This easy ground chicken meatloaf is inspired by the flavors of our favorite Chicken Parmesan recipe.
Seasoned ground chicken is stuffed with mozzarella cheese and nestled under a zesty tomato sauce and cheese topping.
This meatloaf makes a great dinner and leftovers are perfect tucked in a hamburger bun!
In this recipe, we swap up our usual beef meatloaf for chicken and add in the zesty cheesy flavors of chicken parmesan! It’s the best of both worlds!
Ingredients
This meatloaf starts with ground chicken of course! It will work well with ground turkey or almost any other lean ground meat in place. The meat mixture is generously seasoned with parmesan cheese, parsley, and Italian seasoning.
We add a mozzarella cheese filling to this loaf. I find cheese strings have just the right amount of melt, some brands of mozzarella cheese can melt too much and leak out once you cut the loaf.
The meatloaf is topped with marinara for baking and finally cheese and breadcrumbs for that classic chicken parmesan topping.
How To Make Chicken Meatloaf
- Mix ground chicken with the other ingredients per the recipe below.
- Place 2/3 of the chicken mixture on a parchment lined and gently press the cheese on top. Top with the remaining meat mixture and form a loaf.
- Top with marinara sauce and bake. Add cheese and breadcrumbs during the last 15 minutes of cooking time.
Allow the loaf to rest for a good 10 minutes to ensure it holds together when slicing (and this helps keep the cheese in the middle in tact. To make the cooking time faster, make chicken parmesan mini meatloaf, using your muffin tins or shaping into patties on a cookie sheet.
What to Serve With Chicken Meatloaf
Savory chicken parm meatloaf is a major hunger buster, especially because it’s the foundation for a balanced meal of meat, starch, and vegetables.
- Potatoes – Consider yummy fondant potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes or Dutchess potatoes. Sweet potato casserole would taste amazing with this meaty entrée as well. Such dishes always favor a little sweetness on the side!
- Sauce – Serve with extra marinara sauce, or a simple béchamel flavored with Italian herbs and parmesan for drizzling over slabs of meatloaf.
- Vegetables – Roasted vegetables can cook at the same time the chicken meatloaf is baking, and both will be ready to serve at about the same time! Season with Italian herbs to complement similar seasonings in the meatloaf.
To Make Ahead
For make-ahead convenience, prepare your loaf and refrigerate for no more than a day ahead of time. Or, provided the ground chicken has not been previously frozen, you can freeze, without the topping, for cooking at a later time. It will keep up to four months in the freezer.
Be sure to label it, and thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before cooking. If cooking from frozen, cook time may need to be increased slightly.
Can You Freeze It?
Leftovers can be frozen and will keep up to four months. I like to wrap slices individually in foil and then pack in a freezer bag for easy removal and re-heating. No need to thaw in advance.
Delicious Meatloaf Options
- Delicious Turkey Meatloaf – zesty & moist!
- Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf – homemade comfort food
- The Best Meatloaf Recipe – tender & juicy!
- Mini Meatloaf Muffins – perfectly portioned
- Crockpot Meatloaf – set it and forget it!
Did your family love this Parmesan Chicken Meatloaf? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Parmesan Chicken Meatloaf
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ⅓ cup onion diced finely
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 pounds ground chicken
- ½ cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 2 teaspoons milk
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 mozzarella cheese strings cut into 1/2" slices
Topping
- ½ cup marinara sauce
- 2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
- 1 ½ tablespoons parmesan cheese grated
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.
- Cook onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until softened. Cool completely.
- Mix all meatloaf ingredients in a large bowl just until combined.
- Place the mixture on the loaf pan and form into an 8"x4" square.
- Top with marinara sauce and bake 45 minutes.
- Combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, butter, and parsley.
- Top meatloaf with mozzarella and bread crumb topping. Bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until the center of the loaf reaches 165°F.
- Cool 10 minutes before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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Would this work with ground turkey?
Hi Jessica, that should work well. We also have this delicious turkey meatloaf recipe as well!
Sounded like a great recipe but we found it almost flavorless and the internal cheese didn’t melt. Definately had to serve with extra marinara on the side.
Sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy the meatloaf Dana. It’s a milder flavor. Strange that your internal cheese didn’t melt. That is one of the best parts! Thank you for trying the recipe.
Loved it! Made with 1 lb ground chicken and upped the bread crumbs, since ground chicken is pretty soupy. I make chicken parm meatballs and this was almost like them, and if so, it’s going to taste even better cold. Really.
We love this meatloaf too! So glad you loved it Tracey!
Why milk?
Milk adds moisture to the loaf.
wow sounds delicious
Lovely
This was absolutely delicious!! My family and I loved it.
Hi, planning to make this recipe but I am wondering if the nutrition information you provided is based on a serving size or the meatloaf as a whole?
Thanks in advance!
Nutrition information is per serving (1/6th of the recipe).
Omg. Absolutely delicious! Everyone loved it.
So glad your family loved it!
Can’t wait to try out some of the recipes on our camping trip!!
So delicious!
Fantastic recipe! No modifications needed for the next time I make it. Nice and moist, great seasoning. I used a loaf pan and put in a baking pan to catch some dips.
This may sound like a silly question, but can I just throw this into a loaf pan instead of using a baking sheet?
You can but it doesn’t get the same crisp on the edges, the meat will steam a little bit. It should cook just fine though.
As usual, your recipes are fabulous! I especially appreciate the nutrition info as I have chronic kidney disease and need to be careful re carbs and sodium.
Turned out very well
Holly! I am increasingly a super fan of your wonderful website, as it has everything I need to prepare affordable yet tasty meals, side dishes, desserts, etc! Thank you for making it easier for me to navigate recipes and learn new things each time I prepare meals for my family. Keep up the wonderful job you are doing in passing on your skills to all of us out here that struggle to create meals that are attainable!!
Ahh Katy, you made my day, thank you!! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the recipes. Happy Cooking!
How can the sodium be reduced in this? Sodium content shown is very high.
Hi Carolyn, you could always swap out the ingredients for low sodium options, including making your own seasoned breadcrumbs to control the salts being added.
I haven’t even tasted it yet and it’s a 10/10! My house smells AMAZING!
Yay! So happy to hear that Alissa!
I would love to see‘s and learn some of these recipes that I see
Hi Susan, for full recipe details you can scroll to the bottom of the post or use the jump to recipe button at the top. Have fun cooking!
Loved your meat loaf recipe!!
So glad you loved it Cindy!
Great one!!