Kittencal's Baked Marinara Mozzarella Chicken Breasts Recipe

"A huge plus about this recipe is that you can coat the breasts, brown them in oil and then refrigerate before continuing with the remainder of the recipe which makes this a great recipe to serve to dinner guests, 30 minutes before serving just drizzle with the marinara sauce and bake! I use my marinara sauce (posted here on the site) or use your own favorite marinara or pasta sauce, it’s best to use fresh not frozen thawed breasts for this, with previous experience cooking frozen thawed breasts sometimes tend to create a soggy crust, if you are using frozen thawed make certain that your chicken breasts are completely thawed with no extra moisture left in them"

Step by Step Method

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 2

Set oven rack to lowest position.

Step 3

Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

Step 4

In a shallow dish mix together the breadcrumbs with the next 5 ingredients.

Step 5

In another shallow bowl whisk the eggs.

Step 6

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat (use enough oil to coat bottom of the skillet).

Step 7

Dip the breasts first in the egg (shaking off any excess egg) and then coat in the breadcrumbs mixture.

Step 8

Place in oil and cook on both sides until browned (about 3-4 minutes on each side, do not cook the breasts completely just until the outside breadcrumb coating is lightly browned).

Step 9

Place the browned breasts single layer in the greased casserole dish.

Step 10

At this point you may cool and refrigerate the chicken until ready to bake.

Step 11

Spread about 1/4 to 1/3 cup the marinara sauce over the browned breasts (not too much sauce or it will cause the outside breading to turn soggy and soft, if you do not mind that then use as much sauce as you like!).

Step 12

Bake for about 45 minutes or until the chicken is done (if you are baking the chicken from refrigerated then cooking time might take a little longer also cooking time will vary depending on the size of the chicken breasts).

Step 13

Remove the chicken and place 1 or 2 slices of mozzarella cheese on top of each cooked breast then return to oven for amount 4-5 minutes or until cheese is hot and bubbly or place under the broiler to melt cheese.