Oven Baked Italian Chicken

Another Easy weeknight dinner that will become a firm family favorite. This Oven Baked Italian Chicken Casserole is made with 5 Basic Ingredients (which you probably already have in your kitchen right now).

Don't be fooled by the simplicity of this recipe. It takes a couple minutes to prep, and then you simply pop it in the oven and let the heat do all the work.

The flavors combine to make a thick, slightly sweet tomato sauce which surrounds the super tender pieces of chicken.

Does this Recipe work for all Chicken Cuts?

Yes! Absolutely! You may have to vary the cooking time depending on the cut of chicken you use. This recipe uses chicken thigh fillets, but feel free to use any chicken pieces you have on hand.

Chicken Breasts: Reduce cooking time by 10 minutes
Chicken Drumsticks : Check that chicken is cooked through. I like to precook my chicken drumsticks a little on the BBQ or under a hot grill before adding the sauce.

I do find that chicken thighs and drumsticks make for a tastier dish. If you are using chicken breasts, I recommend stirring a little chicken stock through the tomato sauce as it lifts the flavor a little.

A 5 Ingredient Dinner Recipe

It's hard to believe that this Chicken Bake only needs FIVE Ingredients. Often when a recipe calls for a minimal amount of ingredients it turns out a little too good to be true and generally ends up as a gigantic disappointment that looks nothing like the promised result.

This recipe is an exception - mostly because it relies on a couple kitchen shortcuts.

Brown your chicken before baking. This adds a whole lot more flavor to the dish. I have a gas BBQ set up on our deck which I use to brown meat quickly and easily, but you can use a hot skillet or turn your oven onto grill for a couple minutes. You don't have to cook your chicken through - you simply want to add a little color.
Bottled Pasta Sauce is the best invention!! We stock up on good quality pasta sauce every month. I use it in a whole bunch of recipes. Sure you can make your Homemade Pasta Sauce (and I used to), but this is the one product I now purchase rather than make from scratch. It costs the same and saves me time in the kitchen. Read the label and make sure that you recognize EVERY single ingredient on the list.
Mixed Italian Herbs. Browse through the herbs and spices shelf at your local supermarket and you are guaranteed to find pre-mixed Italian herbs. This is usually a compilation of Oregano, Thyme and Rosemary.

Want more Quality 5 Ingredient Recipes?

Take a look at these healthy family favorites with 5 ingredients OR LESS:

Sides to Serve with this dish

I serve this Italian Chicken bake in three ways.

with Pasta - Serve on freshly made pasta and a salad on the side
with Mashed Potato - I usually serve this dish with mashed potato and honey carrots
with Fresh Bread - If I make this dish as a lunch, I usually like to slice up some fresh sour dough which we dip into the sauce. Yup this is as good as it sounds!

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Oven Baked Italian Chicken

Another Easy weeknight dinner that will become a firm family favorite. This Oven Baked Italian Chicken Casserole is made with 5 Basic Ingredients (which you probably already have in your kitchen right now).

Author Clean Eating With Kids

Ingredients

4 Chicken Thighs or breasts
4 cups of Organic Pasta Sauce
½ cup black olives quartered
½ cup grated Cheese
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt and Pepper

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 350' Fahrenheit.
Brown your chicken on a hot skillet or under the grill for a couple minutes. Lay chicken on an ovenproof dish.
Pour over the pasta sauce, sprinkle with cheese, black olives and seasoning.
Pop it in the hot oven for 30-40 minutes.
The cheese will be grilled and the pasta sauce reduced to a thick tomato gravy.