Do ya’ll like mushrooms? I absolutely love mushrooms.
When I was a kid, however, I hated mushrooms. Honestly, I think all kiddos do and I was the same. I remember mom making things occasionally with mushrooms and I would methodically pick out all the mushroom pieces that I could see before I would even take a bite.
Something changed as I got older and now I love mushrooms. It’s funny how tastes change as you get older.
I also was not a fan of oysters either when I was little and I had tried them all different ways – raw, boiled, fried, steamed, whatever – and I could just not stand them. Then for some reason when I met my hubby, he ordered oysters one night on a date and I didn’t want to just flat out say no so I tried one.
I don’t know what he did to them that night but from then on, I love them. Haha! It’s so crazy.
What’s one thing that you used to not like when you were little but not you love?
Moving on…
Today I’m sharing a new favorite with you guys – baked mozzarella chicken. I feel like I’ve been making similar and different versions of this dish for years.
We start with pounding the chicken to even thickness and then searing it on either side for color and to seal in the juices. Place the chicken into a non-stick baking dish and add the onions, mushrooms, garlic, and seasonings to the skillet.
We want to just slightly wilt the onions and mushrooms and release some flavor with the garlic and seasonings but not too much because they will continue to cook in the baking dish with the chicken.
After placing the mushrooms over top of the chicken, you’re going to deglaze the pan with some chicken broth – scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan – and cooking slightly to reduce.
Pour the broth over the chicken and mushrooms and bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the oven and top with freshly sliced mozzarella cheese.
Place back into the over for about 4-5 minutes until the cheese is just melted. Ah, so delicious.
Remove from oven, top with fresh parsley, then let cool for about 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
Even though my kids don’t really like mushrooms, they love chicken and cheese and they devoured this dish. Even asking for seconds!
There’s no better feeling than when your kids eat their entire plate. Amiright?
Baked Mozzarella Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter divided
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 Tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 medium yellow onion sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 16 oz baby bella mushrooms sliced
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella ball sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F and spray 9×13 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add butter to skillet and heat over medium-high.
- While skillet is heating, place chicken into plastic bag and pound to 1/2 inch thickness. Remove from bag and season on both sides with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning.
- Add chicken to skillet and sear on each side; approximately 2-3 minutes per side.
- When chicken is browned, place into prepared baking pan. It does not need to be cooked through at this point. Do not turn off skillet.
- Add olive oil to skillet with onions and sauté over medium-high heat until just translucent; about 3-4 minutes.
- Add minced garlic and sliced mushrooms and stir to combine. Cook for about 3-4 minutes until mushrooms are slightly wilted.
- Remove mushroom mixture from skillet and add to top of chicken. Deglaze skillet with chicken broth, scraping all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently until slightly reduced.
- Pour skillet broth over chicken then place into heated oven. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Remove 9×13 pan from oven and top chicken with sliced mozzarella cheese. Place back into oven and cook additional 4-5 minutes until cheese is melted.
- Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes before serving.
