Chicken Parm Bake

It's not chicken parmesan....it's better! It's a lot easier, less messy and so good! I found this recipe on Pinterest and we've eaten it twice since then.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
red pepper flakes, to taste
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (we used boneless skinless thighs)
2 cups marinara sauce
1/4 cup chopped basil (I just liberally sprinkled dried basil)
8 oz mozzarella cheese
4 oz parmesan cheese (I just used the Kraft stuff in the can...I'm too cheap to use real parmesan)
1 pkg (5oz-ish) garlic croutons

Method:

1.) Drizzle oil, chopped garlic and red pepper flakes in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Place raw chicken breasts on top. Just cram them in.

2.) Pour marinara sauce over the chicken and sprinkle basil.

3.) This is where I made a departure from the original recipe. Watch the video if you want the true non-Kirstenized recipe. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

4.) Take chicken out of the oven and add half the mozzarella and parm cheese. Top with croutons, then add the other half of the cheese. This is important. That layer of cheese separating the croutons keeps them from getting totally soggy and gross.

5.) Bake for 20 minutes more until cheese is nice and golden brown.

6.) Yum!!

PS: When I made this the first time, I followed the directions exactly and ended up with undercooked, bleedy chicken (Eww!) so I baked it longer. By the time the chicken was cooked through, the croutons and cheese were totally burned. So, the second time I made this I left the cheese and stuff off until the end, and that turned out much MUCH better.