Chicken Parm Casserole

Feb 18

One of the worst moments of my day is coming home and realizing I had nothing planned for dinner (I know, I live a rough life!). I’ll defrost chicken but then not know how exactly to make it. So many of the recipes that I want to make (aka casseroles) require cooked chicken for the casserole– and cooking it and then doing the casserole piece is just too much when it’s 7 pm or later!

Enter this chicken parm casserole from Emily Bites. The recipe is only slightly adapted from Emily’s original, and it was a hit in our household. Hope it is in yours too!

Ingredients

2 lbs raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 cup dried basil
2 cups marinara/pasta sauce
1 package frozen spinach, thawed
1 1/2 cups reduced-fat shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 oz Parmesan cheese
Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Servings: 8
Difficulty: easy

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Spread the cubed pieces of chicken across the bottom of the baking dish in a single layer. Sprinkle the minced garlic, red pepper flakes and basil, and spinach evenly over the chicken. Spread the sauce evenly across the top.

On top of the sauce layer, sprinkle 3/4 cup of the Mozzarella and one ounce of the Parmesan evenly across the dish. Sprinkle the crushed croutons across the top and follow with the remaining cheese.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Tagged: chicken, chicken parm

Comments: 8

Jennifer @ Not Your Momma's Cookie Feb 18 at 1:55 pm Reply

This sounds awesome I’ve mad a couple of Emily’s recipes and they’re always yummy!

Elizabeth Feb 18 at 5:39 pm Reply

Thanks Jennifer- I love her recipes too!

Kristie Feb 19 at 8:48 pm Reply

John will love this! Just have to get him to handle the raw chicken. Haha.

Elizabeth Feb 19 at 9:25 pm Reply

Haha…that scary raw chicken

Monet Feb 20 at 2:45 am Reply

I hate not having a dinner planned too! This looks like a great way to use up some ingredients I already have at home. Thank you for sharing with me tonight. I just ate a delicious dinner and I’m already hungry again I hope you are having a great start to your week!