This baked chicken parmesan is probably one of my best recipes ever. I’ll tell you right away that the secret is in the sauce and lies in the quality of the ingredients. My husband spent two years in Italy, so he’s a bit of a snob about Italian cooking in America, but he does make sure that we have delicious olive oil and basil and pasta and all things Italian in our home.
I love this recipe because the prep work is easy and doesn’t take much time, but the result makes me feel like I’m eating out a nice restaurant.
3 lbs uncooked chicken sliced into thin strips
1 jar marinara sauce
3 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups bread crumbs
1 tbsp basil
2 tsp oregano
1 tbsp pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Coat a 9 x 13 pan with olive oil and place the chicken, spread thinly, on the bottom of the pan. Spice the chicken with salt, pepper, basil, and oregano to taste, and drizzle some more olive oil on top. For this recipe, I used Alonia Extra Virgin Olive Oil: It is made from Spanish olives and has a smooth, savory flavor. Any olive oil that comes in a glass bottle should be delicious for an oven recipe like this one.
Next, spoon the marinara sauce over the chicken, and spread it evenly across. Because I don’t like to make my own sauce, I use Barilla Marinara Sauce. Barilla makes their sauce with fresh basil, so it has authentic flavor while being budget-friendly. For me, this sauce is the perfect mix of easy, delicious, and affordable.
Spread the cheeses on top of the marinara sauce. We like to use a lot of cheese — don’t judge.
In a medium bowl, mix the bread crumbs together with the olive oil and spices. Then, spread the bread crumb mixture on top of the cheese. Now, you’re ready to bake!
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
Enjoy!
