Easy Breaded Chicken with Lemon and Arugula

If you’re looking for the perfect meal, your search stops here, because this Easy Breaded Chicken with Lemon and Arugula is it! Let me count the ways!

First off,

…it can be made in less than 25 minutes. I know you guys are all about quick and easy dinners, especially during the week!

What if I told you that you can get this chicken seasoned, breaded, fried, and topped in less than a half hour?!

Don’t believe me? Jump to the recipe and give it a try! Go ahead, try me.

Second, let’s talk about the presentation:

Not to toot my own horn, but it doesn’t get much prettier than this in under 30 minutes! Look at that golden chicken topped with fresh greens, shaved Parmesan and fresh lemon! Talk about love at first sight!

Third reason: the taste!

In my earlier days of cooking I was all about experimenting with complex flavors and fancy ingredients. Don’t get me wrong, I still love to get fancy, but I’ve really started to appreciate the simplicity of basic ingredients.

You can still get great flavor from simple foods, so don’t sleep! Plus, simple ingredients are easy to find! Show me a grocer who doesn’t carry arugula, lemon, chicken breasts and Parmesan cheese!

I’m gonna stop counting here,

But another thing that I love about this easy Breaded Chicken with Lemon and Arugula recipe is that the leftover chicken holds up really well! Just pop it in the oven to reheat, dress some fresh arugula in olive oil and lemon juice, sprinkle it with some shaved parmesan. Bam! Your left-overs will taste brand spankin’ new.

Which brings me to the last thing I love about this dish:

It can be served with anything and at all times of day!

Serve it with creamy roasted garlic mashed potatoes for dinner, or you can go heavy on the arugula and have it for lunch as a salad!

OR, top it with a poached or soft-boiled egg and you have brunch for the win!

Wait for it…

Look at that yolk drip! Once that yolk hits the arugula, mixes with that lemon juice and olive oil, your taste-buds will lose it! If you’re a fan of hollandaise sauce, you’ll love this yolk-y dressing!

Let me just leave you with this: you are gonna love this easy Breaded Chicken with Lemon and Arugula! Whether it’s for brunch, lunch, or dinner, you’ll love it for its look, taste, and simplicity!

See you next time babes!

-C. Michele

Easy Breaded Chicken with Lemon and Arugula

Recipe by Crystal DaCruzCourse: Dinner, Lunch, BrunchDifficulty: Easy

Yield

6

chicken breasts

Prep time

10

minutes

Frying Time

10

minutes

Assembly Time

5

minutes

Total time

25

minutes

Breaded chicken, topped with arugula, lemon and shaved parmesan makes an easy week-night dinner, but can also be topped with an egg for brunch!

Ingredients

• 6 thinly-sliced chicken breasts

• 1 tsp. salt

• ⅛ tsp. pepper

• 1 tsp. garlic powder

• ¼ cup of all-purpose flour

• ⅔ cup of Italian seasoned bread-crumbs

• 1 egg

• ⅔ cup of milk

• ⅓ cup of extra-virgin olive oil for frying

• juice from half of a lemon for drizzling

• For the baby arugula salad

• 2 cups of fresh baby arugula

• extra-virgin olive-oil for drizzling

• juice from half of a lemon

• pinch of salt and pepper

• Additional toppings

• 1 lemon-sliced into rounds

• ¼ cup of shaved Parmesan

Directions

• Season each chicken breast using salt, pepper and garlic powder. Make sure to get both sides!
• Whisk together the milk and eggs in a bowl to create an egg-wash
• Evenly coat each breast in flour, shake off any excess
• Dip each chicken breast into the egg wash, and then in bread-crumbs. Shake off any excess and transfer to a baking sheet
• Heat oil in a skillet. You’ll know the water is hot when a few drops of water create a splatter in the oil.
• Fry each chicken breast for 1-3 minutes per side. The chicken-breasts should get nice and golden in color. Transfer each chicken breast to a metal cooling rack or plate lined with paper towels.
• Once any oil has drained, transfer the breaded chicken breasts to a serving platter and drizzle with juice from half of a lemon.
• In a separate bowl, dress the baby arugula with a drizzle of olive-oil, juice from the remaining half of the lemon, salt and pepper. Give the salad a gentle toss.
• Top the breaded chicken with the arugula salad and Parmesan cheese shavings. Garnish with the lemon rounds and give 1 last drizzle of olive oil if you wish. Serve immediately.
• Optional: If you are serving this dish for breakfast or brunch, you can top with soft boiled or poached eggs.