Chicken Parmesan Casserole HOLY CRAP!

You have to stop what you’re doing and make this RIGHT NOW!

As far as we’re concerned, Chicken Parmesan is one of the most delicious, most classic Italian dishes out there. It’s probably safe to say that we order Chicken Parmesan in an Italian restaurant at least half the time. It is a go-to dish. At our favorite Italian places, we always know it will be good. We have both gone through the painstaking process of making homemade chicken parmesan: breading the chicken, frying the chicken, arranging it all in a dish, waiting for it to bake. It’s delicious, but it’s one of those things that takes so long to make that it’s rather anticlimactic once it’s time to actually eat it.

Caroline and I are snobs when it comes to Chicken Parmesan. We expect it to be delicious every time and are disappointed when we get a dish that does not meet our expectations. Needless to say, we were somewhat skeptical about this recipe that we found on Pinterest.

The guy who put this recipe together has a great video on his website that shows you exactly how to make this casserole. When we saw how simple it was, we were afraid that the taste would be rather simple, as well. WRONG! I will never make real chicken parmesan again. Never. This casserole is amazing. I don’t know how else to describe it.

Ingredients

• chicken breasts (however many you want/need)
• olive oil (just one dollop)
• minced garlic (a smattering…a little more than a smattering if you really like garlic)
• red pepper flakes (leave these out if you don’t like any heat)
• marinara sauce (probably won’t need more than one jar unless you are a marinara fiend)
• Parmesan cheese
• mozzarella cheese (you will need twice as much mozzarella as Parmesan)
• croutons (we used Italian-seasoned)

We made a few changes to the original recipe when we made it. First of all, the original calls for 6 chicken breasts. Yeah right. I mean, we can eat, but we’re not adolescent boys who can vacuum through an entire casserole individually in one sitting. So we cut it back to 2 chicken breasts. (Mainly because we knew we couldn’t eat more than that, but also because that’s all Caroline had in the fridge.)

We also cubed the chicken instead of leaving them whole.

Please ignore the quality of the photos. We had to go the iPhone route instead of an actual camera.

Then into the bottom of a casserole dish goes some olive oil, some minced garlic, and some red pepper flakes. And yes, those are the technical measurements. Use exactly “some.” No more, no less.

Then you cover the chicken with as much marinara sauce as you deem necessary.

Then you cover the marinara sauce with a 2 to 1 mozzarella to Parmesan ratio. The original recipe called for grated Parmesan, but we opted for shredded (again…because we had it in the fridge), and it was still delicious. As long as you use Parmesan, it probably doesn’t matter what kind.

You also cover the layer of cheese with a layer of croutons. The original recipe called for garlic croutons and keeps them whole. We opted for Italian seasoned croutons (because they were already in Caroline’s cabinet) and crushed them up.

Then another layer of 2 to 1 mozzarella to Parmesan goes on top of that. (We love cheese. Therefore, we love this part of the recipe.)

Then you bake it for about 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

At this point. You might want to just stay out of the kitchen. Otherwise, you might end up pressing your noses to the windown in the oven like we did. This will make your house smell HEAVENLY.

No seriously. It is good. Ridiculously good.

A little Romaine lettuce with egg and blue cheese vinaigrette as a side dish. But honestly, this dish doesn’t even really need a supporting actor.

This is what was left after we finished eating.

This was our first Pinterest recipe adventure, and I’m not really sure how we’re going to top this one. This recipe is going straight to the top of our regular dinner list. It is so easy. It is so delicious. And it is possible to make it without having to dirty a single measuring spoon or cup.

Morgan and Caroline’s final verdict on this recipe: Stand at the counter and eat straight out of the casserole dish good. Can’t even make it to the table without eating half the plate good. Don’t even need a napkin because it doesn’t spend enough time in the air between the plate and the mouth good.

If you’re looking for a side that goes well with this, check out the Macaroni Grill Copycat Rosemary Bread.

If you get tired of this recipe (which you won’t, but just in case…), or if you would like a slightly healthier version of this, hop on over to the Chicken Rollatini recipe. Another good one!

Stay tuned for the results of our Nutella Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.

This would also go really well with the Crescent Roll Cheesecakes, also.