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Chicken Marinara

Chicken Marinara

Chicken pieces coated with Parmesan and bread crumbs, fried and covered with a tomato basil marinara sauce, and topped with melted Mozzarella. My mother made this chicken marinara for dinner tonight and it was fabulous. She uses chicken thighs because they are more flavorful, but you could easily use breasts.

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Chicken Marinara Recipe

Ingredients

8 Tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 shallots, peeled, chopped
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 large eggs, beaten
9 boneless chicken thighs (skinless or skin-on, your preference), if large pieces, then cut in half
3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Method

1 Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots and sauté until tender, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, oregano, and crushed red pepper. Simmer until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Mix in basil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2 Blend breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese in small bowl. Place flour and eggs in separate shallow bowls. Coat chicken with flour, then eggs, then breadcrumb mixture.

3 Heat remaining oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches if necessary, add chicken and sauté until golden brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Place chicken pieces on a microwave-proof serving dish. Spoon sauce over chicken pieces. Sprinkle with Mozzarella cheese. Microwave on high heat for 10-20 seconds, just until the cheese has melted.

Makes 6 servings.

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23 Comments

This looks delicious. I'm putting it on my menu. With the recent rain, all I want is tasty and simply prepared chicken.

Posted by: home cook on December 4, 2006 1:15 AM

I was just thinking that I don't cook Italian-style food often enough, especially since I've cut back on eating pasta. This looks too good to pass up.

Posted by: lydia on December 4, 2006 3:12 AM

This looks so yummy!

Posted by: koffiekitten on December 4, 2006 6:00 AM

This looks like the perfect comfort food to fight the bad weather we've been having here lately. Absolutely mouth-watering, Elise! Can't wait to try it out!

Posted by: Meena on December 4, 2006 8:18 AM

Oh, that's wonderful Elise! I'm with your mom on this-chicken thighs rule. I love dishes like this, they're so satisfying.

Posted by: sher on December 4, 2006 1:32 PM

This looks wonderful. Can't wait to try it myself. I can smell and taste it already, MmmMmm.

Posted by: Wayne on December 4, 2006 2:15 PM

Oh that looks fantastic; I'll be bookmarking this one for sure.

And your mom is so right; chicken thighs are the way to go. They're much tastier than the breasts.

Posted by: telesilla on December 4, 2006 3:11 PM

Oh that looks so scrumptous. I MUST make that.

Posted by: Dave on December 4, 2006 4:45 PM

It's so good to see recipes with chicken thighs. Thigh meat is awesome. I don't understand skinless chicken breasts at all. Thigh meat is moister, tastier, cheaper.

A fast food place I used to work at served grilled chicken thigh meat. It was hard not to laugh at customers who asked for the "grilled white meat chicken."

good times...

Posted by: ha3rvey on December 4, 2006 8:47 PM

Hi. Chanced upon this site and have become a regular visitor.
Made this recipe but using Fish fillets. Was a big hit with family and friends. Of course being from India, had to add more of the red pepper :-)

Posted by: Rathi Varadarajan on December 6, 2006 1:48 AM

This looks excellent. Am going to try it this weekend. Question though, is it easy to debone chicken thighs? Or can you serve it with the bones in it. I will ask the butcher if he will do it but I doubt it. Thanks. Elise

Posted by: Elise Lafosse on December 6, 2006 9:58 AM

Hi Elise

Thanks for the great recipe!

It is easy to debone a thigh or chicken breast.
I have a sharp boning (curved blade) knife I use to debone meats with. I learned not to take off every bit of meat on the bones while trying to cut a chicken thigh or breast. I do not mangle the meat now. The small amount of meat left on the bones and the bones goes into my stock pot to make chicken broth. I use the broth instead of cream or milk when I make chicken gravy for roasted chicken.

Linda

Posted by: Linda on December 6, 2006 6:35 PM

I made this tonight, and it turned out fantastic. Seriously, a great recipe all around and a big hit, especially with fresh mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Fantastic, really.

Thanks for this!

Posted by: Chris Cardinal on December 7, 2006 9:12 PM

I did something like this a while back, only I wrapped the chicken in bacon before dipping it in batter and frying it. Bad for the heart I'm sure, but it's good for the tongue. Might want to cook the bacon a little before hand if you like it crispy.

Posted by: Daniel on December 10, 2006 10:15 PM

Daniel,

When I fry pork bacon for breakfast, I save the drippings which I store in a glass jar in the fridge. When I roast chicken I melt the bacon dripping with some butter and a little lemon juice and inject this into the bird. The extra fat keeps the chicken moist and yeah tasty too.

Linda

Posted by: Linda on December 12, 2006 1:38 PM

I'm planning to make this dish tonight. I love chicken thighs! Thanks for the recipe.

Posted by: Lisa on January 8, 2007 11:21 AM

Hi, I'm thinking of making this. However, my only apprehension is that, after dipping the chicken in the flour, parmesan, breadcrumbs, and mozzarella, the ingredients now covering the chicken may burn before the chicken itself cooks... the only solution I could think of is steaming the chicken before dipping it in the ingredients. Do you think the chicken might lose some flavor if I were to steam it first? please advise. But, dont get me wrong, the recipe looks absolutely sumptuous.

Posted by: Wene on January 24, 2007 12:17 AM

I made this recipe last night - we loved it.
It's absolutely delicious and easy to make.
A great heartening winter recipe!
Just one tip : Wene's comment about the breadcrumbs and parmesan burning before the chicken cooks (I had the same concern) : so I dipped the raw chicken thighs in the flour, egg, parmesan and breadcrumb mixture and then baked them in the oven for about 40 minutes - I covered them for about 30 minutes so the breadcrumbs wouldn't burn and then took off the cover to left them get golden for the last 10 minutes.
Turned out a treat !!

Posted by: Marie / Paris on March 2, 2007 11:51 AM

I made this for dinner tonight, and we had the extra sauce over penne (only cooked 5 thighs instead of 9). Delicious! I didn't have a problem at all with the crust cooking/burning before the chicken was done. I did put a lid on the chicken for the last couple minutes of cooking time to make sure they got cooked through. Another winner, thanks!

Posted by: Janelle on April 16, 2007 4:52 PM

This dish was so good. I made it last night and it was perfect. Did everything it said and my family loved it!!!!

Posted by: lynn on August 28, 2007 4:31 PM

I made this last night and used skinless boneless breasts (force of habit).
I did everything as mentioned above and had no problem with the breadcrumb outer layer burning. I left the chicken breaded at room temp for about 15 mins before putting into the pan though and also covered the pan for the last few mins of cooking. Was excellent. This will be my new pasta sauce from now on also.

Posted by: Matt on February 10, 2009 8:48 PM

I made this tonight, and I suggest to SKIP the flour. I tried it once and the crumbs and cheese mixture did not adhere well, so I dipped it only in the crumbs and cheese, and that worked fine. I also made mine in an eletric skillet, cooked it longer to be sure it was cooked through. I put a lid on it to help melt the cheese and skipped the microwave. All three of my kids liked this!!

Posted by: betsy b on June 17, 2009 6:21 PM

Chicken Marinara? This is actually a recipe for chicken parmesan, although normally the chicken is put in a baking dish with the marinara and mozzarella and baked, rather than microwaving. Incidentally, the oven baked version works best if you use cuts of meat that have been pounded very thin.

Posted by: Heather on February 2, 2010 11:32 AM

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