How to reheat chicken parmesan in 4 easy ways

Don’t you just love chicken parmesan with its winning combination of melty cheese, the succulent yet crispy chicken, and the oh-so-flavorful marinara sauce? 

I can have chicken parmesan all day, every day! This versatile dish is an easy crowd-pleaser in my household. You can have it with spaghetti, grilled veggies, garlic bread, and whatnot.

We love this dish so much that I often end up making extra so that we can enjoy it the next day as well. However, if we are having it the next day, I remind myself that there are so many textures at play that I taking a bit of extra time to separate the sauce and cheese from the chicken cutlet before reheating in an air fryer is worth it.

But if you don’t have an air fryer, we have the steps here for reheating leftovers in the oven, on a stovetop skillet, and in a microwave too. If you have any extra shredded parm or mozzarella cheese and additional spoonful or two of marinara, this will liven up your leftovers, too!

Can you reheat chicken parmesan?

Yes, and if reheated correctly, it can taste even better the second time around. This is because the chicken, cheese, sauce, and seasonings get ample time to mingle. The trick is to help the chicken retain or return to that crispy texture before serving it the next day.

How to reheat chicken parmesan in the oven

The conventional oven is a perfectly fine way to reheat chicken parm leftovers, it just takes a little longer and doesn’t add as much crispy texture to the next-day’s meal. See below for next steps.

Here’s how to reheat chicken parmesan in an oven:

1. Preheat your oven to 400F. Use nonstick cooking spray to coat the bottom of an oven-safe baking sheet or casserole dish.
2. Separate sauce, cheese, pasta and vegetables and set aside. You should have a pretty dry, cool chicken cutlet now.
3. Put the leftover chicken cutlet into your dish and cover it with foil.
4. Put the dish in your preheated oven and reheat just the chicken parmesan for about 10 minutes.
5. With hot pads, take out the dish and remove the foil. Add to the pan the sauce, a bit more cheese if you have any, and whatever leftover sides you’ll be eating into the pan but to the side of the cutlet.
6. Leave off the foil and return the dish with all of the leftovers to your oven for another 10 minutes.

How to reheat chicken parmesan on a stovetop

Reheating leftover cold chicken parm in your skillet is a quick and straightforward process. Here’s how:

1. Put a tablespoon of oil in your skillet and let it heat on medium heat. The oil will help prevent the breaded chicken from sticking.
2. Separate your leftovers from any sides or sauce as best you can and set them aside.
3. Once the oil is heated, put the leftover chicken cutlet in the skillet and make sure to keep the heat at a steady medium. This is because a high flame will burn the outside of the chicken before it’s heated through.
4. Heat through with the lid on for about three minutes.
5. Add sauce and cheese to the top of the cutlets with a tablespoon of water, stir, and reheat another three minutes with the lid off.
6. Add any leftover pasta or vegetables to the skillet with a tablespoon of water (to the side of the cutlet, though). Stir on low about four minutes.
7. Transfer all to a plate and serve warm.

How to reheat chicken parmesan in the air fryer

This is the best way to return your leftover chicken cutlet to its original crispness (or better!). Because the hot air circulates around the food in a basket with holes, you’ll want to remove as much sauce and liquid from the leftovers as possible before adding the cutlet to your air fryer. You’ll want to use a skillet, oven or microwave to reheat the sides, sauce and cheese separately.

1. Preheat your air fryer to 425F for three minutes.
2. Gently scrape off any sauce, cheese, pasta or vegetables onto a plate and set aside, leaving the driest cutlet possible.
3.  Add just the cold, dry cutlet to your air fryer basket.
4. Heat for three minutes. Use tongs to turn the cutlet.
5. Heat for another two to three minutes until crisp and heated through. Use tongs to transfer to a plate.
6. While your cutlet is reheating, add your sauce, cheese, pasta and/or vegetables to a microwave-safe dish, cover and reheat separately for about a minute on high, stirring, then another 30 seconds.
7. Add your hot sauce and cheese to the top of your air-fried cutlet and any reheated leftover pasta and vegetables to the side.

How to reheat chicken parmesan in the microwave

1. Transfer only the leftovers you’ll be eating to a microwave-safe dish. (Microwaved food doesn’t reheat very well more than once; it’s usually edible, but the quality goes down the more it’s reheated.)
2. Put the dish in your microwave, cover with a paper towel or lid and set it to medium heat or 50% power.
3. Reheat the chicken parmesan for about 45 seconds to 1 minute.
4. Uncover and stir pasta and sauce, if any. Turn over the chicken with tongs or fork.
5. If it isn’t hot, put the dish back in your microwave and reheat your chicken parmesan in 20-second increments. 
6. We use a method we call The 3 Ts: Turn, test, taste to help you get the best results from microwaved leftover food. Turn the dish and turn solid foods; test for warmth in the middle of your food; taste to ensure you have a temperature that works for you.

The best way to reheat chicken parmesan