Baked Chicken Parm with a Twist (Frango à Parmegiana de Forno)

Disclosure: This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with Ragú® and Latina Bloggers Connect. As always, all opinions expressed here are honest and my own! 

What makes your mealtime Saucesome? 🙂 For my family, there is nothing like cooking and sharing a meal together. This time, we prepared an easy and tasty Baked Chicken Parm with a Twist for one of our weeknight dinners… Needless to say that putting our own spin on a classic was quite fun! Ragú® is recognizing and celebrating everything that makes family mealtime Saucesome. From unique recipes to silly moments to crazy weeknights…it’s all Saucesome with the delicious help of Ragú® Sauce.

Although we love the traditional chicken parm as it is, we decided to be creative, making the recipe (and the happy moments) our own…

… For this, we used Ragú® Old World Style® Marinara Sauce which has a delicious taste our whole family loves — yours will too! Ragú® Hearty Traditional Sauce and Ragú® Chunky Tomato, Garlic & Onion Sauce would also be perfect for our dish.

In addition, we skipped the first step of pan-frying the breaded chicken, baking the chicken directly in the oven… This healthy approach also saved us both time and the stovetop mess. Oh, and that’s not all!

We also substituted cornmeal for bread crumbs and stuffed the chicken breasts with lots of cheese! 🙂

The result? Well, see for yourself…

Our baked chicken parm with a twist was a hit — a dish that the whole family enjoyed. It also brought my family closer together, letting us spend more time together and share more about our day.

How about you? What do you and your family enjoy preparing together?

Well, visit Ragú® website like we did and get inspired by its delicious recipes. Ragú® has the authentic Italian taste that American families love with a variety of great tasting, quick and easy, family favorite recipes. For additional recipe ideas, visit Facebook.com/RaguSauce, Pinterest.com/ragusauce, and Ragú® on Twitter @RaguSauce and #Saucesome.

Also try our family-friendly Baked Chicken Parm with a Twist (Frango à Parmegiana de Forno)… It’s sure to be a hit!

For a chance to win a variety of #Saucesome prizes, click HERE and good luck!

5 from 1 vote

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Baked Chicken Parm with a Twist

Easy and tasty Chicken Parm stuffed with cheese, breaded with cornmeal, and baked directly in the oven. A great dish for weeknight meals!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 6

Author Denise Browning

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme (or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme), plus more to garnish top of the dish
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 6 boneless skinless chicken breast (about 3.5 lbs.)
• 1½ cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese plus 6-12 Tablespoons for stuffing
• 2 large eggs beaten
• 1 jar Ragú® Old World Style® Sauce 1 lb. 8 oz.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. In a shallow dish, combine together cornmeal, thyme, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese. Set aside. Note: If desired, you can add a good pinch of salt to the cornmeal mixture. As for those who is on a low-sodium diet, the recipe is perfect as it is (the content of sodium from the Parmesan cheese is enough).
   
2. Place each chicken breast on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, slit chicken breast lengthwise, almost through -- to make a pocket. Stuff each breast with 1-2 Tablespoons of mozzarella cheese, leaving a small edge to seal. If desired, you can sprinkle a bit of thyme into each chicken breast pocket. Rub a bit of the beaten egg or water around edge and pinch to seal.
   
3. Dip each chicken breast in the beaten egg...
   
4. Then, coat each breast with cornmeal mixture on both sides.
   
5. Arrange chicken in 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Bake for about 20 minutes.
   
6. Pour sauce over chicken and top with 1½ cups of mozzarella cheese. Bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.
   
7. Remove from oven and sprinkle a bit of thyme on top. Serve chicken parm with pasta, steamed vegetables, or fresh salad. Enjoy!
   

Recipe Notes

If desired, you can use Ragú® Hearty Traditional Sauce instead.

This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with Ragú® and Latina Bloggers Connect. However, all opinions expressed are my own.