Easy Oven Baked Chicken Parmesan with Fusilli Pasta

For as long as I can remember, I have loved Chicken Parmesan. Whether it was by itself, on a sandwich or served with pasta, very rarely did I turn it down when it was offered to me or was on a restaurant menu. My family and friends love my chicken parm recipe, so I am excited to be able to share this with you. 

But first, let’s get to know how this dish originated. I did a little research and discovered that Chicken Parmigiana or Chicken Parmesan originally came to be during the Italian-Diaspora in the 20th century. So truthfully, it is not all too old. The Italian-Diaspora was when the Italians emigrated from Italy to America. They brought over their tasty cooking and recipes and truly contributed to making food in America so much better.

Easy Oven Baked Chicken Parmesan with Fusilli Pasta

Recipe by Madison

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: Dinner, MainCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Ingredients

• For the Sauce:
  

• 2 tablespoons 2 olive oil

• 1/2 1/2 white onion, diced

• 2 tablespoons 2 freshly chopped parsley

• 16 oz 16 tomato pasta sauce

• 2 tablespoons 2 sugar
• 
  For the Breaded Chicken:
  

• 1 large 1 egg

• 2 tablespoons 2 milk

• 1 large 1 boneless and skinless chicken breast, halved

• salt and pepper, to taste

• 1/4 cups 1/4 bread crumbs

• 1 tablespoon 1 shredded parmesan cheese

• 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon 1 Italian seasoning

• baking spray

• For the Topping:
  

• 1/4 cup 1/4 mozzarella cheese

• 1 tablespoon 1 fresh parsley, chopped

• For the Pasta:

• 2 cups 2 Fusilli pasta, cooked according to package instructions

Directions

• For the Chicken:
• Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray an oven dish with baking spray and set aside.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk.
• Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper to taste.
• In another bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, shredded Parmesan, garlic powder and Italian seasoning.
• Dip each piece of chicken in the egg mixture and coat in the breadcrumb mixture. 
• Place in the baking dish, Spray the top of the chicken with oil and Bake for 15 minutes.
• Pour your desired sauce amount over each piece of chicken and place mozzarella cheese on top. Bake for another 5 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, garnish with parsley and serve with fusilli pasta.
• For the Sauce:
• In a medium-sized pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute onions for about 3 minutes.
• Add in the jarred pasta sauce, sugar and fresh parsley. Simmer for 25 minutes or until it is ready to be used for the chicken.

The unique thing about chicken parmesan is the fact that you can get different flavors and textures in each bite. You can get the crunch from the seasoned and breaded chicken, the softness from the melted cheese and the smoothness OR chunkiness from the sauce. Not to mention, the flavors used to build upon this dish are fantastic. I like to season every aspect and since I am using a jar sauce, I like to use fresh ingredients as much as I can. 

For this dish, I wanted to use up my fresh parsley before it went bad, so I chopped up about 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley and put it into my simmering jar sauce along with some freshly diced white onion. The aromas in the kitchen were everything and more! Here’s a tip: Make sure that you taste your sauce to see if there is anything you want to add. A teaspoon or so of granulated sugar is a wonderful additive to the sauce to cut back on the acidity. A little dash of a robust red wine can help to really bloom all of the flavors. If you do not want to use alcohol then by all means, skip that part. I let the sauce simmer for as long as it takes for the chicken to cook. That is why I start on the sauce with added ingredients as the very first step, so that it has enough time to really gain some extra flavor.

Next, I make the chicken by slicing the chicken breast in half vertically and seasoning both pieces with salt and pepper. I then dunk it into the egg wash mixture and into the bread crumb mixture. It is THAT easy. Once it is placed in the 425°F oven, it cooks for about 15 minutes before the sauce and cheese is put on. For this part, make it as cheesy as you like it!  I used 2 slices of mozzarella cheese per each chicken breast. It was perfectly cheesy this way.

Remove it from the oven and garnish it with some more fresh parsley before serving. Now that you know how to make Chicken Parmesan, you can create this masterpiece right in the comfort of your own cozy kitchen! Make this with love and care and you are guaranteed a very yummy meal. Enjoy your delicious Italian dinner!