Brown Butter Chicken with Crispy Eggplant & Melty Fontina

Get ready to impress at your next dinner party with this Brown Butter Chicken with Crispy Eggplant and Melty Fontina dish. It is packed with rich, complex flavors, rustic, and wildly flavorful.

This is my go-to recipe for dinner parties and is always a huge hit. Tender seared chicken breasts are combined with crispy eggplant, then baked with creamy, melty fontina and a rich, delicious brown butter sauce.

Pair it with my crispy baked potato wedges, red pepper pasta recipe, or my creamy orzo parmesan. Or, start with a cozy soup, add a loaf of warm, crunchy bread, and a fresh garden salad, and you have a heck of a menu—and wine, of course!

And get this… you can prepare the entire dish in advance to avoid last-minute kitchen chaos when guests arrive. All you have to do is pop it in the oven before ready to serve. So, let’s gather the ingredients and get at it!

Brown Butter Chicken Ingredients

• Boneless Chicken Breasts – The chicken is pounded, resulting in super tender chicken breasts.
• Eggplant – Sliced thinly and fried for an extra crispy flavor profile. You can peel the eggplant or leave the skin on. I prefer leaving the skin and adding texture to the dish.
• Egg – Used as a binding agent to help the breadcrumbs stick to the eggplant.
• Heavy Cream – Combined with the eggs for a rich egg wash. You can substitute it with milk, half and half, or water.
• Breadcrumbs – Used to bread the eggplant to give it that crispy texture.
• Garlic & Onion Powder – Seasonings are added to the breadcrumb to enhance the flavor profile of the fried eggplant.
• Vegetable Oil – Neutral oil with a high smoking point is used to fry eggplant. Hot oil helps prevent oil from seeping into the eggplant.
• Olive Oil – Use it to saute chicken; do not substitute any other oil. Olive oil gives the chicken a unique flavor.
• Butter – Used with olive oil to saute the chicken breast. It gives the chicken a beautiful golden brown outside. Butter is also used in the brown butter sauce, adding a smooth, creamy texture.
• White Wine – Degalzes the pan and helps to create the flavorful brown butter sauce.
• Lemon Juice – Adds a bright flavor to the brown butter sauce, freshly squeezed, please.
• Chicken Broth – Doubles the sauce and adds to the flavor.
• All-Purpose Flour – Used to coat the chicken before sauteeing and to thicken the sauce.
• Fontina Cheese – Has a rich, creamy texture and melts beautifully over the chicken and eggplant. You can substitute it with mozzarella cheese,

How to Make Brown Butter Chicken

There are multiple steps to this brown butter chicken, so find your favorite playlist, turn up the tunes in your cucina, and let’s jam together!

Fry The Eggplant

1. Slice your beautiful eggplant into thin, round slices and season with a pinch of salt.
2. Whisk together the egg and cream in a shallow bowl.
3. Mix the breadcrumbs with the garlic and onion powder in a separate bowl and season with salt and pepper.
4. Add vegetable oil to a frying pan and heat until it is hot and starts to shimmer. Dip the eggplant slices into an egg mixture, coat them with breadcrumbs, and carefully place them in the hot oil. Flip the eggplant slices when they turn golden brown, which should take about 1 minute. Brown the other side, then transfer the cooked eggplant slices to a plate lined with a paper towel. Finally, season with salt to taste. Set aside.

Prepare The Chicken

1. Remove excess fat from the chicken breast with a sharp knife.
2. Slice horizontally if thick. Place each piece between two sheets of plastic wrap or inside a zip-top bag, and pound to about ½-inch thickness.
3. Dredge each breast in flour and shake off excess flour.
4. Heat olive oil and butter in a deep stainless steel frying pan on medium-high heat. When the butter starts to bubble, add the chicken. Brown each side for about 4 minutes. Avoid overcrowding the pan and work in batches. If necessary, add a bit more oil and butter between batches. Place browned chicken in a casserole dish.

Whip Up the Brown Butter Chicken Sauce

1. After browning the chicken and removing it from the pan, slowly add the wine. Use the back of a wooden spoon to scrape the pan and remove all the browned bits from the bottom. Continue heating the wine over medium heat until it is reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
2. Next, add the lemon juice and chicken stock. Simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Add 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons flour. Whisk until the sauce is creamy and smooth. Add salt to taste.

I like adding a bit more butter at the end to make it extra creamy. If you want a thicker sauce, add more flour. Channel your inner chef and adjust to your liking.

Assemble the Brown Butter Chicken with Eggplant and Fontina

1. Add the fried eggplant to the top of the chicken breast, resting in the casserole dish. Cut the eggplant slices to fit perfectly on top.
2. Add thinly sliced fontina cheese on top of the eggplant.
3. Pour the sauce over the top.
4. Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Serve with your favorite side and dive in!

Make Ahead & Storing

I love that this dish tastes just as delicious, even when made beforehand. It’s a flavor time capsule ready to wow your palate whenever you are!

Cover the assembled chicken and refrigerate until ready to bake. Increase the bake time by 5-10 minutes to ensure the chicken is warmed.

It warms wonderfully as leftovers in the microwave. Place on a separate plate and microwave for 1-2 minutes.

The chicken dish can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

FAQ

Planning your next dinner party? Add this brown butter chicken to the menu and watch it disappear. And if you’re craving more savory goodness, don’t miss my Shallot Sauce with Sautéed Chicken or my go-to classic Chicken Marsala. And I can’t forget my crowd-pleasing Shepherd’s Pie. Let me know if you give it a go—I want all the dinner party details.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Brown Butter Chicken with Crispy Eggplant & Melty Fontina

An absolute crowd-pleasing, make-ahead, cozy meal for your next gathering.

Prep 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Servings: 6 people

Author: Lorraine Saeger

Ingredients

Fried Eggplant

• ½ eggplant about 10 thin round slices
• 1 egg beaten
• 2 tbsp heavy cream
• ½ cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ cup vegetable oil

Brown Butter Chicken

• 1.5-2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• ½ cup all-purpose flour plus 2 tbsp
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp butter
• ½ cup dry white wine
• ½ lemon juiced
• ½ cup chicken stock low sodium
• 1 cup fontina cheese sliced or shredded

Instructions

Fry the Eggplant

• Thinly slice the eggplant into rounds. Salt and set aside.
• Whisk together egg and cream into a shallow dish.
• In a seprate dish mix breadcrumbs, garlic powder and onion powder.
• Heat vegetable oil in a fry pan until hot.
• Dip each slice into the egg mixture, dredge in breadcrumbs, and fry 1 minute per side.
• Place crispy eggplant on a plate or baking sheet lined with paper towels. Season with salt. Set eggplant aside.

Brown Butter Chicken

• Pound chicken breasts with a meat mallet into 1/2 inch thick cutlets. Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.
• Add 1/2 cup flour to a shallow bowl. Dredge chicken on both sides with flour, shaking excess flour off.
• In a seperate staninless steel deep frying pan on medium high heat add olive oil and 2 tbsp of butter.
• When buttter and oil start to shimmer add coated chicken and sear until golden browned on each side. About 4 minutes per side. Be sure not to over crowd the pan, work in bathces, adding more oil and butter in between if needed. Set browned chicken in a casserole dish.
• Slowly add wine, scrapping any browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
• Add lemon juice and chicken stock, give it a stir, simmer on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
• Add 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp flour and whisk unitl sauce is smooth and creamy. Remove from heat.

Assemble

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Add fried eggplant on top of the browned chicken. Cut to fit on top of the chicken, if necessary.
• Add sliced fontina cheese.
• Pour sauce all over the chicken.
• Cover casserole dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.
• Enjoy!

Notes

Chop your favorite herbs and garnish them over the chicken.