This Easy Chicken Parmesan is your new favorite weeknight meal. You just don’t know it yet. It utilizes parts of other meals that you very likely already have sitting in your fridge. It is one answer to the question “oh crap, what is for dinner”.
Can you believe that I went 20 years before I ever had chicken parmesan? It’s true! I never had it until I took a job as a campaign manager for a state representative. His wonderful wife made amazing chicken parm and made it for me a lot. Campaigns don’t pay much, so I guess they made up the difference with pasta and breaded chicken. Fine by me!
Once the campaign was over, she shared the recipe with me. I found out that “normal” chicken parmesan is time-consuming and involves lots of frying. I saw an article a few years ago in People (hard-hitting journalism people! We can’t all read the Economist) of a healthier chicken parm, but it involved grape tomatoes, and slice and dicing, and blah blah blah. I’ve adapted that recipe to make a delicious Easy Chicken Parmesan that is both healthy, and ready in a flash.
Easy Chicken Parmesan - Weeknight Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds grilled chicken
- 8 slices of mozzarella
- 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 1 lb spaghetti noodles
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp olive oil
Instructions
- Place cooked chicken in an oven-safe dish, and cover with marinara.
- Top chicken with slices or grated mozzarella. Bake at 350 degrees until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is lightly browned - about 10-15 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking, fill a large pot with water, add 1 tsp of kosher salt, 2 tsp of olive oil. Bring to a boil, and add dry spaghetti noodles. Cook until al dente, about 6-8 minutes.
- Once the chicken is done, sprinkle with panko breadcrumbs, and put under a low broiler for 1-2 minutes, or until the panko is browned. Serve on top of spaghetti noodles.
Easy Chicken Parmesan pairs well with:
- Veggies quickly roasted in a small cast iron skillet in a convection oven.
- Large leafy side salad.
- Zucchini noodles made with a spiralizer and tossed with garlic, olive oil, and fresh chopped tomatoes. Bonus points to make this a quick weeknight meal would be to spiralize and lightly salt the zucchini in the morning and place in a strainer with a plate underneath it. The salt will draw out the water in the zucchini during the day and give you a perfect “zoodle” when you get home.
This post was originally published in April 2012, and updated in July 2017. Just thought you’d like to see my “best” photo from back then compared to today. Still working on photography, but I have nowhere to go but up at this point. 🙂
DELISH!!!
I’ve never tried this with bread crumbs, but I am going to try this out.
I make mine a little different…
I use fresh chicken breasts…I dip them in egg and bread them with 1/2 flour, 1/2 panko seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, and onion powder. I fry them on medium heat in coconut oil for about 5 mins a side, then put them in a baking dish, cover them with homemade sauce and mozzarella slices, and bake for about 15 minutes. While they’re baking, I make the noodles and do the various dishes from the day then put everything together. Doesn’t take more than 30 minutes, and I can get kitchen chores done at the same time!
You have at least one other male reader….
I think i might try this for dinner in 90 minutes when my wife gets home. I think she’ll love it.
Ha @ the crow. That looks good. I actually have not had chicken parm yet… so I guess I better go hide?
Nah, you should just come over and I’ll make you some!
I wouldn’t know what you’re talking about since I ONLY read the Economist.
Uh huh. You mean the Economist is the magazine you use to hide your US Weekly?
Yummy!!