I am so excited to share this recipe with you today because it is one of my family’s favorites year round. In the winter, we enjoy this over zoodles (zucchini noodles) or a bed of spaghetti squash. In the summer, I ditch the noodles and opt for a fresh salad on the side.
Something about adding avocado to the top of this lightened up chicken parmesan recipe gives it a really fresh flavor. Its also a great way to get in those blue containers or healthy fats. Or just fulfill your avocado craving.
Unlike most chicken parmesan recipes, this recipe bakes the chicken as opposed to pan frying it. The cutlet remains moist and flavorful though so you won’t feel like you are missing a thing.
I use thinly-sliced cutlets when I make this dish but you could also use regular chicken breasts and pound them thin. When cooking an Italian chicken dish like chicken parmesan or chicken marsala the key is to work with a thin piece of meat.
Ingredients
- 4 thinly sliced chicken cutlets
- 3/4 cup seasoned whole wheat bread crumbs (don’t be afraid to make your own)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 Tbsp lite Italian dressing
- 1/2 cup no-sugar added marinara
- 1/4 cup part-skim mozzarella
- 1/2 ripe avocado (I wrap the rest in plastic to make toast for lunch)
Begin by preheating your oven to 400 and lightly spraying a glass baking dish with a non-stick cooking spray. Then, combine bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in a bowl.
Add your Italian dressing to another bowl and lightly brush onto chicken. If you have the time you can even let your chicken marinate in the dressing for a few hours. Dip your chicken cutlet into the breadcrumb mixture next.
Place in the baking dish and add about 1 Tbsp marinara to each cutlet. Cover and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven, add avocado and 1 Tbsp mozzarella to each cutlet. Return to the oven just until cheese is melted (about 5 minutes).
You can finish under the broiler for a couple minutes if you really want to brown and crispen your cheese.
I use my paderno spiralizer to make zoodles. For this recipe, I used three good sized zucchini to feed our family of three and have a little leftover for later in the week. Spiralizing zucchini is not hard but many grocery stores sell pre-spiralized if you would like to skip that step. To cook my zoodles, I simply saute them in a skillet with a little extra virgin olive oil just until they are al dente.
SaveSaveSaveSave
