Baked Parmesan Chicken Rolls with Miso Sauce

Name: Baked Parmesan Chicken Rolls with Miso Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 4 thin chicken cutlets (about 3/4 pound); 6 leaves basil; Parmesan cheese; extra virgin olive oil; salt and pepper; 1 1/2 tablespoon white or awase miso paste; 1 teaspoon sake; 1 teaspoon mirin

Oh boy were these baked parmesan chicken rolls delicious!! So moist and tender and savory… It was one of those recipes that came out tasting way better than I ever expected to! The idea was to make something gluten-free for a friend who came over for dinner this past weekend. He is a little adventurous but not to the point where I felt comfortable serving anything too exotic, pungent or spicy. I could have gone down the easy path and made a simple stew but I wanted to surprise him with fun and unique gluten-free dishes.

The thought of making something like these baked parmesan chicken rolls with miso sauce came about when I was scanning through one of my Japanese cookbooks. I saw a recipe for rolled chicken skewers with ume (pickled plum) sauce and shiso leaves. Since ume sauce has a very distinctive flavor that many people don’t find too appealing (though I completely love it!), I decided to flavor the chicken with miso paste instead. I combined a little sake and mirin and brushed the mixture on top of thin chicken cutlets.

I then topped the miso paste with fresh basil leaves and a couple of pieces of parmesan cheese. This obviously isn’t the classic baked parmesan chicken recipe but the result is quite similar. The miso sauce is saltier than a tomato sauce but has the same depth of flavor and comfort food profile. We each scarfed down two pieces of baked parmesan chicken with a side of fried rice and a salad. It wasn’t enough! I wish I had made double the amount of baked parmesan chicken because it was so tasty and satisfying!

This baked parmesan chicken recipe makes four cutlets but I HIGHLY recommend you double or triple the recipe if there is more than two of you at the dinner table. You can also make these baked parmesan chicken rolls in advance and keep them in the fridge until it’s time to cook them. Prepping only takes 5 to 10 minutes and baking takes no more than 15 to 20.

You can serve these baked parmesan chicken rolls with miso sauce with a side of Japanese cabbage salad, easy cheesy potatoes with soy sauce or a vegan bowl of spaghetti squash yaki soba style.