air, and seal it. Pound the chicken with a meat tenderizer to about ½ inch thick.
Step 3
Sprinkle each side of the chicken lightly with salt and pepper.
Step 4
Place chicken breasts in a new freezer bag and pour in the marinade. Seal out the air and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes or overnight.
Step 5
Heat 2-3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the marinated chicken on each side for 4-5 minutes until golden brown.
Tip: If the pan gets too hot and starts to burn the chicken, reduce the heat to medium.
Step 6
Once both sides of each chicken breast are nicely golden, remove them from the cast-iron skillet to a baking sheet, and cover with aluminum foil.
Making the Parmesan Crust
Step 7
Preheat the oven to a low broil. (450 degrees Fahrenheit or 232 degree Celsius)
Step 8
Combine the grated Parmesan cheese, Provolone cheese, and Ranch dressing in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave the ranch spread for 15 seconds, and repeat until the cheese melts. (A little bit of a lumpy consistency is okay.)
Step 9
Spoon the creamy ranch spread on top of the cooked chicken.
Step 10
Broil for 3 minutes until the cheese starts to brown slightly.
Step 11
Mix bread crumbs, melted butter, and garlic powder in a bowl until thoroughly combined, and sprinkle the mixture on top of each chicken breast.
Step 12
Place the baking dish back under the broiler for a further minute until the panko bread crumbs begin to brown.
Step 13
Serve with mashed potatoes or steamed broccoli, and enjoy your cheesy chicken dinner!
💭 Cooking tips
Allow the chicken to brown.
Refrain from moving the chicken around as it sizzles, as it will hinder the nice golden sear color.
Watch the panko bread crumbs.
Keep your eye on the bread crumbs as they will turn from golden brown to burnt in a matter of seconds.
📖 Variations
If you want to change up this copycat Longhorn parmesan crusted chicken recipe, here are some delicious variations to try:
Make a spicy marinade
If you like your chicken recipes nice and spicy, add a teaspoon of cayenne pepper or chili powder to the marinade and 1 chopped green chili.
Bacon-wrapped parmesan-crusted chicken
After cooking the chicken, wrap them in bacon slices and place them back onto the skillet for a few minutes on either side until the bacon is crispy. Then follow the steps for making the parmesan crust.
Pork rinds topping
Using pork rinds instead of panko bread crumbs gives the parmesan-crusted chicken a salty and crunchier topping. You could also use crushed cornflakes or crushed Ritz crackers.
🥗 What to serve with
While this chicken dish pairs well with so many recipes, here are three of my favorite recipes. When you order Parmesan Crusted Chicken from LongHorns, what's your favorite side?
Brussel sprouts
Longhorn's parmesan-crusted chicken combined with their super tasty Brussel sprouts recipe is a flavorful combination like no other! The sweet and spicy sauce tossed around the sprouts takes them to another level and is sure to please everyone at your table.
Green beans with ham
Greens are a perfect side dish to compliment this delicious cheesy chicken dinner, and this simple green beans and ham recipe is easy and flavorful to make. The crispy ham pieces and tender beans sauteed in olive oil and garlic powder are a must-try!
Cauliflower mashed potatoes
Creamy mashed cauliflower is a great alternative to potatoes, and the creamy consistency of mashed cauliflower is unbeatable and extremely easy to make too!
🙋 Frequently asked questions
How do you get the breadcrumbs to stick to the chicken breast?
Easy, you combine the melted butter with the breadcrumbs, they will stick to the chicken with ranch spread on top with ease.
Can I make Longhorn parmesan-crusted chicken in the air fryer?
Yes! Preheat your air fryer to 400°F and cook the chicken for 6-8 minutes until crispy and golden brown, then top with the ranch spread and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more. Finish with the panko bread crumb mix under the broiler.
🧊 Storing and ♨️ Reheating
If you have leftover Longhorn parmesan-crusted chicken, you can store and reheat them.
Fridge - Transfer the cooled leftovers to an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to days.
Freezer - Place the leftover parmesan-crusted chicken into a freezer bag or container and store them for up to 4 months.
Reheating - To reheat any leftovers, simply preheat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake them on a baking sheet for 8 to 10 minutes until hot. Alternatively, you could microwave them for 1 to 2 minutes, but the topping will be soggy rather than crispy.
🍳 More Chicken Recipes to Try
If you think this recipe is good, you'll definitely want to check out some of these easy chicken breast recipes with few ingredients and my famous chicken stir fry marinade.
👪 Serving Size
This easy copycat recipe for Longhorn parmesan crusted chicken is enough for 2 servings, with each person having one chicken breast. You could easily make more chicken breasts to cater to larger crowds or cut each parmesan-crusted chicken in half if you have lots of side dishes on the table.
This popular parmesan-crusted chicken is guaranteed to be a hit with your guests, and they'll never even know they're not at Longhorn's steakhouse after trying this copycat recipe!
📋 Recipe
Longhorn Parmesan Crusted Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 Skinless/boneless chicken breasts
- Salt/Pepper - to taste
- 3 tablespoons Vegetable oil
Marinade
- ⅓ cup Olive oil
- ⅓ cup Ranch dressing
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Distilled white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
Parmesan Crust
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese - chopped into bits
- ½ cup Provolone cheese - chopped into bits
- 6 tablespoons Buttermilk Ranch salad dressing - regular Ranch is fine as well
- 4 tablespoons Melted butter
- ¾ cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 2 teaspoons Garlic powder
Instructions
Preparations
- Peel and mince the garlic cloves.
- Use a box grater to grate the parmesan and provolone cheese.
Making the chicken
- Whisk the marinade ingredients together in a mixing bowl until well-combined and uniform in consistency.
- Place each chicken breast in a freezer bag, remove the air, and seal it. Pound the chicken with a meat tenderizer to about ½ inch thick.
- Sprinkle each side of the chicken lightly with salt and pepper.
- Place chicken breasts in a new freezer bag and pour in the marinade. Seal out the air and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes or overnight.
- Heat 2-3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.
- Sear the marinated chicken on each side for 4-5 minutes until golden brown. If the pan gets too hot and starts to burn the chicken, reduce the heat to medium.
- Once both sides of each chicken breast are nicely golden, remove them from the cast-iron skillet to a baking sheet, and cover with aluminum foil.
Making the Parmesan Crust
- Preheat the oven to a low broil. (450 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Combine the grated Parmesan cheese, Provolone cheese, and Ranch dressing in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave the ranch spread for 15 seconds, and repeat until the cheese melts. (A little bit of a lumpy consistency is okay.)
- Spoon the creamy ranch spread on top of the cooked chicken.
- Broil for 3 minutes until the cheese starts to brown slightly.
- Mix bread crumbs, melted butter, and garlic powder in a bowl until thoroughly combined, and sprinkle the mixture on top of each chicken breast.
- Place the baking dish back under the broiler for a further minute until the panko bread crumbs begin to brown.
- Serve with mashed potatoes or steamed broccoli, and enjoy your cheesy chicken dinner!
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