Chicken is a great meat to use as a base for casseroles. Its mild flavor lends it to all kinds of sauces. It's also supposed to be a healthy meat, so you can feel really good about feeding it to your family. Casseroles are great because you can prepare them ahead of time, put them on a delayed start in the oven, and have a great tasting, all-inclusive dinner later. Combine the two, and you get Chicken Parmesan Casserole.

This casserole puts Chicken Parmesan into an easy-to-make dish for the family. You can use either left-over chicken like Thriving Home, or boneless, skinless chicken breasts like The Recipe Critic and Food Wishes. If you go with the boneless, skinless breasts, The Recipe Critic coats the chicken in eggs and flour and fries and slices them and places the slices in a bowl to mix with other ingredients. Food Wishes simply rubs the breasts with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, and sears them in a pan with some oil.

Depending on how you want to do the casserole, you will either place the chicken down first in an 8x8 pan or mix most of the ingredients together in a bowl. Whichever way you choose to go, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). If you decide to go with the layering method like Thriving Home and Food Wishes, place the chicken down in the pan and then pour the marinara sauce over it. Food Wishes places some crushed garlic cloves, red pepper flakes, and olive oil in the bottom of the pan before the chicken. Thriving Home then places the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese on top and covers that with Panko Bread crumbs mixed with Italian herbs and olive oil. Food Wishes places half of the cheese down first and then covers that with croutons. The rest of the cheese is then placed on top of the croutons.

The Recipe Critic cooks penne pasta and combines the pasta, chicken, marinara and cheese together in a bowl. Once the ingredients are well-mixed, they are dumped into the pan and covered with Italian bread crumbs. Fresh basil may be placed on top of the casserole for a garnish. The casserole should cook for 20 to 45 minutes.  Food Wishes states that if you start with raw chicken, the internal temperature of the chicken should reach 165°F (74°C) to 170°F (77°C) to be sure that it is thoroughly cooked.

The Thriving Home likes to serve the casserole with pasta or rice, but it's not necessary. This is also a dish that can be easily made ahead of time and frozen and used as a "freezer meal." You will want to be sure not to add the breaded topping until you are ready to bake it so that the breading doesn't get mushy. 

Italian food is great comfort food. Being able to fix it quickly means that your family will get to enjoy one of its favorites more often.

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