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I think the phrase my daughter says to me the most in life is, “Mom, are we having chicken agaaaaaaain?” Which is fair, because I do make chicken a lot. It’s my go-to protein. But I definitely do try to change it up! It’s not like we’re having the same style of chicken night after night, and this Baked Ricotta Chicken is an excellent way to change things up. It’s comforting but easy to make, and it’s delicious too. It works as a main dish next to your choice of veggies or it’s ideal piled over pasta.
This dish takes a few cues from Chicken Parm, but instead of breading and frying chicken, you’re just baking it in the oven. Simple! And, of course, ricotta is the main star instead of parm. (But that makes an appearance too.) You’ll just mix up some ricotta, parm, garlic, basil, and Italian seasoning in a bowl and then spread it on top of four boneless, skinless chicken breasts that you’ve nestled into a baking dish lined with marinara.
And then you bake. That’s it. There’s no stovetop searing to be done, no chopping… it’s really about as easy as dinner gets. Just pop it in a baking dish and pop it in the oven.
You’ll bake this for twenty minutes and then top it with some mozzarella before you return it to the oven to finish cooking through. The mozzarella gives you that nice ooey-gooey cheese experience while the ricotta brings the creaminess.
All you need to round it out is some pasta, which you can boil while the chicken is in the oven. How easy is that?
Baked Ricotta Chicken
Allergens: Milk
Diet: Gluten-Free
Watch How It's Made
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Ingredients
- 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
- Fresh basil, for serving (optional)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- To a medium bowl, add the ricotta, parmesan, garlic, basil, and Italian seasoning. Stir to combine.
- Spread half of the marinara sauce out in the bottom of 9x13-inch baking dish.
- Place chicken in baking dish, then top each chicken cutlet evenly with the ricotta mixture.
- Spoon the remaining marinara over the top, then cover dish tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
- Uncover, then top chicken with mozzarella and return to oven until chicken is cooked through (165°F), about 15 minutes.
- Broil 1-2 minutes on high to brown the cheese, if desired, then let chicken rest 5 minutes before serving, topped with additional fresh basil, if you'd like. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Restless Chipotle.