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Lighter Baked Chicken Parmesan with Zucchini Noodles

Lighter Baked Chicken Parmesan with Zucchini Noodles, your family will adore this lightened up twist on a classic. Everyone loves Chicken Parmesan and Zoodles, it’s a win win!

I post so many Mexican recipes here on JHE … I thought I would go all Italian on you today. Because let’s be honest, everybody likes Italian food. If you think about it, most larger cities in the US have a “little italy” somewhere downtown, they have it because people LOVE their pastas!

Today I am going to do a twist on a classic Italian dish and lighten it up a bit! Growing up one of my favorite places to go out to eat was the Olive Garden! Both my brother and I played sports so it was a good way to “carb load” before a weekend filled with tournaments! But the food was always pretty tasty too. Helloo…. breadsticks!

I can remember sometimes during the week my mom would stop and pick up a large salad, bread sticks, fried zucchini and mozzarella sticks “to go” and that was our dinner for the night! I was one happy camper! When we would dine in my go to meal was Chicken Parmesan – breaded chicken, covered in melted cheese, tomato sauce, and served on pasta!

HECK YES!

Comfort food right there!

It still is a pretty amazing meal but I only eat it sparingly now. Did you know that the calorie count on a dinner size Chicken Parm at Olive Garden is 1060 calories! HOLY HANNAH that’s a lot! When I was 17 and playing volleyball non stop I could handle that but now I’m 31 and those calories just stick to my hips!

Ya hear me?!

So I decided to lighten up this classic!

One easy way to lighten a dish up is to bake it instead of fry it! So this Crispy Baked Chicken Parmesan has one major point for it (ahem.. if you didn’t notice it in the title … it’s baked.) The next major point is the zucchini noodles (or zoodles) instead of carb loaded pasta.

But to be honest you won’t even miss the pasta because the Chicken Parmesan part of this dish is so amazing!

The Baked Chicken Parmesan is coated with olive oil, dunked in a panko and parmesan bath, lightly browned in the oven, and topped with my favorite easy peasy homemade tomato sauce with fresh mozzarella cheese. Then served on top of a bed of zucchini noodles to make this dish even more guilt free than it already is!

You could easy make the tomato sauce and dredge the chicken before hand so all you have to do is put the chicken in the oven around dinner time. {if you’re looking for a way to cut down on time} Either way the time you spend on this meal is well worth it because it totally delivers on flavor!

It is definitely a great healthy meal option that I think you’re family will love! I know mine did! Bon Appetite!

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Lighter Baked Chicken Parmesan with Zucchini Noodles

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

Author: Krista
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 50 mins
Total Time: 55 mins
Yield: 5 1x
Category: Poultry, Kid Friendly, Easy Dinner Recipes

Scale

Ingredients

Chicken Parmesan:

5 boneless chicken breast cutlets
1.5 tablespoons olive oil (i used roasted garlic olive oil for a little flavor)
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dry basil
4 oz. fresh mozzarella ball, cut into 5 slices

Tomato Sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup finely diced red onion
28 oz. Muir Glen crushed fire roasted tomatoes
1 tablespoons grape seed oil
3 large zucchini, inspiralized into noodles
fresh basil for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
Bring a medium sauce pan to medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and red onion. Saute for 3-4 minutes until onions become translucent.
Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds add in crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Set aside when finished.
Spray a baking sheet with PAM cooking spray, set aside.
In a large shallow dish add panko, parmesan cheese, and dry basil. Toss to mix.
Pat chicken cutlets dry. Pour 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil in small dish. Using a cooking brush, coat both sides of the raw chicken with olive oil.
Put coated chicken in panko mixture and generously coat both sides. Be sure to press the mixture into the chicken so it sticks.
Place coated chicken breasts on greased baking sheet. Once on baking sheet, gently spray the top of the chicken breast with olive oil
Bake for 15 minutes, turn over back another 15 minutes.
Top each chicken breast with 1-2 tablespoons of tomato sauce and 1 slice of mozzarella cheese, bake for 5 minutes until cheese is melted.
Heat a large skillet to medium high heat. Add grape seed oil and zucchini noodles. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Remove and let sit for 2-3 minutes.
Serve Zucchini Noodles with one chicken parmesan and top with a little tomato sauce and fresh basil.