These chicken parmesan muffins have all the flavor of chicken parmesan in little meatloaf muffin form!
Two words that usually make me cringe when I see them on a menu: chicken parmesan.
Why?
Because it epitomizes crap Italian-American food, restaurants with a white, green and red color scheme on their sign (something that will immediately deter me from ever entering) and a deep fried piece of dry meat slathered in a jarred red sauce.
And, the saddest part is that most Americans think that’s what actual Italian food is.
That, fried calamari and mozzarella pronounced like it’s related to the applesauce company. I know we all can’t be Giada, but the “motts-a-rella” thing kills me.
Killlllls me.
I’m not trying to be some elitist American of Italian descent, but chicken parm should be light, full of fresh herb flavor with a hint of a salty bite from the parmesan cheese.
Not doused in sodium filled marinara sauce with enough grease dripping off of it to fry 10 pounds of potatoes.
So, when I accidentally picked up ground chicken instead of turkey a couple of weeks ago, I decided to run with the whole parmesan thing but in a meatloaf, muffin kind of way.
It was either that or make my ground chicken sausage patties for easy breakfasts. Both delicious options but chicken parm won out this time around.
A way that incorporated all the flavors of what chicken parmesan should be without the typical American bastardization (<—that’s kind of a fun word to use) of it.
They ended up coming out moist, filled with plenty of freshness from the parsley and basil, just enough salt from the parmesan and plenty of flavor from the sun dried tomatoes.
Topped with a dollop of sauce and shaving of fresh parmesan, it’s what Italian should taste like.
I made them with the intent of having a pre-made high protein quick option to add to meals for the week (similar to the turkey quinoa muffins) and they lasted all of 2 days between the two of us eating them at every meal we could justify (breakfast would’ve been a little weird).
No gaudy flag inspired decor, no grease, no nasty sauce.
Love light Italian flavored recipes like these chicken parmesan muffins? Be sure to try these turkey zucchini meatballs too!
And for another Italian classic with a twist, try this tomato butter stuffed chicken marsala!
Chicken Parmesan Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken breast
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup basil, chopped
- 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoon liquid egg whites
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a muffin tin or line with muffin cups.
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix together with hands until ingredients are fully distributed.
- Roll into balls to fit muffin tin (the mixture will be pretty wet) and drop in.
- Bake for approximately 35 minutes.
- Use a knife to help remove muffins once cooked and let cool on a wire rack.
- Top with fresh tomato sauce, basil and parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
These look so yummy and the pictures are wonderful! What a great way to broaden your child’s pallet as well. :)
Wow these look good. I just pinned them and can’t wait to try your recipe!
I think your recipe sound very good, but I’m italian, and we haven’t, in our traditin, a plate called “chicken parmigiana/ parmesean” It’s just an American’s invention!!! :)
Hello from Greece….googling for chicken recipes found your site! I’ll be visiting over!
I have made these 2 times now, love them!! I have only changed it slightly, great recipe! Now if only I could get a half way decent picture like yours I might post about them :)
It’s hard to make meat muffins look appealing. That shoot took forever! haha Who cares if they taste good, right? :)
I love making these (and eating them!). I usually get 7 muffins at 145 calories each. My husband loves them too which is a huge plus.
These look great to serve guests as an appetizer, but for myself, I would much prefer a fresh chicken breast coated with bread crumbs, topped with feta (mozzarella is flavorless), baked, placed on a toasted sour dough roll with with garlic and a little butter, and of course marinara sauce, as a lunch or dinner sandwich. It is delicious. I am American, I do understand my sandwich isn’t authentic Italian any more than is pizza, but I don’t care. (Nor do I believe that “most” Americans think these fast food restaurants’ foods are authentic either… they are just fast and cheap.). I eat what I enjoy and don’t limit my palate by only cooking things exactly as done by a specific country or in a specific region. One of the great things about America is that it is a melting pot, not just for people, but also for ideas. I love fusion cooking, not “bastardization” and the idea that we can all learn from and be influenced by a multitude of cultures to produce new flavors. My advice is not to frequent any fast food restaurants at all or all you will do is cringe.
I tried these last night, except I used ground turkey instead of chicken (I just don’t love ground chicken, and turkey is cheaper!). Very yummy. Thanks!
Glad you liked them! Turkey is a great substitute :)