Lemon Chicken Romano

Published May 5, 2018. Updated August 21, 2019

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.

This cheesy Lemon Chicken Romano is comfort food at it’s best! You get these thin chicken cutlets that are coated with romano cheese, extra crispy panko bread crumbs, fresh oregano and lemon zest then they are pan fried in olive oil to a perfectly golden brown color.

And then they’re finished off in the oven with mozzarella and provolone cheese melted on top. Talk about abundance of deliciousness! 

best lemon chicken recipe

The Crispiest Lemon Chicken

If you love the crispy coating on fried chicken then you won’t be able to resist this chicken! Rather than being breaded in flour this version is bread in panko crumbs and fried in olive oil, then it’s finished cooking through in the oven. I just can’t get enough of that crispy crunch!

And there’s a lot more flavor here than in southern style fried chicken, so if you were to ask me to pick one over the other I’d definitely go this route!

So what’s with the name Lemon Chicken Romano? It’s not really a thing just something I threw together based off the ingredients in the recipe :). But now it’s a thing and you’re going to love it!

Ingredients You’ll Need for this Recipe

  • 2 larger chicken breasts
  • Panko bread crumbs
  • Mozzarella, Romano and Provolone cheese
  • Fresh oregano and (optional) parsley
  • 1 lemon
  • Garlic powder
  • Olive oil
  • Egg
  • Flour
  • Salt and pepper

ingredients for lemon chicken romano

How to Make this Lemon Chicken Romano

First you will slice the chicken breasts through their thickness horizontally (thicker breasts will work better here), then let rest at room temp 10 minutes.

butterflying chicken for lemon chicken romano

Then pound the chicken to even the thickness.

pounding chicken thin and even for lemon chicken romano

Then whisk together the egg and flour and one dish and the panko, romano, oregano, lemon zest and pepepr in another dish. Dredge the chicken in the egg mixture first to act as the glue then the panko mixture second. PACK on those crumbs!

dredging chicken in egg and panko mixture for lemon chicken romano

Pan fry to coated cutlets at a time in half of the olive oil until golden brown on each side. Then repeat with remaining two.

sauteeing chicken in skillet for lemon chicken romano

Transfer to baking sheet (really you don’t need parchment that was mostly for look here and even the spray isn’t a must). Cover with each with a mound of cheese.

topping lemon chicken romano with cheese mixture before baking

Then bake until cheese is nice and melted and the internal temp of chicken is 165. Serve warm with lemon wedges for serving and minced herbs.

finished lemon chicken remano

Variations on this Recipe

  • If you don’t want to use fresh oregano you could use dried. I’d use 1 tsp in the panko then just skip adding any at the end. You could also just use an Italian herb blend if that’s what you have on hand.
  • If you don’t want to buy three kind so of cheese you can omit the provolone and just add more mozzarella or vice versa.
  • Then if you want to cut the calories down a bit you can omit the cheese topping altogether, but don’t skip the baking step because the chicken still needs that time to cook through.

This is one of those recipes you won’t want to lose! It does require a few steps but it should go pretty quickly, and the end result is worth the few extra dirty dishes.

Just be sure to serve these with the lemon wedges because that generous spritz of juice is what brings a lot of the fresh lemon flavor here. And for a simple side serve it with steamed asparagus or broccoli.

easy lemon chicken romano recipe

More Recipes You Might Like

16 Quick & Easy 30 Minute Recipes! (plus weekly recipe updates)

easy lemon chicken romano recipe
5 from 7 votes

Lemon Chicken Romano

This cheesy Lemon Chicken Romano is comfort food at it’s best!
Servings: 4 servings
Prep18 minutes
Cook12 minutes
Ready in: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle each side of the chicken cutlet lightly with salt and let stand at room temperature 10 minutes. 
  • In a shallow dish, whisk together flour and egg until smooth. In a separate shallow dish, toss together Panko bread crumbs, Romano cheese, oregano, lemon zest, garlic powder and 3/4 tsp pepper. 
  • Pat chicken dry with paper towels then working with 1 chicken cutlet at a time, dredge chicken in egg mixture coating both sides and allowing excess to run off, then immediately transfer to Romano mixture and coat both sides with mixture, while pressing to allow plenty of crumbs to adhere.
  • Transfer chicken to a plate and repeat process with remaining chicken cutlets. Pour olive oil into a 10-inch non-stick skillet and heat over medium-high heat.
  • Once oil is shimmering, add 2 coated chicken cutlets and fry without moving them until bottom is crispy and golden brown, about 2 minutes, then using metal tongs rotate to opposite side and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes longer. 
  • Transfer chicken to a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment or spritzed with non-stick cooking spray, repeat process with remaining 2 pieces of chicken.
  • Toss together Mozzarella and Provolone cheese and sprinkle in a mound over chicken
  • Transfer to preheated oven to bake until internal temperature registers 165 degrees on an instant read thermometer, about 8 - 10 minutes. 
  • Remove from oven, sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp oregano and the parsley if using and serve warm with lemon wedges for spritzing over each serving.
  • Recipe Source: Cooking Classy
Nutrition Facts
Lemon Chicken Romano
Amount Per Serving
Calories 500 Calories from Fat 351
% Daily Value*
Fat 39g60%
Saturated Fat 15g94%
Cholesterol 105mg35%
Sodium 780mg34%
Potassium 133mg4%
Carbohydrates 12g4%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 23g46%
Vitamin A 625IU13%
Vitamin C 1.3mg2%
Calcium 629mg63%
Iron 1.8mg10%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.

Leave a Comment

Rate this recipe




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

112 Comments

  • Rachael

    LOVED this recipe and it was easy to make- the combo of the three cheeses makes this recipe– served with pasta– YUM

  • Eric

    Ya know, this was a great recipe!

    I liked that it was quite easy to make, and the results were fantastic. I am not the pickiest eater, but my wife is . . . Very particular, and she loved it too.

    Thanks for this one!

  • Diane Anderson

    This was so good! My whole family loved it. I love that you can adjust the recipe for how many people you want to serve. All printed out and ready to go into regular rotation in my menu.

  • Meghan

    I loved this! My daughter complains whenever we have chicken for dinner. She said this was her dream meal, and finished hers before the rest of us! This will be in my regular rotation, for sure!

  • Lindsay Schuster

    Hi! I made this recipe about 8 months ago and was just learning to cook pretty much. My boyfriend and I thought it was delicious but I thought well maybe that’s because it’s a miracle I made a good dinner! I made it again tonight after having a bit of knowledge now and it was absolutely fantastic!! A recipe I’ll make forever! I’m a cheese nut so I add a little extra. Thank you ?……..I always read comments too to help me out since I’m still learning so to the guy that left the rude one about spelling, all I can say is what a bleep bleep bleep!

  • Katie

    I kept putting this off because I thought it was going to be complicated and messy, and being 9mo pregnant, doing many dishes wasn’t what I was really interested in. But tonight I had chicken and lemons that had to be used to I bit the bullet and boy at I bummed I waited so long! I dirties only 3 dishes and it whipped up in less than 10 minutes! The chicken came out tender & juicy, yet crispy! Tastes great to boot. Thanks! I’ll be making this in regular rotation :]

  • Jessica

    This is one of our favs! We make it with pasta, garlic bread and steamed broccoli!

  • Selma

    I love your site and your easy to follow and delicious recipies. you have beautiful pictures to go with them too.
    thank you so very much, for making cooking a JOY.
    one of your admirers
    Selma

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      Thank you so much for your kind words Selma! I really appreciate it :). I hope you continue to enjoy my blog!