Easy Chicken Parmesan Pasta
This easy chicken parmesan pasta is our go-to dinner recipe when we are looking for all the delicious flavors of chicken parmesan but without all the work and fuss. Chewy pasta is topped with cheesy chicken and marinara and finished off with crunchy breadcrumbs and parmesan for major comfort food that’s ready in 30 minutes. Serve with a simple veggie side like kale salad or a 5-minute Italian chopped salad.
If you love easy pasta dish recipes for weeknight dinners (which happens at least once a week at our house!), be sure to try my orecchiette with sausage, 10-minute pesto tortellini, creamy tomato pasta, or sheet pan pierogi dinner next time.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
What You’ll Love About Chicken Parmesan Pasta
- Delicious dinner with comfort-food flavor
- Tastes like classic chicken parmesan, without the work and fuss
- Easy recipe
- Chewy, tender, creamy, and crunchy textures
- Just 5 minutes prep time
- Just 30 minutes total time
- Made with just 10 simple ingredients
Ingredients
- Onion – Use a white or yellow onion.
- Garlic – Use fresh garlic cloves for best flavor or frozen garlic for a quick and convenient shortcut.
- Chicken – The recipe calls for chicken breast tenders as they are easier to cut up since part of it is already done, but any boneless skinless chicken breasts will work. You could also use chicken thighs if you prefer.
- Olive oil – Use a high quality cooking olive oil.
- Pasta – I love to use cavatappi pasta, but any similar shape will work. Alternatives like fusilli, farfalle, or even rigatoni are good alternatives as I know sometimes finding cavatappi can be tough.
- Butter – Use high quality butter for best flavor.
- Panko – Use panko breadcrumbs for the best crunch. Their larger, flatter shape gives them more surface area, more opportunity for browning, and more crunch!
- Marinara sauce – Use your favorite high-quality pasta sauce for best flavor.
- Mozzarella cheese – Use shredded mozzarella cheese to make things easy or shred your own if you prefer.
- Parmesan cheese – You can buy shredded Parmesan cheese or shred it yourself.
- Toppings – olive oil, flaky sea salt, red pepper flakes, fresh basil or fresh parsley
How to Make Chicken Parmesan
This is an overview on how to make chicken Parmesan pasta, the detailed instructions can be found below in the recipe card.
- Prep ingredients. Dice onion, mince garlic, and cut chicken into small pieces. Cook pasta in large pot of salted water according to package instructions.
- Brown chicken. While the pasta cooks, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until soft and chicken is cooked through.
- Toast panko bread crumbs. Melt butter in a small nonstick skillet and toast bread crumbs until golden brown.
- Finish chicken. Stir in marinara sauce to chicken mixture and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in mozzarella cheese.
- Serve. Place a serving of cooked pasta onto a plate and top with chicken mixture, toasted bread crumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, and any extras to taste – I recommend a drizzle of good olive oil, flaky sea salt, red pepper flakes, and fresh basil.
Emily’s Tip
If you want a creamy sauce, drizzle some heavy cream into the sauce before adding the cheese.
FAQs
You can use any shorter pasta for this chicken parm pasta. I love cavatappi, but bow-ties, penne pasta, or fusilli would also work well. Using a shorter pasta ensures that each bite has a bit of everything.
Yes! Want to add extra veggies to this meal? While the onions are cooking, you can also add chopped mushrooms, chopped baby spinach or kale, or even chopped artichokes (canned).
Storage Instructions
Store any leftover chicken parmesan pasta recipe in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Store breadcrumbs separately in an airtight container at room temperature.
How to reheat
Reheat chicken and pasta leftovers in the microwave or a hot skillet and top with bread crumbs.
Can you freeze chicken parmesan pasta?
You could freeze the chicken mixture in an airtight container for 1-2 months if you need to. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
What to Serve with Easy Chicken Parmesan Pasta
Chicken and pasta recipes like this one are best served with a simple veggie side or salad. Here are a few favorites to try:
- Frozen broccoli
- Kale salad
- Lemon arugula salad
- 5-minute chopped salad
- Garlic bread or breadsticks
How to Feed Parmesan Chicken Pasta to the Whole Family
I get it, feeding kids can be tough! But following the Division of Responsibility and knowing your job and your child’s job makes it SO much more enjoyable. You’ll be able to feed your kids any meal, which will help ensure that they are eating a variety of nutritious foods – with plenty of play food sprinkled in.
I would recommend serving the chicken mixture in a pinch bowl (taster bowl) if it’s a new or learning-to-like it food and let everyone top their own pasta. Serve the meal with a few items you know your kids will eat, like fruit, milk, and/or bread and butter if they don’t like pasta.
More Easy Pasta Recipes
If you like this chicken garlic parmesan pasta, you might also like some of these other easy pasta recipes:
- One-Pot Creamy Tomato Pasta
- Chicken and Broccoli Ziti
- Shrimp Linguine
- Sausage and Broccoli Orecchiette
- Lemon Ricotta Pasta
Easy Chicken Parmesan Pasta
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Skillet
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
The whole family will love this EASY chicken parmesan pasta. All the delicious flavor of chicken parm, without all the work or fuss.
Ingredients
- 1/2 white onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 lb. chicken tenders (skinless, boneless)
- 3/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 16 oz. short pasta like cavatappi
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 cups high-quality marinara sauce (16 oz.)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- olive oil, flaky sea salt, red pepper flakes (to taste)
Instructions
- Prepare ingredients:
Dice onion.
Mince garlic.
Cut chicken into 1″ pieces and season with sea salt. (Using kitchen shears makes this quick!)
Start boiling pasta water. - Cook pasta to al dente in a large pot of salted water, according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- While pasta is cooking, cook chicken. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and chicken and cook for about 5-8 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. (Turn down the heat to medium if things are browning.)
- While chicken is cooking, melt butter in a small nonstick skillet over medium-low heat and add panko bread crumbs. Stir frequently and cook until golden brown, removing from heat and transferring to a bowl immediately to stop cooking.
- When the chicken is cooked through, stir in marinara sauce. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir mozzarella cheese into the cooked chicken mixture.
- Place a serving of pasta onto a plate and top with chicken mixture, toasted bread crumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, flaky sea salt, and red pepper flakes to taste.
Notes
- Make it creamy. If you want a super creamy chicken parm, drizzle in a bit of heavy cream right when you take it off the heat, before stirring in the mozzarella cheese.
- Panko bread crumbs. Definitely use panko for this recipe and not regular breadcrumbs! They don’t toast up as well. You can find them in the breadcrumb or asian section.
Food styling and photography by Loren Runion.
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