Special Solemnity Meals: Easy Chicken Parmesan

Karen Ullo shares an easy recipe for a family favorite dish that's festive enough for a celebration. Download our printable recipe card!

Happy Octave of Easter! He is risen, Alleluia! Today is a solemnity, which means it is not a meatless Friday but a day of feasting and Easter joy, so I want to share with you the recipe that has completely replaced standard spaghetti and meat sauce in my house. It’s so much better but requires only about the same amount of work. It may seem like a lot to make breaded chicken, but by the time you brown and drain ground beef, the timing works out about the same. 

You can use whatever sauce you prefer, but I have a hard time digesting garlic and onions, and I found a sauce without them that’s so fresh and delicious, it’s now the whole family’s favorite sauce, even though everyone else loves garlic and onions.  

Easy Chicken Parmesan 

Serves 4 

Ingredients 

1 lb. spaghetti, prepared according to package directions 
4-5 chicken breast portions (not whole breasts) 
2 eggs 
About ¾ cup Italian style breadcrumbs 
1 jar Rao’s Homemade Sensitive Marinara (or your favorite sauce) 
Grated Parmesan cheese 
Sliced mozzarella cheese 
3-4 Tbs. cooking oil 
Chopped fresh basil for garnish (optional) 

Directions 

Put the water for pasta on to boil and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put the oil in a skillet and heat over high to medium-high heat. 

In one flat-bottom dish (like a pie pan), scramble the two eggs. In another, put the breadcrumbs. 

Coat each chicken breast in the egg, then the breadcrumbs, and put it in the pan with the hot oil. Wash your hands after you get them all in. Turn them every 2 minutes or so until both sides are nicely browned, about 8 minutes. Add more oil if necessary so that the breadcrumbs adhere and turn golden. When the outsides are brown, the middles will still be raw. 

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray, then put the chicken breasts in a single layer. On each breast, add a large spoonful of sauce and spread to cover, then add a sprinkling of grated parmesan (about 1 Tbs.) and cover it with one slice of mozzarella. Bake until the mozzarella turns brown, about 12-15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, boil the pasta. After it’s drained, add the remainder of the jar of sauce and use tongs to mix it throughout. 

Serve with fresh basil and more grated Parmesan to garnish. 

Enjoy! 

While this is not a Meatless Friday, we'll keep our link to the Meatless Friday recipes here in case you'd like to plan ahead.