Bathed in a zippy sauce, this versatile Low Carb Chicken Parmesan Casserole is great for a dinner party, weekly meal prep, or your normal family dinner. Flavor infused at every step of the process, you’ll have everyone going back for seconds.
What You Need to Make Low Carb Chicken Parmesan Casserole
Equipment
- Cutting Board – For cutting the chicken into pieces.
- Chef’s Knife – For cutting the chicken into pieces.
- Zip Top Bags
- Measuring Cups
- Large Sauté Pan or Skillet
- Meat Tenderizer – Optional. This is for crushing the pork rinds.
Ingredients
- Boneless Skinless Chicken – You can use either breasts or thighs. Personally, I like thighs the best for this recipe.
- Spaghetti Italian Seasoning – You can either use store bought or make your own. See below if you want to make your own.
- Avocado Oil or Olive Oil – This is just for sauteing the chicken.
- Rao’s Marinara Sauce – Or red sauce of your choice. Pick a no sugar added one if you want to keep this low carb. 0
- Shredded Mozzarella
- Grated Parmesan
- Pork Rinds – Crushed. Alternatively, you could use keto bread crumbs.
Making Low Carb Chicken Parmesan Casserole
Prepping the Chicken
For the chicken, first I’m going to start with taking my chicken breasts and cutting them down into 2 – 3 inch pieces. They’re not quite bite size and will still require a knife and fork, but I like using this size because it gives people the option of how much to take rather than committing them to a whole chicken breast. If I’m making a variety, I prefer to make it easy for people to try multiple things rather than filling up on one. In my own Lori Logic way, I tend to view casseroles as a more practical way to make tapas but with extra sauce. So this 2-3 inch size or actual bite size pieces are my “go to”s. Anyway, I digress . . .
Once cut, my raw chicken pieces go straight into a gallon size zip top bag. I then add the seasoning to the chicken in the zip top bag, seal it, and shake it all around to get every piece of chicken covered. Then I put it in the fridge until I’m ready to cook it. In this case, that was overnight and I cooked them the next day right before making the casserole. You could also do most of the next steps the day before as well.
Cooking the Chicken
When you’re ready to cook the chicken, first get out your sheet pan and cover it with aluminum foil. Set it on a hot pad next to the pan you will use to cook the chicken. Heat your oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan, working in batches if needed to prevent overcrowding.
Cook the chicken completely (without drying it out). On my stove, this is about 4 minutes on the first side and then another 3 minutes on the second side. The best way to check is always to use an instant read thermometer to check them. However, since I cut them into many, many small pieces rather than using whole breasts, that would be a bit unwieldy. Personally, I use tongs for easier gripping. I let each piece cook on the first side until the edges start to change color / turn white-ish. Then I flip them and let them cook the rest of the way. The other nice thing about many small pieces is that you can pick a big / thick one and cut it open to make sure it is done and NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW, unlike if you’d left them as whole pieces.
Rest the done pieces on your foil-lined sheet pan while you finish the remaining batches.
Turn off the heat, move the pan off of the burner, let it cool down for a couple of minutes. Then, using your tongs, take a paper towel and wipe out any remaining oil or grease.
Assembling the Chicken Parmesan Casserole
Pour the marinara sauce into the mostly cooled pan, stir in 1.5 cups of the mozzarella.
Add the chicken back into the pan and stir to coat it in the sauce. It would technically be easier to do this step in a large bowl. However, I like to avoid extra dishes whenever possible, this is me being lazy.
Once combined, pour the sauced chicken into a well greased 9×13 inch casserole dish. Depending on the type of party you’re having and what your equipment is, you could also use a half size steam tray pan (the kind that you put over a steam bath and sterno). I’ve heard that having those isn’t normal, so a 9×13 inch casserole will do the trick.
Lori Soap Box Note: I would suggest that whatever type of dish or pan you put it in that it has a lid.
Top the casserole with the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella and the parmesan cheese.
Baking the Chicken Parmesan Casserole
If you are making this the day before your party, at this point, you can let it cool completely, cover it, and stick it in the fridge. Then on the day of, take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before you plan to put it into the oven. This will allow the dish to come up in temperature and not crack from the heat shock when you put it into the oven. If you forget to take it out in advance, just put the cold dish into the cold oven before you preheat it and let them both come up to temperature together. However, don’t start your bake time until the pre-heat is done.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.
Remove and sprinkle your crushed pork rinds over the top of the Chicken Parmesan Casserole and bake for another 10 minutes or until heated through.
This recipe also appears in my Easy Italian Dinner Party menu.
Chicken Parmesan Casserole
Ingredients
Chicken
- 6 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken can use breasts or thighs
- ⅓ cup Spaghetti Italian Seasoning See below if you want to make your own
- 2 – 3 Tablespoons Avocado Oil Or Olive Oil
- 24 ounces Rao’s Marinara Sauce 1 jar (or red sauce of your choice)
- 2.5 cups Shredded Mozzarella Divided: 1.5 cups mixed in with chicken and sauce; 1 cup for topping
- ¼ cup Grated Parmesan
- 1 cup Pork Rinds Crushed
Spaghetti Italian Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon Dried Oregano
- 1 tablespoon Dried Parsley
- 1 tablespoon Dried Basil
- 1 tablespoon Minced Onion
- ½ teaspoon Roasted Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Cut 6 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken into approximately 2 inch pieces, place in a zip top bag, add ⅓ cup Spaghetti Italian Seasoning to the bag, seal, and toss to coat.6 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken, ⅓ cup Spaghetti Italian Seasoning
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9×13 casserole dish.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saute pan. Saute the seasoned chicken, working in batches as needed to prevent overcrowding.2 – 3 Tablespoons Avocado Oil
- Line a sheet pan with heavy duty aluminum foil and set it on a hot pad next to the stove. As the pieces of chicken finish cooking, move them to the sheet pan and set aside.
- When all of the chicken is cooked, remove the pan from the heat, use a paper towel and tongs to wipe out any excess oil. Let the pan cool down for a couple minutes. Then pour in 24 ounces Rao’s Marinara Sauce (1 jar) and 1.5 cups of the shredded mozzarella. Stir. Add the chicken back into the pan and mix with the sauce and cheese. Alternatively, you can use a large mixing bowl.24 ounces Rao’s Marinara Sauce, 2.5 cups Shredded Mozzarella
- Transfer to a greased casserole dish. Top with the remaining shredded mozzarella and ¼ cup Grated Parmesan.2.5 cups Shredded Mozzarella, ¼ cup Grated Parmesan
- Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.
- Remove from oven, top with 1 cup Pork Rinds (crushed). Return to oven for 5 – 10 minutes until pork rinds begin to crisp up.1 cup Pork Rinds
- Serve warm.
Equipment
- Zip Top Bags
- Measuring Cups
