Chicken Parm Skillet Melt
Breaded chicken, fire roasted tomato sauce, and mozzarella, built in one skillet over the fire.
- calories
- 780
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 71
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 40 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Canned chicken breast | 3 cans, 10 oz each | drained hard; fresh cutlets work if the cooler is cold |
|---|---|---|
| Panko breadcrumbs | 1 cup | |
| Grated parmesan | 3/4 cup | the shelf-stable green-can kind divided between crust and sauce |
| All-purpose flour | 1/2 cup | |
| Powdered egg | 2 tbsp | plus 3 tbsp water, replaces the beaten egg |
| Olive oil | 1/4 cup | plus more for the bread |
| Canned fire roasted tomatoes | 1 can, 28 oz | crushed by hand in the can |
| Garlic | 4 cloves | whole heads keep for weeks without a cooler |
| Dried basil | 1 tsp | |
| Dried oregano | 1 tsp | |
| Red pepper flakes | 1/2 tsp | optional |
| Salt and pepper | 1 tsp each | split between the breading and the sauce |
| Shredded mozzarella | 1/2 cup | |
| Crusty bread | 1 loaf | ciabatta or rustic Italian, cut into four |
Method
- Build a bed of coals and set the skillet on a grate. Skip flames; they scorch breading before the inside is hot.
- Rehydrate the powdered egg with 3 tbsp water in a cup. Set out the flour, salt, and pepper in one bag and the panko with half the parmesan in another.
- Press the drained chicken into four flat patties. Roll each through flour, then egg, then the panko bag. Shake off what does not stick.
- Heat the oil in the skillet and fry the patties three minutes a side until the crust is dark. Move them to a plate.
- Drop the garlic into the same oil for thirty seconds, then pour in the crushed tomatoes with basil, oregano, flakes, and the rest of the salt. Simmer fifteen minutes until it holds a line when you drag a spoon through it.
- Nest the patties back into the sauce, top each with mozzarella and the rest of the parmesan, and cover with foil for three minutes so the cheese slumps.
- Split the bread, brush the cut sides with oil, and toast them face down on the grate. Load a patty and sauce onto each.
This is a home skillet dish moved to a fire ring with two swaps. Powdered egg replaces the beaten egg so nothing has to survive a warm cooler, and canned chicken replaces the butterflied breast, which means no raw poultry riding around and no doneness guessing by headlamp. The patties are already cooked through, so the frying step is only about crust.
The fire roasted tomatoes carry the sauce. They come out of the can with char already on them, which is the flavor a long stovetop simmer normally builds. Fifteen minutes over coals is enough to drive off the canning water and nothing more. Everything happens in one skillet, in order, so the fond from the chicken ends up in the sauce.
Packing
Flour and seasoning in one bag, panko and parmesan in another, so breading is two bags and a cup instead of five containers. Cans and cheese in the cooler, bread on top of the pack where it will not crush.
Variations
- Skip the bread and eat it out of the skillet over instant polenta.
- Jarred marinara in place of the can saves the simmer but tastes flatter.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/chicken-parmesan-sandwich