Chicken Parmesan Casserole

I pin a lot of recipes.  But for some reason, I never think to check my Pinterest boards when I'm planning my week's menu.  Last weekend, I did.  And I discovered I had pinned this GEM of a recipe!

It was absolutely fabulous!  And so very easy.  I love a casserole that calls for raw chicken so I don't have to take the time to cook it first.

I used garlic cheese croutons, but any flavor would be delicious.  I didn't have fresh basil, so I used dried.  I might use garlic powder next time. It's hard to "sprinkle" minced garlic.  I skipped the red pepper flakes and used black pepper instead.

The only thing I had to change was I had to cover it about half way through because the top was getting pretty brown.  I was worried to bake it for 20 more minutes without covering the top.  Next time I will cover it first for 20 minutes, then uncover it for the rest of the baking time.

Here is the original link, in case you're interested.  It comes from emilybites.com.

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

2 lbs raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup fresh basil, finely chopped
2 cups marinara/pasta sauce
1 ½ cups 2% reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 oz Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, divided
3.5 oz garlic croutons, roughly crushed, leaving some larger pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Spread the cubed pieces of chicken across the bottom of the baking dish in a single layer. Sprinkle the minced garlic, red pepper flakes and basil evenly over the chicken. Spread the sauce evenly across the top.

On top of the sauce layer, sprinkle ¾ cup of the Mozzarella and one ounce of the Parmesan evenly across the dish. Sprinkle the crushed croutons across the top and follow with the remaining cheese.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.