I feel like chicken parmesan tonight. How about you? All I have to do is warm a jar of marinara and boil spaghetti noodles because my chicken parmesan was made ahead of time and frozen. Since, I often boil two pounds of spaghetti at one time and make homemade marinara and freeze, this meal will come together in 15 minutes.
I begin this recipe butterflying 8 large chicken breasts into cutlets 16 cutlets. I mix up the wet ingredients in a glass measuring cup and whisk together.
Soak the cutlets in the buttermilk. I allowed mine to soak about thirty minutes, but shorter or longer is fine.
I prepared the bread crumb mixture in a 9×13 pan and set it side by side. The cutlet go from the buttermilk into the crumbs and lay on a single layer pan. I press the crumbs onto the wet chicken and turn and repeat.
I had two 9×13 pans of cutlets and I baked them at 375 for twenty minutes. Alternately you could fry these in olive oil, but I like to keep our meals light by baking and using low-fat buttermilk when possible.
Then I allowed them to cool for thirty minutes. I layered two layers of cutlets on foil to flash freeze for thirty minutes to one hour. Simply stick this pan on a shelf and freeze for until semi-solid.
I transfered 4 cutlets in to labeled quart size freezer bags. I gently squeeze out the air. Add 4 bags of chicken parmsean to your freezer inventory.
Now I have four bags of chicken parmesan, but I won’t have the usual chicken parmesan with marinara and spaghetti every time. I’m going to make chicken parmesan subs one night, perhaps eat them plain with twice baked potatoes or macaroni and cheese. This is my first time making this so I will see how the kids like it best.
I’ll thaw these for 24 hours and make some kind of 15-minute chicken parmesan meal for dinner.
Chicken Parmesan Recipe
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8 large chicken breasts, butterflied into 16 cutlets
4 cups whole wheat bread crumbs (you can make your own from whole wheat bread in the food processor-I used whole wheat panko crumbs)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Preheat oven to 375. Combine buttermilk, garlic powder and black pepper in a large glass measuring cup and whisk. Pour chicken cutlets in 9×13 pan and cover with buttermilk mixture. Allow to marinate up to an hour. Combine crumbs, salt and Italian seasoning. Press crumbs firmly onto chicken and flip and repeat. Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes or until coating is crisp and juices run clear. Cool completely and flash freeze up to an hour. Transfer to labeled quart size freezer bags. Thaw 24 hours prior to reheating. Cover with marinara and top with provolone cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for twenty to thirty minutes. Serve on a hot bed of pasta.
Enjoy this meal tonight and freeze three portions for your family or deliver to a family in need. Imagine receiving this time-consuming meal as a ministry? Shhhh, we won’t tell you got it from the freezer;)
Have you ever thought about baking and freezing chicken parmesan?
This recipe is linked to other ten minute tasty ideas from Tasty Tuesday.
