Healthy Chicken Parmesan that is crispy, cheesy, saucy, and served over zucchini noodles. So easy and extremely delicious!
SCALE
INGREDIENTS
- 1/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 4 chicken breasts (about 1 pound)
- 1 1/2 cups DeLallo Creamy Vodka tomato sauce (or any tomato sauce – but that vodka sauce is YUMMY)
- 4 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
- 2 zucchinis
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Toss the breadcrumbs, panko, and Parmesan in a shallow dish with the Italian herbs, salt, and pepper. Heat the oil in a medium ovenproof skillet over medium heat.
- Fry: Cut the chicken breasts into a total of four pieces (for example, if there are two breasts, cut each in half – pound them a little thinner and wider if you want) and dredge the chicken in the breadcrumbs so that they stick all over the surface of the chicken. Add the chicken to the hot skillet and fry for 3-4 minutes on each side. You want the outside to be golden brown – the inside can finish cooking in the oven.
- Bake: Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked. Add the sauce and place a slice of mozzarella cheese on top of each piece of chicken. Return to the oven for a few more minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and lightly browned.
- Finish: While the chicken finishes, cut the zucchini into thin shreds or use a spiralizer to create zucchini noodles. Serve the chicken and sauce over the raw zucchini noodles and sprinkle with Parmesan and parsley.
NOTES
Before baking, if you have a lot of stray crumbs in the pan, I would suggest removing the chicken, draining out the excess oil and breadcrumbs, and then returning the chicken to the clean pan to avoid a burnt breadcrumb situation in the oven.
Also, if you really want the chicken to stay crispy, heat the sauce separately and add it over everything at the end. The chicken loses a little crispy exterior as it bakes in the sauce – I didn’t mind it, but just something to think about if you want the crispy chicken.
Finally, I leave the zucchini noodles raw because otherwise I felt like they got too soggy and watery. When you add the warm chicken and sauce, the noodles will soften but keep just enough crunch to still be appetizing.
