Baked breaded chicken with grape tomatoes, red onion, mozzarella and served with a side of butter noodles.

Breaded Chicken with Tomatoes and Cheese

This recipe is reminiscent of chicken parmesan but less saucy!  I had a container of mixed grape tomatoes on their last leg, red onion and shredded mozzarella in the fridge that needed to go so here we go! 

Ingredients: 

  • 2 chicken breasts
  • pint of grape tomatoes 
  • 1/2 small red onion chopped 
  • 2 garlic cloves (or garlic powder)
  • 1/2 cup+ panko breadcrumbs 
  • 1/4 cup italian breadcrumbs (you don't need to use the italian breadcrumbs. I like to use a mixture of smaller crumbs with the larger panko, feel free to leave out or use parmesan cheese instead!) 
  • one egg
  • mozzarella cheese 
  • hot cooked noodles tossed in butter, olive oil, basil or other italian seasonings if desired

Make It: 

  • Preheat oven to 375°
  • Slice your chicken breasts in half lengthwise, put a large piece of plastic wrap over chicken, and pound away until chicken breasts are thinner and even in size.  They don't need to be super thin here, go for even thickness
  • Crack egg in one bowl and whisk.  Pour breadcrumb mixture in another bowl and feel free to use extra italian seasonings such as basil, oregano, seasoned salt, whatever you like! 
  • Get an oven safe skillet nice a piping hot then add some olive oil so the bottom of pan has full coverage of oil 
  • Dredge each piece of chicken in the egg, then the breadcrumbs, and gently lay in hot oil
  • Cook for 2-3 minutes per side
  • Now! If you're in a time crunch, start another skillet with a smaller amount of olive oil and add the grape tomatoes whole and chopped red onion. Saute until onions are soft and tomatoes are getting charred and juicy.  Smash some of the tomatoes to release some of the juices! Add crushed garlic for the last 30 seconds of cooking.  Pour on top of chicken. 
    • If you're not on a time crunch, feel free to remove the chicken after cooking and cook the tomatoes, onion and garlic in the same skillet. Once done shovel them to the side, add the chicken back in and spoon the mixture on top of the chicken. 
  • Add heaping piles of mozzarella on top of the chicken and tomatoes and pop that skillet into the oven.  Let bake for 15-20 minutes depending on how thick or thin your chicken in.  
  • While that's baking, cook up some noodles to serve with (we used Rigatoni since that was in the pantry already)
  • I also steamed some broccoli, but a side salad would also go well as well as some garlic bread! 

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