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 sound so great! And your pictures ended up beautiful! :)
love all your new high protein ideas! And I agree–any restaurant with the white red and green color scheme completely deters me.
Dumb question alert. Are the sun-dried tomatoes oil packed?
Not dumb at all! I should’ve specified…I used dry ones not packed in oil but if you drain them, I think it would be fine to use the oil packed ones. It’s pretty much meatloaf so it doesn’t have to be exact :)
Prettiest savory muffins ever! The food styling, the red and green, the herbs, just…gorgeous!
Love this, Gina! I love Italian food but I have never been a huge fan of chicken parmesan, for the reasons you mention. These muffins are a great twist though. It sounds so good!
I absolutely LOVE this and will definitely be giving them a try!
I absolutely love making meatloaf in a muffin tin – It’s so darned easy and perfect for portioning. I haven’t made chicken meatloaf in a long time, so I think I need to remedy that. This recipe looks perfect!
This looks incredible!
I agree about Italian Food and I don’t know who thinks Olive Garden is Italian? I love this idea of your chicken parm muffins. This is one I”m going to make. I think my family will love it, if not, I know I will! :)
Is that all just natural light? Or do you use extra light?
all natural :)
So jealous. Can I move in?