Would you believe me if I told you that you can have an entire chicken entrée, including a homemade tomato sauce, ready in fifteen minutes? This Grilled Chicken Parmigiana is the easiest weeknight meal, and it’s a crowd pleaser. Seasoned, grilled chicken breast topped with a fresh chunky tomato sauce and melted mozzarella; this dish is proof that you can make quick and easy meals for your family and still eat healthy.
What’s great about grilled chicken parmigiana
This meal offers all of the comforts of a cheesy baked meal, but without any frying or breadcrumbs. This makes a great meal for anyone trying to cut some carbs, or if you are just looking for a super easy weeknight meal. You will be done cooking dinner in 15 minutes flat, from start to finish.
Sometimes you just run out of ideas for dinner, but this meal features ingredients you probably already have on hand. The main components of this dish are chicken breast, diced tomatoes, and mozzarella. You can also use jarred marinara sauce if you have that on hand too. Whatever works!
Paired with some veggies, or thrown over a salad, this will quickly become one of your weeknight go-to meals, especially with grilling season coming up.
What you’ll need to make grilled chicken parmigiana
- thin sliced chicken breast
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- kosher salt
- paprika
- fresh cracked pepper
- olive oil spray
- garlic cloves
- diced tomatoes
- basil
- fat free mozzarella
- you can use reduced fat or even full fat; whatever you have will work perfectly
How to make the chicken
For this recipe, I recommend using thin-sliced chicken breast to cut down the cooking time. If you can’t find thin-sliced chicken breast, you can use 1.5 lbs of regular chicken breasts (this should be around two pieces). Then, cut each breast into three thinner slices to end up with six total pieces.
To make the chicken, simply combine the spices and rub them all over the chicken breast. Preheat a grill pan like this one over medium high heat. Before cooking, spray the grill pan with non-stick spray, and then grill the chicken for about five minutes per side. Since the chicken is so thin, it doesn’t need much time at all to cook.
If you don’t have a grill pan, you can do this in a regular frying pan or skillet. In the warmer months, you can grill the chicken on an outdoor grill. Remember, this recipe is all about whatever works for you and whatever makes this easy for you.
How to make the sauce
While the chicken is cooking, it’s the perfect time to make the quick pan tomato sauce.
Start off by mincing the garlic and placing it in a frying pan with some olive oil spray. Then, turn the heat on to medium. Cook the garlic for about one minute, and then add the can of diced tomatoes and the kosher salt.
Cook this mixture for about 7-10 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated, and you are left with a nice, chunky tomato sauce. Then, add the fresh basil and set it aside.
How to put it all together
When the chicken is cooked, keep the chicken on the grill pan, and then top the chicken pieces with the tomato sauce. Then, top it with the cheese. Spray the cheese with some olive oil spray (this helps the cheese melt). Cover with a lid or foil to melt.
You can also plate the chicken and pop the plate into the microwave or under the broiler for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Then, sprinkle the finished dish with some more fresh basil.
Grilled Chicken Parmigiana
Equipment
- grill pan or outdoor grill
- frying pan
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 ½ lbs chicken breast, cut into 6 thin pieces
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp paprika
- fresh cracked black pepper
- olive oil spray
Tomato Sauce and Topping
- olive oil spray
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 14 oz diced tomatoes, can
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup fat free mozzarella
- 1/4 cup basil, plus more for garnish
Instructions
- If you are using full chicken breasts, slice each chicken breast into thinner slices to create six thin-sliced chicken breasts.
- In a small bowl, combine the garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, paprika and black pepper, and rub it all over the chicken.
- Preheat an indoor grill pan over medium high heat.
- Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- Grill the chicken for five minutes on each side, or until cooked through.
- Meanwhile, while the chicken cooks, prepare the tomato sauce.
- In a frying pan, add olive oil spray and the minced garlic. Turn the heat to medium.
- Cook for one minute or until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- Add the diced tomatoes and the kosher salt. Cook for about 7 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated, leaving a chunky tomato sauce.
- Stir in the fresh basil.
- Lay the cooked chicken in a serving dish.
- Top with the marinara and the cheese. Spray olive oil spray on top of the cheese.
- Pop in the microwave for 2 minutes to melt the cheese.
- Top with more basil for garnish.
Notes
- Blue and Purple Plans:
- 0 WW points for 1 piece
- 1 WW point for up to 4 pieces
- Green Plan:
- 1 WW point per piece
Nutrition
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Omg so good! My husband even liked it.
Will definitely be making this a lot! Thanks so much for the recipe.
Looks delicious…can’t wait to make it!!
Question though, how is it 0ww points with the cheese on it?
It’s fat free cheese, and 1/4 cup is zero points! So this recipe uses 1 cup divided among 6 pieces
Oh!! Ok thanks so much! Can’t wait to try !!
Love the simplicity of this recipe, yet it always hit the spot. Absolutely delicious! This is on our regular rotation. Thank you!
Delicious!!
Made this for my birthday dinner and it received rave reviews from young and old (socially distanced) guests, alike. Another fabulous recipe, Steph. Thank you!
This was delicious! So easy and quick to make!
So good! I could not get over how good the sauce tasted for such simple ingredients. I’m cooking challenged and this recipe is definitely easy to make. My husband loved it too which is a win. A part of the weekly rotation for sure.
Turned out so delicious! So easy too! Thank you!
So easy and SO delicious. I think this may be one of the most yummy dishes of Steph’s that I have made. Was also shocked at how low point it was on WW! Will definitely make this again and again.
How many ww points is it
This was honestly my favorite chicken parm ever! we served it with arugula and thin spaghetti aglio e olio. Love your recipes!
All my kids loved this recipe and gave it 5 stars. I took the advice from the other reviews and marinated the chicken in Italian dressing before I dipped the chicken pieces in 2./3 cup grated parmesan cheese 1 TBSP Italian seasonings 1/2 tsp garlic salt and 1 cup Panko bread crumbs. I had to bake the chicken 50 minutes since my chicken was on the thick side. The chicken came out crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. Enjoy!
I made this for the first time tonight, and it is AMAZING! It was such an easy, quick dinner and I am excited for the leftovers. I may pit it on top of some pasta tomorrow!
Can’t stop raving about this dish! Soo simple and sooo much flavor! I baked zucchini on the side and added some of the sauce on top of that and oh my yummm!
One of my favorite recipes! It’s so simple yet so delicious! My husband loves it too. Thanks for such a great weeknight recipe!
Very good! Great low
Point dinner if you’re on WW.
Made this last week for dinner, and it will not be the last time. My husband couldn’t stop raving about it (and he’s the kind of person who just eats and doesn’t say anything). Super easy dinner for those busy nights where you want a healthy filling dinner, but don’t have time for a super long recipe.
Every time the weather gets warm I start craving this! We had a warm snap earlier in the month and immediately had to make it! It really hits the spot!
Made this for a dinner party and it was easy and very tasty!