Meal Prep 1/2/22: Chicken Parm

Hi there! Happy New Year and happy Sunday! Do you meal prep? Do you try to do it on Sunday? I do my best work in the kitchen when I have several hours of time to just go to work and get everything planned out for the week. Today I prepped some kids lunches, snacks for myself, and one of my favorite low carb (probably not super low fat!) freezer meals. Chicken Parmesan with Spaghetti Squash!

I like to make a lot of this up ahead of time and freeze it in single serve meals. Spaghetti squash is such a great substitute for pasta, but to freeze it, you really need to let it cool and drain it well. Otherwise this dish will end up sort of soggy. 

Let's start with the squash. I cut mine lengthwise and sprinkle with salt and pepper and use my olive oil sprayer to coat the insides. Flip them upside down on a sheet pan and let them bake until they are fork tender. Once they're done, scrape out the squash and set aside to drain in a colander and make sure it is well drained and cool before prepping. I even give it a good squeeze sometimes!

Next, you'll want to get your chicken baking in the oven. This is my absolute favorite way to bake chicken. First, I lay out my chicken in a baking pan and brush it liberally with mayo. Sometimes I use ranch, depending on the recipe. I call this the dipping method. You only need to coat the top of the chicken and its much less of a mess. Brushing with mayo really makes the chicken retain its moisture, as chicken breasts can be sort of dry anyways (I never said this was a low fat/cal recipe!!).

Now for the dipping part! I mixed up a cup or two of various bread crumbs and panko, parmesan cheese and some Italian seasonings. You may want to salt and pepper the chicken first, or add some to the mix depending on whether or not your Italian seasoning has salt in it. Dip the mayo side of the chicken and press down and the mixture will stick to the chicken perfectly! Put the chicken back on the pan and spritz with the oil so the bread crumbs brown up nicely (You need one of these oil spritzers! And this seasoning)

 

Bake the chicken at 375 degrees for 45-60 minutes. This of course depends on how much chicken is on the pan and the thickness of the breasts. If you use the pre-cut tenders, they can be done in as little as 20 minutes! Once they're done, the bread crumbs should be golden brown. Let them cool for a bit before you slice into the meat.

Assemble your meal! You can portion this out however you want. Just be aware that the spaghetti squash might get a little watery if you plan on freezing and reheating. I put my squash in first, then a layer of the sliced chicken, topped with spaghetti sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan or mozzarella cheese. Once they're cool enough, I put them into the freezer for a quick and fairly low carb meal. 

I've also portioned out just the chicken in smaller containers to add to mashed potato bowls, salads, another pasta dish, etc. It's a really tasty chicken recipe that goes with many meals. I hope you try the dipping method for your next chicken dish too! It's a game changer!

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Happy Cooking!