Here is a chicken recipe that doesn’t compromise flavor for healthiness. The problem I have with the bulk of my chicken dinner recipes on Pinterest is that while there are plenty of them out there, they’re all more or less the same basic recipe. As someone who works out on the regular, I’d rather not compromise my progress with heaps of butter, grease or salt if I can avoid it, but that doesn’t mean I have to eat blandly. So naturally, I took some initiative, researched what I wanted out of my chicken strip craving and came up with my own. The end result: Garlic Parmesan Chicken.

This is a simple, quick and fairly inexpensive meal to make. It can easily be doubled to feed more people, and the ingredients are flexible, depending on what spices and seasonings you have at home.

Garlic Parmesan Chicken Strips have the added fun factor that chicken breasts don’t in that they are finger foods and kid-friendly, so anyone with children or younger siblings could definitely serve this up for dinner. Chicken fingers being smaller portions of meat also means more crunch per bite and a reduced cooking time, which is definitely a bonus when cooking on a tight schedule.

To make this recipe healthy as possible, use light butter (or melted coconut oil) and be sure to shake off any excess after dipping the chicken in it. Also, use whole wheat breadcrumbs and reduced fat Parmesan cheese. These are all pretty minor changes that shouldn’t affect the cost or the savoriness.

What I love about these is how quickly they come together. Simply combine your topping ingredients, then slice, dip and coat the chicken, and bake for 25 minutes. They are perfect for an effortless dinner on your night in.

Prep Time: 15 minutes. Cook time: 25 minutes.

Yields: 6 chicken strips, depending on size of chicken breasts

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup light butter (1 stick)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
• 3/4 cup finely grated reduced fat Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons parsley flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9×13″ pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, melt butter. Add minced garlic and stir. Set aside.
3. In another small bowl, combine breadcrumbs, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Set aside.
4. *Cut chicken breasts vertically into strips. Dip each strip into butter mixture, then coat in breadcrumb mixture. Place each strip into prepared pan. Drizzle strips with lemon juice and sprinkle with paprika. Optional: drizzle extra garlic butter (if any) onto strips.
5. Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes until chicken is cooked through and starting to get crispy. Cool about 5 minutes before serving.

*I cut two breasts in half and the biggest breast into thirds. It will depend on the size of the chicken breasts. The smaller they’re cut, the less time they take to cook.