Chicken Parmesan Bake

Looking for a super simple and tasty dish to make for the kiddos? Chicken Parmesan Bake will be their new favorite!

Chicken Parmesan Bake, it’s what’s for dinner!

Life has been a little crazy around here lately … well, it’s always a little bit crazy. I know it’s probably hard to believe but raising a bunch of teenagers definitely has it’s challenges. My husband travels for work during the week so that leaves me to basically take care of things at home by myself. Luckily for me, my daughter has her driver’s license and a car so that helps out a lot! I haven’t quite convinced her to get up at 5am so that she can take her brother to lacrosse practice … but that’s OK. I’m usually up by then anyway from insomnia so … no biggie!

That leads me into the creation of this dish. This is an easy one folks … really easy. These are the kind of dishes that make my kids happy and help me keep my sanity!

I got the idea for this Chicken Parmesan Bake a few years ago while I was walking down the frozen section at the super market. There is a company that makes these frozen meals in a bag that you basically heat up in a skillet or bake in the oven. I bought the chicken parmesan to have for lunch and couldn’t believe how tasty it was. Unfortunately one bag barely feeds two people. I would have to multiply that by four … you can see where this could add up!

I don’t cook classic Chicken Parmesan very often because although I really love it, sometimes it’s hard to find the time to make it. You end up dirtying a million dishes, not to mention there are way too many steps involved. Why go through the all of the trouble when you can put together this delicious casserole in less than 10 minutes? I’ll save the classic for date night with my hubby when it’s just him and I. Every once in a while, the stars align and we find ourselves alone, without any kids in the house.

This is very rare, so we take full advantage of it!

I decided to make my own casserole version of it so I went and grabbed a bag of frozen popcorn chicken and a bag of shredded mozzarella cheese from the grocery store. If you’re like me, you’ve always got marinara sauce and pasta on hand in the pantry so I didn’t have to pick that up. I literally tossed everything into a big bowl and then baked it in a 9″ x 13″ casserole dish until it was nice and bubbly. My kids went CRAZY over it! It is now one of the most requested dishes in the Duska kitchen. My kids think I am the best cook ever. 🙂

Advice: Always have a couple of jars of marinara sauce and pasta in your pantry … they have saved me so many times from starving children when I didn’t feel like getting out to the store again.

If you’re in a pinch for time or just want something easy to put together, give this Chicken Parmesan Bake a try. This is a super kid friendly meal that costs less than $10 total!

Chicken Parmesan Bake

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• Author: Amy Duska
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 6

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Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs. frozen popcorn chicken, thawed
• 1 lb. pasta, cooked al dente
• 1 jar marinara sauce
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided in half
• fresh basil (optional)

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. If your popcorn chicken is still frozen, throw it in the microwave for a few minutes to take the chill out. This will help speed up the baking time.
3. In a large bowl, stir the popcorn chicken, pasta, marinara sauce and 1 cup of mozzarella together until evenly coated.
4. Pour the mixture into a 9″ x 13″ baking dish.
5. Cover with the remaining cheese.
6. Bake for about 40-50 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is starting to turn a golden brown on top.
7. Top with chopped fresh basil to make it really tasty!

If you like easy casseroles, try my Chicken Bacon Ranch Bake!