Last updated on April 27th, 2021

Since I was a kid, one of my favourite dishes has been veal Parmesan, chicken Parmesan and pretty much anything else you could make Parmesan style, like eggplant and zucchini.

Due to a dairy and egg intolerance, I haven’t been able to enjoy this dish in a long time. In May, we went to a local fine dining restaurant for Mother’s Day and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to order the veal Parmesan. While I definitely don’t regret the deliciousness of that meal, my stomach, joints and skin were not very pleased with me for a few days.

Since then, it really hasn’t crossed my mind that much. I know I have tried to make it at home in the past (years ago), with decent success, but I don’t think I had ever done gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free. At least nothing worth writing home about.

On Sunday, as we were driving to our local organic greenhouse to buy produce we were discussing what to make for dinner when Colin mentioned he was craving potatoes. We narrowed it down to roasted white potatoes. That got me thinking about how I love the idea of food, but not always the actual eating part.

I know it’s a weird concept. Some days I just don’t feel like eating at all. I’ll feel hungry, but won’t be in the mood to physically eat. Those days I typically just snack on little things all day, or I eat soup. Yes, even in the middle of summer. Other days, all I want to do is cook and spend hours in the kitchen.

Sunday just happened to be one of those off days. I wasn’t craving anything in particular and had no desire to even eat dinner. I also didn’t really want to cook, so I had no ideas to suggest for what to make for dinner. Then, out of nowhere, my mind went to chicken Parmesan and the ball was rolling.

After picking up veggies at Awesome Blossom, we went to the grocery store that was completely out of our way to pick up the two supplies I needed. The closer grocery store doesn’t have the gluten-free, dairy-free items, which is extremely annoying.

I found a recipe that sounded good (read: simple) on Tessa The Domestic Diva and my cooking spark was lit!

Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Gluten-Free Chicken Parmesan

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken cutlets
• 1 cup gluten-free bread crumbs (I used PaneRiso Foods Rice Bread Crumbs)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
  
  )
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (I used Blue Diamond Unsweetened Almond Breeze Original
  
  )
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or grape seed oil
• 1 cup spaghetti sauce or strained tomato sauce
• Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Preheat a pan over medium heat
3. Place flour on a plate, set aside
4. In a bowl, whisk almond milk and olive oil until emulsified, set aside
5. In another bowl, mix the bread crumbs and all the seasonings
6. Create assembly line
7. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to your heated pan
8. Dredge a piece of chicken in the flour, shake of excess
9. Dredge in the milk & olive oil emulsion
10. Dredge in the bread crumbs, pressing firmly on both sides to get as many bread crumbs stuck as possible
11. Cook chicken cutlets in pan until golden brown on each side; about 2-3 minutes per side
12. Place chicken in a glass baking dish
13. Drizzle each piece with sauce and top with cheese
14. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes to melt the cheese and heat the sauce through

On Tuesday night, I decided to use the same steps above, but I used yellow zucchini rounds instead of chicken. I didn’t add sauce or cheese but it was still delicious.

This recipe also works great as zucchini or eggplant Parmesan. I have used the same batter to do pan-fried battered pickerel as well (steps 2-11).