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This Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf and Sauce has quickly become one of my go-to healthy easy dinner recipes.
My family loves chicken parmesan. It’s one of those classic, comfort foods.
However, it can be cumbersome to make. Afterall, you need to bread the chicken, pan fry it, make the sauce, assemble it and bake it. The entire process can take upwards of an hour.
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I don’t know about you. But I don’t have time to do that on a weeknight. I need meals that I can make in under 30 minutes.
Since my family loves chicken parm and my family loves meatloaf, I thought I would try combining the two. The result was this incredible recipe that was easy to make and on the table fast!
The trick here was to use a muffin pan. By making the meatloaves smaller, they baked faster. Plus, everyone got their own little meatloaf.
The recipes starts with ground chicken seasoned with onion, garlic and Italian seasoning. It’s a combination between my meatloaf seasoning and my meatball seasoning.
Then I tucked a nugget of fresh mozzarella inside the meat mixture. The cheese was a nice little surprise when you cut open the mini-meatloaves.
Chicken parm is known for it’s crispy breaded exterior. So, I topped each meatloaf with a Panko breadcrumb mixture.
Once my mini-meatloaves were baked (about 20 minutes). I placed them in a baking dish with some Heinz Classico Traditional Spaghetti Sauce. I topped each meatloaf with additional sauce and a thin slice of fresh mozzarella.
To finish the dish, I placed the baking dish under the broiler for about 2 minutes – just enough to melt the cheese and heat the sauce.
I was able to easily find everything I needed at my local Wal-Mart. There are several varieties of Heinz Classico Sauces to choose from. I used Traditional, but this would also taste great using the Parmesan and Romano or Meat Sauce varieties. I loved that these sauces use real meat ingredients.
Using ground chicken can be challenging because it dries out easily. The key is to not over bake it. The best way to test for doneness is to use a meat thermometer. As soon as they are withing 3-5 degrees of being done, take them out of the oven. They will continue to bake as you broil them.
Here’s another tip…many kids don’t like onions. However, the onion and garlic provide a lot of added flavor to this recipe. To sneak some onion into the recipe, use a grater. If you grate the onion on a coarse grater, you will get all of the flavor without big pieces of onions.
If you’re looking for even more ideas, visit this website.
Click here to save $1 off Classico favorites when you buy two jars!
What are your favorite quick dinners? Share your ideas with me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using these hashtags: #FamilyFavorites and #CollectiveBias.
Here’s the handy printable recipe…
Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 small onion, grated or minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 slices ball mozzarella cheese (half cut into 1" chunks, half cut into )
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 jar Heinz Classico spaghetti sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl, combine chicken, egg, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
- Stir to combine.
- Place mixture into muffin pan, filling each cup about 3/4 full.
- Place one chunk of mozzarella cheese into each muffin cup.
- Press cheese into mixture, making sure it is completely covered.
- In a small bowl combine Panko, parmesan, parsley and melted butter.
- Stir until combined.
- Spoon about two tablespoons of crumbs on top of each meatloaf.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Remove pan from oven.
- In a small baking dish, pour 1 cup of spaghetti sauce and spread around so the bottom is evenly coated.
- Place meatloaves on top of the sauce.
- Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of sauce on top of each meatloaf.
- Place on slice of mozzarella on top of each meatloaf.
- Place baking dish under preheated broiler and broil until cheese is melted and sauce is heated through.
- Serve immediately.
Estimated Nutritional Information
The nutritional information provided are estimates. To learn more about how I calculate this information go to www.itisakeeper.com/about-its-a-keeper/privacy-disclosure-policies/
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