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Chicken Parmesan Pasta Recipe

This Chicken Parmesan Pasta recipe is sponsored by Barilla and Acorn.

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We cook basically every meal at home. That’s what happens when you work at home. You have breakfast and lunch at home, then start cooking dinner while you’re working.

We don’t make gourmet meals every night. I don’t have that sort of time during the week. Sometimes, you have to adapt your favorite meals to fit your weekday schedule.

Like chicken parmesan. I love chicken parm. But when I’m working 14 hour days, I don’t have time to bread and dredge cutlets (in flour then egg then breadcrumbs), then pan fry them, then bake them in the oven topped with sauce and cheese.

And then make pasta!

So I had to come up with a way to simplify my chicken parmesan so I could have it whenever I wanted. Thus, my Chicken Parmesan Pasta was born.

This Chicken Parm Pasta recipe so easy, mostly because I cut the chicken in a way that only takes a handful of minutes to cook.

Chicken Parmesan Pasta Recipe

From start to finish, this recipe is under 30 minutes, so it’s the perfect weeknight dinner.

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Chicken Parmesan Pasta Ingredients:

How To Make Chicken Parmesan Pasta:

Sprinkle the salt, pepper, and garlic powder on both sides of the chicken.

Cut the chicken into small cubes by slicing the chicken into thin strips, then cutting those strips in half. This will create cubes that will cook super quickly.

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Heat the olive oil in a shallow pan and add the chicken.

Cook about ten minutes until your chicken is cooked through, making sure to flip the chicken as needed.

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Boil water in a large pot and cook the pasta according to the package.

While you’re waiting for the pasta to cook, cut the mozzarella cheese into strips.

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Drain the pasta. Pour the sauce on top.

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Add the cooked chicken.

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Add in the cheese and half the oregano.

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Stir until the cheese melts.

Serve with a bit of oregano for garnish.

This is actually one of our new favorite meals. It made enough for the both of us to have for dinner two nights and then for me to give a serving to my parents for dinner. It was so good the next day too. The flavors really came together that way.

Chicken Parmesan Pasta: Frequently Asked Questions

Can you use bagged shredded cheese in Chicken Parmesan Pasta?

Bagged shredded cheese is not your friend. It’s convenient, but it’s not great to use in recipes where you want the cheese to melt.

See, there are preservatives in bagged shredded cheese that keep the cheese shreds individualized and prevent the cheese from clumping together.

Those same preservatives prevent the cheese from really melting when you heat it too. So in a recipe like this, where the melted cheese is such a huge part of the recipe, you want to use a block of cheese that you cut yourself. Blocks of cheese lack the preservatives that the bagged shredded cheese has and that’s why it melts better.

Can you use dark meat chicken in Chicken Parmesan Pasta?

Traditionally, Chicken Parmesan is a chicken breast cutlet, breaded, and then topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. So, to keep this Chicken Parmesan Pasta’s flavors as close to traditional chicken parmesan’s flavors, go with white meat chicken.

Not only that, but it’s a lot easier to cut up chicken breast and cook it in minutes over the stove.

While we’re on the topic of the chicken, you can use either fresh or frozen (but thawed) chicken breast in this recipe. We wrote fresh in the ingredient list because fresh is a little bit easier because you don’t have to remember to take it out to defrost. But, if you only have frozen chicken, that works just fine. As long as it’s thawed.

If you wanted to use dark meat chicken for this, you could, but I wouldn’t recommend it. You would spend so much time cutting the chicken off the bone that this just wouldn’t be the easy weeknight dinner that it actually is.

How do you store leftover Chicken Parmesan Pasta?

If you have any leftover Chicken Parmesan Pizza, store it in an airtight container in the fridge. It’ll be good for about three to four days in the fridge.

If you’re not going to eat it in that time frame, you can (in theory) throw it in the freezer. But I personally don’t like how frozen cooked pasta thaws, so I wouldn’t recommend freezing this.

If you can’t eat the whole portion in three to four days, you could just cut the recipe in half.

How should you reheat Chicken Parmesan Pasta?

The easiest way to reheat Chicken Parmesan Pasta is in a microwavable-safe bowl. Heat it on high for about 90 seconds. Depending on how big of a portion you serve, the timing to reheat it may vary.

Can you make Chicken Parmesan Pasta ahead of time?

Unfortunately, this isn’t an ideal recipe to make ahead of time. It tastes delicious the next day because the flavors mesh together, but it tastes freshest the day of.

Since this recipe only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish, it’s an easy recipe to make on a weeknight. So making it ahead of time isn’t really recommended.

If you absolutely insist on making this ahead of time, reheat it all at once in a large aluminum pan in the oven instead of reheating it in portions in the microwave.

Cheese, parsley, and chopped garlic on top of bread.

What should you serve with Chicken Parmesan Pasta?

If you’re looking for good side dishes to go with Chicken Parmesan Pasta, we have a few good ones below.

Yield: 6 Servings

Chicken Parmesan Pasta

Chicken Parmesan Pasta is such an easy weeknight dinner meal. Plus, it's only four main ingredients, plus seasoning.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 12 fresh chicken breast strips
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 box Barilla penne pasta or your favorite penne pasta
  • 24 oz. jar Barilla Tomato & Basil marinara sauce or your favorite marinara sauce
  • 4 oz. mozzarella cheese
  • 1/8 cup fresh dried oregano

Instructions

    1. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, and garlic powder on both sides of the chicken. Cut the chicken into small cubes by slicing the chicken into thin strips, then cutting those strips in half. 
    2. Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the chicken. Cook about ten minutes until your chicken is cooked through, making sure to flip the chicken as needed.
    3. Boil water in a pot and cook the pasta according to the package.
    4. While you’re waiting for the pasta to cook, cut the cheese into strips.
    5. Drain the pasta. Pour the sauce on top.
    6. Add the cooked chicken.
    7. Add in your cheese and half your oregano.
    8. Stir until the cheese melts.
    9. Serve with a bit of oregano for garnish.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 606Total Fat 19gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 220mgSodium 848mgCarbohydrates 22gFiber 4gSugar 6gProtein 83g

Would you make this Chicken Parmesan Pasta recipe? Be sure to let us know in the comments.

Rose Martine

Wednesday 5th of February 2020

This looks so delicious! I am definitely going to try this one!

Alisha Ross

Friday 24th of January 2020

I love the flavour of caprese so this stuffed chicken recipe is just perfect for me. Definitely perfect for a delicious weeknight dinner.. thanks for sharing the great recipe!

vickie couturier

Wednesday 6th of September 2017

oh my goodness,it looks so good and not hard to make

Tuned In Parents

Tuesday 22nd of August 2017

Classic and sapid. This recipe can't disappoint. Thanks for sharing your creative spin on it. We'll definitely have to try it.

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