My wonderful husband of 5+ years, Kevin, has two favorite foods that I make: chicken fajita burritos, which we nickname “farritos,” and chicken parmesan. There’s a reason that these are his two favorite dishes. When we first met, we were brand new Military Police officers. Young second lieutenants who were training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, which is basically the middle of nowhere. Kevin has a lot of skills, but cooking isn’t one of them. He’s a grill master, but in a kitchen with a stove and oven he relies on me. Honestly, I don’t mind at all, we make a great team and I’ve never felt like cooking for our family is a burden. He does a lot of things for our family that I don’t enjoy and I’m thankful that we balance each other so well.
When we first started dating in the fall of 2010, chicken fajitas and chicken parmesan were the two first dishes I made him. I don’t know if he likes them because they’re delicious or because of their nostalgia, but I think it’s a little bit of both. I decided to make a twist on one of our family’s favorite dishes and make this chicken parmesan gnocchi bake. Once you cook the gnocchi all the ingredients are thrown together and baked in a giant pan full of marinara sauce, melty cheese, and little gnocchi potato pillows. I used store-bought gnocchi in this recipe to save time but you can certainly make your own from scratch. I talk about making homemade gnocchi in this post.
Putting all the flavors of chicken parmesan in one dish is simply the best. It makes this dish so easy to prepare in advance and then pop in the oven during that crazy time of day when getting dinner on the table seems impossible. If your family loves pasta and you love easy meals, this is the dish for you. Serve it with a salad and dinner is good to go!
I hope you put this on your meal plan for the week. It’s a dish your whole family is sure to enjoy and that you’ll add into your meal rotation week after week.
- 2 x 16 oz. packages of gnocchi (or make your own)
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 28 oz. canned tomato sauce
- 15 oz. canned diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- ¼ tsp. ground black pepper
- ½ tsp. ground dried thyme
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2½ cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook gnocchi according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- In a large pot on the stove, heat olive oil. Add garlic and onion and cook until onions are translucent. Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, oregano, basil, pepper, thyme, and salt. Reduce to a simmer, then remove from heat.
- Add cooked chicken, gnocchi, and half of the mozzarella cheese. Stir to combine.
- Pour into a 13 x 9 baking dish. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until bubbling and cheese is melted.
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