Easy Chicken Parm - A quick and easy recipe for traditional Chicken Parmesan with angel hair pasta, cheese and fresh basil.
The story behind my Easy Chicken Parm
Do you ever have one of those hard days where you come home and you really need some comfort food, but don't have the time or energy to put it together? Boy did I have one of those days and this Easy Chicken Parm was the perfect meal for us last night.
Before I tell you about the recipe, can I tell you what happened? Let me just say that we had to make an unexpected trip to the ER with my daughter. Yesterday morning, I was in a yoga class and got a text from her that her head was really hurting and she couldn't focus. She wanted me to pick her up. I was worried!
The day before she had come home from a sleepover/indoor pool party. She casually mentioned that her friend jumped on her in the pool and their heads collided. Then she said it really hurt but now she was feeling fine. And she did say she was acting weird and saying funny things and she didn't remember anything for about an hour after her head injury. I googled concussion symptoms but she assured me she was fine.
Long Story Short
Long story short, we made a trip to the ER yesterday after calling the doctor with my daughter's symptoms. It was about 12 noon, so there weren't that many people there. We didn't have to wait long to see the doctor. He basically asked her a bunch of questions. No x-rays or cat scans. Her main symptoms were pain, feeling tired and having a hard time focusing at school. The diagnosis was that she has a concussion or a bruise to her brain. No school for a couple of days and no sports for 1-2 weeks.
My husband and I have never had a concussion in our life. She's 13 and she's already had one. After going to a birthday party. What a freak accident, but thank goodness it wasn't worse.
So having this delicious and simple meal for dinner last night was just what we needed. Everyone in the family loved my Easy Chicken Parm (and that alone is amazing because they're all very picky).
How to Make Easy Chicken Parm
Easy Chicken Parm basically comes together in 3 easy steps. 1) Bake the Tyson® Chicken Strips. 2) Add pasta sauce. 3) Add cheese and bake until melted.
I added chopped, fresh basil for color and added flavor. I love fresh basil. It smells so good!
While the chicken strips are baking, make the pasta. Add angel hair to lightly salted, boiling water. Angel hair cooks up very quickly. Mine was done in about 6 minutes. Drain the pasta and stir in some butter. Pour the noodles into a casserole dish. Add prepared chicken strips with sauce and cheese. Sprinkle with fresh basil, if desired. Serve the Easy Chicken Parm with extra sauce on the side.
Using the frozen, fully cooked chicken and store bought pasta sauce saved time on this recipe which is great. Semi-homemade recipes can be so delicious and much better than eating out. You can save money, eat at home and be with your loved ones for a nice home cooked meal.
Chicken parmesan is my husband Jay's favorite meal. Hands down. He always orders it when we're at an Italian restaurant but I never make it because I thought it would be really hard to make. The other night, Jay had a really bad frozen meal version of chicken parm and he was disappointed.
He loved my Easy Chicken Parm and so did the children. Yay!
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Easy Chicken Parm
Ingredients
- 25 ounces Tyson® Parmesan Herb Encrusted Chicken Strips
- 8 ounces Barilla® Angel Hair Pasta
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 16 ounces Barilla® Traditional Pasta Sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Optional garnish: fresh basil chopped
Instructions
- Bake chicken strips according to package instructions.
- Meanwhile prepare the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and stir in butter. Pour into a 13"x9" casserole dish. Cover to keep warm.
- When the chicken strips are done, spoon a few tablespoons of pasta sauce on top of each chicken strip. Add cheese on top. Return to oven and bake for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Place chicken on top of prepared pasta. Sprinkle chopped basil on top. Place remaining pasta sauce in a microwave safe bowl and heat for one minute or until heated through. Serve pasta and chicken with sauce on the side.
Nutrition
All text and images © Lise Ode for Mom Loves Baking. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be accurate. This post may contain affiliate links.
Sissa says
Hi! About how many would your recipe feed?
Mom Loves Baking says
The recipe makes 7-8 servings.
Lynn Elliott says
Once again Lise your pictures and recipe are wonderful. I will make this one. I love the idea that you put the extra sauce on the side for those of us who cannot have too much tomato sauce
Mom Loves Baking says
Hi Lynn, I'm glad you like the recipe. Thanks for the nice comments! 🙂