Longhorn Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Make the iconic Longhorn Parmesan Crusted Chicken at home! This irresistible chicken dinner is easy enough for a weeknight dinner, yet impressive enough to make for a dinner party. Packed with flavor and cooked to perfection, this easy copycat recipe is sure to make it’s way to your favorite recipes list!

This cheesy chicken dinner is just like the Longhorn Steakhouse Parmesan Crusted Chicken that you know and love. It’ll come out of your kitchen, but feel like you ordered it right off the menu! That lovely layer of cheese on top of the chicken with the panko bread crumbs and parmesan crumb topping, can it get any better than that?

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

Boneless Chicken Breasts – The star of the show! Make sure you have boneless skinless chicken breasts. 

Ranch Dressing – This is what you’ll use to coat the chicken in. You can use bottled ranch dressing, make it from the packets, or from scratch with this ranch recipe which makes an irresistible creamy ranch sauce.

Provolone Cheese – I think provolone works best with this recipe, but if you can’t find any, Monterey Jack, mozzarella, fontina, gouda, Munster, or swiss is a good alternative. This recipe calls for sliced cheese, but shredded works fine as well. You just want to make sure the cheese melts.

Parmesan Cheese – I find that freshly grated cheese makes a delicious and crispy parmesan crust on this chicken recipe. 

Italian Salad Dressing – This will be the marinade for the chicken! Sounds interesting, I know. It comes out amazing! 

Panko Bread Crumbs – This ingredient will really give you that crispy crust. For a great keto substitute, try using crushed up pork rinds. 

How To Make Parmesan Crusted Chicken (Longhorn Copycat)

1. Pound chicken breasts to ½ inch thick. Marinate the chicken in Italian dressing for at least 30 minutes, or overnight, in a bowl covered with plastic wrap or a gallon freezer bag.
2. Place olive oil in a cast iron skillet. Heat to medium-high heat. Using tongs, add the marinated chicken and sear for 5 minutes per side (or until cooked through). You don’t want to just pour all of the marinade into the cast iron skillet or you will have TOO much liquid. Just use tongs to take the chicken breasts out of the marinade and place in the skillet.
3. Combine parmesan cheese (only 1/4 cup) and the half cup ranch dressing in small bowl.
4. Spoon and smooth the parmesan ranch mixture over the chicken breasts.
5. Place 1 slice of provolone cheese on each breast.
6. Place the large skillet with chicken in it directly into the oven and allow it to broil on low for 3-5 minutes. Make sure to position the rack in the middle to lower part of the oven to avoid the heat being too intense.
7. While this is broiling, mix bread crumbs with the melted butter, then add garlic powder, salt and pepper and the remaining ¼ cup of parmesan cheese. Make sure to combine ingredients well.
8. Then remove the pan from the oven, crumble this mixture over the top of the provolone cheese.
9. Return it and continue to broil until golden brown.

Recipe Tips and Advice

Storage: The leftover chicken can be frozen for up to 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer in an airtight container. 

Reheating: Leftovers reheat really well in the microwave, but you can also reheat in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, or until heated through. If you’re cooking it after being frozen, allow it to thaw before heating. 

Supplies: A cast iron pan is always my go-to with this recipe because you can stick it in the oven. You can use a nonstick skillet to sear the chicken then transfer it to a baking sheet to broil in the oven if you don’t have one. You’ll also need a meat mallet to pound the chicken so it cooks evenly.

Recipe FAQs

What To Serve With Longhorn Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, biscuits, dinner rolls, air fryer brussel sprouts, roasted veggies or salads go incredibly well with this dish.