Chicken Parm Pasta is everything you love about a classic chicken parm, all in one dish! The homemade tomato sauce has a perfect flavor to it, combined with a seriously delicious, buttery chicken and a fun pasta shape! On top is a crunchy, cheese-y coating that will have you asking for more! A super fun twist on just a classic pasta and marinara.
How many WW points is this now?! Click on the link below and it will take you to the recipe I made within your own WW app. Your specific points will be calculated, and you can track that.
This dish is a classic pasta and marinara sauce recipe with a little twist to it. I added some delicious, buttery chicken into it and finished it off with a crunchy breadcrumb topping. A basic dish, taken to a new level of flavor!
What You Will Need:
- A can of crushed tomatoes
- Minced garlic
- Lemon juice
- Granular sugar replacement
- Banza pasta
- Chicken tenderloins
- ICBINB spray
- Italian Panko breadcrumbs
- Reduced fat parmesan
And TONS of seasonings because we are making this FLAVORFUL!
I opted to make my own homemade tomato sauce because I love doing it, it is pretty easy, zero points and tastes great. Did I sell you on it! You can, of course, use a store bought sauce. Just be sure to account for the points difference. We will be using about 1.5 cups of sauce here.
For the granular sugar replacement, I typically use Lakanto or sometimes Swerve.
I used Banza pasta for this recipe, a whole box. I chose this fun shape that I can no where near pronounce correctly!! It has a lot of protein and fiber, I guess, but I am only in it for the fun shape.
A whole box is 4 servings. I typically use normal pasta but I found such fun shapes at Target for this pasta brand and I had to stock up. As I said, I used a whole box, 4 servings, to make this 4 serving dish. I got a lot of hate in a Facebook group a few weeks ago for my hamburger Mac and cheese recipe. People were upset that I used, technically, 3 servings of pasta to make a 4 serving dish. That is what works for me and the dish is very filling!! So this one is to the haters, enjoy a full serving of pasta. It was too much for me, I was uncomfortably stuffed but whatever!
I also got a ton of hate in that same Facebook group for calling this 'hamburger' Mac and cheese when it is, in fact, made with chicken. I mean come on, we can't use our imagination!!! Anyways, check that recipe out below.
Kraft makes some amazing reduced fat parmesan and that is what I used here.
What You Will Do:
Sauce-
First thing will be to make the tomato sauce. Just drain the tomatoes and add everything in a blender, then blend until smooth. Super simple and easy to do. I love my homemade tomato sauce and almost always make it. My husband is a very picky tomato sauce man and this is the only sauce we can both agree on.
You can use a store bought one too. Just calculate your own points.
Pasta-
Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, drain well then set aside.
Chicken-
Cut the chicken tenderloins into bite sized pieces, about 1 inch by 1 inch. You can use any cut of meat. I used chicken tenderloins because they are easier and quicker to cut up.
Season evenly with all the seasonings and toss to coat.
Heat a small pan over medium heat, greased with cooking spray. Once heated, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add in the cut up chicken and cook/flip until almost cooked, about 3-4 minutes per side.
Once almost cooked, spray with the butter spray then finish completely cooking the chicken. This will give it a nice sear and an amazing butter taste. Set that aside once finished.
In a large bowl, or in the pot the pasta cooked in for an easier clean up, combine the pasta, chicken and sauce. Stir to coat. Grab a casserole dish, I used an 8x8, and pour the pasta/chicken into the bottom. Flatten out with the back of the spoon.
In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs, parmesan and parsley. Sprinkle over the pasta/chicken in the casserole dish. This will create our crunchy, cheesy breading.
Broil the casserole until your desired crispness. We did about 5 minutes but we could have done longer.
About a heaping cup per serving! Enjoy!
Chicken Parm Pasta
Ingredients
Sauce
- 14.5 ounce diced tomatoes one can
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons oregano
- 2 tablespoons Italian seasonings
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon granular sugar replacement (Swerve or Monkfruit)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Pasta
- 1 box pasta Banza
Chicken
- 16 ounces chicken tenderloins
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon italian seasonings
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 20 sprays butter spray ICBINB
Chicken Parm Pasta
- ⅛ cup panko breadcrumbs italian
- ⅛ cup reduced fat parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon parsley
Instructions
Sauce
- Drain the tomatoes then add them to a blender. Add in the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Set aside. (About 1.5 cups sauce)
Pasta
- Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain well then set aside.
Chicken
- Cut chicken tenderloins up into bite-sized pieces, about 1 inch by 1 inch. Season both sides with the seasonings.
- Heat a small pan over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray to grease. Once heated, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute.
- Add the cut up chicken and cook until almost completely cooked, about 3-4 minutes per side.
- Once almost cooked, almost all the pink is gone, spray with the butter spray. Finish cooking the chicken.
Chicken Parm Pasta
- Once the pasta is cooked and drained, the chicken is cooked and the sauce is made, add all those ingredients in a large bowl, or the pot used to cook the pasta (for less clean up).
- Pour the pasta/chicken into the bottom of a casserole dish and flatten out.
- In a small bowl, stir together breadcrumbs, parmesan and parsley. Sprinkle evenly on top of the pasta/chicken.
- Broil on high for 5 minutes or until desired crispiness.
- about 1 heaping cup per serving
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