This week’s Date Nite menu is another one that takes me straight back to a favorite childhood memory. (I’ve been cooking a lot from this part of myself recently.) There was a restaurant my family loved where ordering a chicken Parmesan sandwich was always a sure thing. It usually came stacked with crispy chicken tenders, melted cheese, and marinara on a soft hoagie roll. Simple, comforting, and so satisfying.
For our version, we decided to bake the chicken instead of frying it. It keeps things a little lighter, but more importantly, it makes this dinner easy to pull together. Once the chicken is in the oven or air fryer, you are free to shake up a cocktail, toss a salad, or just enjoy being in the kitchen together without babysitting a pan of oil.
We’re pairing the sandwiches with a Basil Aperol Spritz for a fresh, lightly bitter cocktail that’s perfect alongside something rich and cheesy. It’s a small upgrade on a classic sandwich shop meal.
We also included a second-meal idea for this week’s leftover ingredients. If you find yourself with leftover tomatoes, cucumbers, or red onion, a fattoush salad is an easy way to turn them into another dinner later in the week. It pairs beautifully with sautéed chicken or Greek- or Middle Eastern–inspired meatballs.
And as always, we hope this menu feels comforting, unfussy, and just right for an effortless Date Nite at home.
Kevin & Kate
Basil Aperol Spritz
Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches
notes from the kitchen
Just a few kitchen tips to make the most of this week's ingredients and flavors.
Pounding the Chicken
We are pounding the chicken breasts just enough to create an even thickness. There is no need to go paper-thin. This helps the chicken cook evenly and stay juicy. A meat mallet makes this quick and easy, and we’ve linked our favorite one for you. → Link to Our Favorite Meat Mallet
A Simple Dredging Shortcut
Instead of the traditional flour and egg setup, we are using mayonnaise as the base for our dredge this week. It helps the breadcrumbs stick beautifully, promotes browning, and makes cleanup much easier. A thin, even layer is all you need.
Choosing Your Bread
You can use small hoagie rolls or a small French or Italian loaf for these sandwiches. We went with one longer loaf and sliced it into smaller portions, but choose whatever size works best for you.
How to Cut the Bread
Cut the bread from the top rather than the side, leaving the bottom intact. This creates a flat base for building and baking the sandwiches and makes them much easier to assemble and eat.
Cheese Notes
We use low-moisture, pre-shredded mozzarella to keep things easy. Whole milk mozzarella has the best flavor if you can find it, but part-skim works too. Fresh mozzarella is an option as well, just keep in mind it will release a bit more moisture into the sandwich.
Oven or Air Fryer
We included instructions for both the oven and the air fryer so you can use whatever works best for your kitchen. We personally love the air fryer for its speed and crispness, but the oven delivers great results too.
Marinara Choices
Use any marinara you love. We are fans of the chunky marinara from Trader Joe’s, and this week we tried the Carbone brand, and we thougth was great, but choose any marinara you love. → Link to Carbone Marinara
A Briny Salad on the Side
We paired these sandwiches with a briny, sandwich shop–style salad using banana peppers, olives, and garden vegetables tossed in a simple Italian dressing. Feel free to build your salad with whatever sounds good to you. This one is meant to be flexible.
Heads up: We may earn a small commission on products we’ve linked here. We only recommend the real-deal favorites from our kitchen.
we hope you enjoy this week. and as always,
Keep the Plates Full and the Spark Alive
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