Mondays. How quickly they seem to come around. I really don’t mind Mondays – it’s just that Tuesday follows Monday and that’s when the work week starts for me.
Mondays are a great day for me to catch up on everything and get everything prepared for the next week with very few distractions. Also – it’s the day I prepare a new meal to test out on the peanut gallery.
Today’s meal will be:
Chicken Parmesan Casserole
(recipe adapted from foodwishes.com)
- 2 Tbsp of olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- hot red pepper flakes, to taste
- 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
- 2 cups of your favorite marinara sauce
- ¼ cup chopped basil
- 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
- 4 oz shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 (5 oz) package of garlic croutons
Preheat oven to 350°.
You start by pouring olive oil into a baking dish (the size determined by how much chicken you have). Next crush your garlic into dish. Mix garlic in and evenly spread on the bottom.
Sprinkle with hot pepper flakes.
Now place your cut up chicken in dish. The original recipe had it as whole chicken breasts but chicken breasts are so big nowadays that I think one is too big a serving so at least halving them will make the recipe go farther.
Of course, you can always leave them whole if you’re feeding hungry hippos or you could even cut chicken up into smaller pieces. (I think next time – time permitting – I’ll cut into 1 in. pieces)
******note – there has been a few problems of the chicken not being completely cooked because each oven is different so I would definitely cut chicken into bite size pieces and not just halved or whole to eliminate this problem.
Pour marinara sauce evenly over chicken and top with basil.
Layer with half the mozzarella and parmesan cheese. (I also added a sprinkling of dry italian seasoning to both cheese layers)
Top with croutons (I crushed them in the bag with my hands a little first) and the remaining cheese. (Next time, I will crush even more)
Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes. You want to make sure chicken is done, so if the top starts to brown a little too much, cover with foil.
Here you go – Chicken Parmesan Casserole – serve with a salad and Parmesan Knots (see below).
For the Parmesan knots you’ll need:
- 1 tablespoon of melted butter
- ¼ cup oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 Tablespoons of grated parmesan (the kind in the green can)
- 2 teaspoons dry italian seasoning
- 1 can refrigerated buttermilk bisuits
Take each biscuit and pull/roll out into a rope, tie in a knot, tuck ends under and place on a foil lined, Pam sprayed baking sheet.
Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients
Brush mixture onto warm rolls.
Now you have a perfectly simple, perfectly good Italian Dinner.
Thumbs up from the peanut gallery!
🙂
abp
Poore Amy 
Made this last week and my husband and I loved it! Wondering when the basil goes in. I laughed because I put it in the oven and noticed a 1/4 cup of chopped basil still sitting on the counter! Great meal even without the basil 🙂
And PS…the rolls are to die for!
They are good! And so simple yet they look fancy!
That is so funny that you said that about the basil! The next week I saw a slightly wilted full pack of basil in the fridge and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why I had it and had not used it – now I know!! I totally left if out! It would have been even better had I not!! I loooove basil! Thanks for catching that! Glad you enjoyed!
When am I supposed to add the basil to the dish?
Oh yes 🙂 discovered that a few comments ago – I totally left it out – just mix it in with the sauce. Sorry about that!
I made this tonight, and half the chicken didn’t cook at all….very raw. Did this happen to anyone else? I preheated to 350 and cooked for 35 min. Perhaps it’s something with my oven?
I made this tonight after getting home from a trip, and my husband and son wolfed it down like it was their last supper! It was so easy an tasted great. I wish I had time to make those rolls. They looked yummy, too.
Thanks for this great recipe:)
I’m sorry this happened!! It very well could be the oven or possibly the size of the chicken breasts. I have made a note in the recipe to cut the chicken up into bite size pieces instead of leaving whole or halving to help eliminate this problem.
So sorry again! 😦
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! It’s nice to come home from a trip and have a good home cooked meal!! You must try the rolls – they are delish!
Great!! I’m glad you left a comment!! What a game huh?? I’m 34 weeks pregnant and I thought it might send me into labor! Ha!
Roll Tide!
Amy,
I found this recipe on Pinterest a few days ago and have been so excited to try it today while watching some football. I pulled up the site a few minutes ago to get dinner started during half-time and your description on the left side caught my eye! I’m watching Alabama play right now! Roll Tide:) Anyways, I never comment on these things but it smells yummy and I had to share some fan excitement!
Finally a meal my kids both liked..Yay!! I will be making it again…
Great!! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it!! 🙂
This looks delicious. To make this as a freeze-ahead meal, would you need to cook the chicken before freezing it and do everything else the same?
I have never done this but I would cook the chicken ahead of time and possible wait and put the croutons and cheese on before you cook it. Otherwise the croutons might soak up to much liquid. Let me know how it turns out it you try freezing it! Thanks for your comment!
Hi Amy, one pinterester said she used bread crumbs instead of croutons. Do you know how this would affect the recipe? Thanks!
I think that would work fine – would actually save you a step since you wouldn’t have to crush the croutons. The only thing is that croutons (or at least the ones I use) have a lot of seasoning and I’m afraid that plain bread crumbs would not have the same flavor so I would definitely use seasoned bread crumbs or add your own seasoning in if it’s plain bread crumbs. Great suggestion – Thanks!!
I have Tyson precooked frozen chicken breast strips. Would that work in the casserole or would they get burnt in the oven since they are already mostly cooked?
I have never done it that way but if you were to thaw them, I think it would be fine. It wouldn’t be much different from when I make poppy seed chicken casserole with cooked shredded chicken.
You might not have to cook quite as long but you still want to cook long enough to be bubbly, the chicken to be warmed all the way through and for the top to brown. Hope that helps! 🙂
Excellent recipe! I’m finishing my third serving now LOL. My husband loved it too! I’m not much of a chef so I cut the chicken pieces up and used skinny pieces to begin with. After about thirty minutes I pulled a chunk of chicken from the bottom and it was about 90% done. The only fear I had is I didn’t realize there was only one layer of sauce so the last ten minutes I poured the leftover sauce on top and added more cheese. It helped melt the croutons! So good, thanks again 🙂
Heather from St. Louis, MO
Great! I’m so glad you liked it!! Im sure you are much better chef than what you give yourself credit! The biggest part is just getting in there and trying! Thanks for the comment! 🙂
Hi Amy. Made this tonight and it was a tremendous, enormous, gigantic hit with my family!! I cut my chicken into 1-1.5 inch cubes and it was fully cooked in 40 minutes. And the Garlic Knots? Mmmmmmm! Love your blog. And your recipes. Thanks so much!!
That is fabulous, Lori! I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed the whole meal! I will be thinking about y’all! I hope the weather is not as bad as they are predicting! Stay safe and warm!
so good! I forgot that basil and it was still fine. I added some penne pasta to it. Put it on top of the chicken before the sauce. Delicious!!
Great!! That’s so funny that you forgot the basil as well!! Totally slipped my mind when I first made it! 🙂 So happy you enjoyed it!!
This was delicious! Hubby loved it!! I did cut the chicken breasts into bite- sized pieces and boiled them in home-made chicken broth for 10 minutes to assure doneness and give them some extra nutrition and flavor. Next time I think I will double the croutons (I make gluten-free croutons for the Celiac kid) as the marinara sauce soaked up the croutons and made them so tasty –just a personal preference. I will definitely make again. Very good. Thanks!
That sound awesome! So glad you enjoyed it!!
I have made this so many times and it is always a family favorite!!! Thank you!!