Freezer Meal Starter: Breaded Uncooked (Raw) Chicken Breasts

Before the holidays I was at my parent’s house eating dinner and my mom served these really good breaded chicken breasts. To my surprise she purchased the chicken from one of those TV shopping channels. Who knew you could purchase chicken off the television? I was intrigued even more when I learned that it was shipped raw already breaded and frozen. Now that is convenience! Of course that convenience comes at a price of about $45.00 for only 3lbs of chicken breasts. Yikes! I can purchase 6-7 pounds of chicken breasts at my local wholesale club for about $20! I knew I had to try to make these frozen breaded chicken breasts myself.

Well I did and they turned out fantastic. Again, here is another easy freezer meal starter recipe I wish I would have thought of years ago. Sometimes the simplest concepts are the hardest to recognize.

The only problem with this meal starter is it takes about an hour to bake straight from the freezer. This isn’t a big problem on the weekends or if I can tie the kids over with a little snack. However, if it is during the week and we don’t get home till after 5:00pm then that means dinner wouldn’t be ready till almost 6:30pm and I could risk things getting ugly in my house. I personally like to have dinner on the table no later than 6:00pm. Nonetheless, having this chicken prepped and ready to cook has been very convenient.

I used this chicken meal starter to put together my chicken parmesan. However, this meal starter can be used in most recipes that calls for baked breaded chicken. Or you can just bake it and eat as is with a veggie and some rice. It is yummy no matter what you serve it with.

Experiment and see the different ways this easy freezer recipe can make your life simpler.

Freezer Instructions for Breaded Uncooked (Raw) Chicken Breasts

Servings: 4

Serving size: 1 breaded chicken breast

Approximate nutritional information:

Calories: 173 * Carbs: 5 * Fat: 4 * Protein: 27 * Fiber: 0 * Points +: 4 * Old Points: 5

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

½ cup whole grain bread crumbs

¼ grated parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

Directions

Step 1. Rinse and trim chicken breasts.

Step. 2 Pound out until they are very thin cutlets. This is an important step because the thicker the chicken breasts are the longer they will take to cook. You want them thin.

Step. 3 Mix bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Dredge both sides of the chicken breasts in breadcrumb mixture.

Step 4. Place chicken breast on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Step 5. Place in freezer and flash freeze for about 45 minutes.

Step 6. Once chicken breasts are slightly frozen then wrap individually in plastic wrap and place in freezer bag. Store in the freezer.

Reheating Instructions

Take the number of chicken breasts you want out of the freezer, unwrap, and bake on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until fully cooked and juices run clear. To crisp both sides turn over half way through cooking time. Use in most recipes that call for breaded and baked chicken.

If you want to cook the chicken breasts on the stove in a frying pan then thaw in refrigerator and cook in 2 tablespoons of olive oil (or whatever oil you prefer) until fully cooked and juices run clear.