Chicken Parm Panini—Your New Favorite Sandwich!
Last Update: 1/22/2025
If you haven’t guessed, while this Chicken Parm Panini has deep roots in Italian flavors, it’s not a traditional Italian dish, and you will not find it on your culinary travels to Rome.
In fact, even Chicken Parmigiana is more American-Italian than pure Italian, probably evolving from Eggplant Parmigiana which is a traditional dish from Parma, Italy in foodie capital of Emilia-Romagna.
Chicken Parm Panini
Chicken Parmigiana can be a very labor-intensive meal, but this Chicken Parm panini can be made in a snap!
The secret to making a grilled chicken parmesan sandwich aka a Chicken Parm Panini in a matter a minutes—using leftover chicken!
This is one of the best panini sandwich recipes because it tastes like Chicken Parmigiana, but there's no frying! So it’s much healthier!
In fact, it's the easiest Chicken Parmesan sandwich recipe ever! You can make it even easier by using jarred Marinara Sauce, but my recipe for that is quite quick and easy too!
Chicken Parm Panini Recipe
Servings: 2
Ingredients
2 sub rolls or 4 slices of bread
1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoon parsesan, grated or shredded
1 cup chicken breast, cooked, shredded
1/2 cup marinara sauce
olive oil cooking spray
Instructions
1. Slice rolls lengthwise all the way through.
2. Combine the mozzarella and parmesan cheese together. Sprinkle half of the cheese mixture on one side of each roll.
3. Toss chicken and marinara together. Divide in two and spread evenly over the cheese.
4. Sprinkle on remaining cheese.
5. Top with the remaining half of your rolls, and spray with olive oil cooking spray.
6. Press the sandwich in a panini maker, or place it on a grill pan or even a frying pan.
7. If using a pan, heat the pan on medium high. When pan is heated, cook the sandwich top down for about 4 minutes. Spray the bottom with olive oil spray and cook another 4 minutes until heated and the cheese is melted.
Variations on Chicken Parm Panini
This is a wonderfully flavorful sandwich as is, but you can kick it up a notch with any of the following ingredients:
sautéed muchroons
caramelized onions
roasted peppers
arugula
Tips for Making Chicken Parm Panini
1. This is a great use for leftover chicken.
2. For a delicious Authentic Italian Marinara Sauce recipe that’s quick and easy, click here.
3. If you like cheesy sandwiches, try our Croque Monsieur Light or Croque Madame Light! Want to know the difference? Read: Croque Monsieur or Croque Madame!
Meal Prep for Chicken Parm Panini
1. The chicken for this recipe needs to be precooked. Any method of cooking will do.
2. If you cook this panini ahead, make sure it is completely cooled before putting it in a storage container or it will get soggy.
