I started paying attention to my food choices more in college, and especially after college, and started to seek out healthier options. I thought for a long time that eating healthy meant staying away from Italian food. All that pasta. All that pizza. All those heavy cream sauces. I hated going to Italian restaurants cause there was rarely anything I wanted. Then I visited Italy. I went with my family right after I graduated from college - literally flew from Chicago (I went to Northwestern - Go Wildcats!) to Rome that weekend. And sure, there was lots of pasta and pizza on the menus. But also so much fresh seafood, so many vegetables and of course, lots of fresh tomato sauces. It wasn’t Italian food after all. It was some blips of Americanized Italian food done poorly. So to right that wrong, I present this healthy Italian chicken bake. Just lots of veggies, an easy tomato sauce and crispy chicken cutlets that are super simple to throw together. No, really. I was too lazy for even a proper dredging station. I just put the chicken tenders on top of the veggies and sauce and sprinkled them with the Panko-Parmesan mix. Zero fuss and they get perfectly crunchy and golden brown. (Though if you’re looking for some classic chicken fingers, check out my crunchy baked chicken tenders. A family favorite!) OK, let’s get cooking. I’ve got a few notes and substitutions coming up on how to make this recipe. Feel free to scroll down to the bottom of the post, to the recipe card, if you prefer.
Ingredient Notes:
Bell pepper: I tend to go for a green bell pepper in this recipe, but any color would work. Mushrooms: White button are easy, available and affordable but this would be delicious with baby bella or cremini mushrooms as well. Tomatoes: I use one big can of diced tomatoes. You could also try this with crushed tomatoes or use 2 (14.5 oz.) cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes or a flavored diced tomato. Chicken: You can buy chicken tenders from the store or use regular boneless, skinless chicken breasts and just cut them into even 1-inch wide strips. Red pepper flakes: This add some oomph without much heat. Feel free to adjust and add more if you want to make this a little on the spicy side.
As for serving, you can use whole wheat spaghetti or couscous or polenta or just serve it with a chunk of crusty bread. Or you can go low-carb and eat it as is. Or with some chick peas or cannellini beans mixed in - that’s good, too. (You might also like this Italian chicken skillet with chickpeas.) However you serve it, it’s light, it’s healthy, it’s Italian. Glad we cleared that up. 🙂 Enjoy! XO, Kathryn
