Delicious vegetarian "chicken" parmesan.

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 5 min.
Cook time: 20 min.
Total Time: 25 min.

Calories: 255 per serving

One thing that was really hard to replace as a vegetarian is chicken parmesan.

There has always been eggplant parmesan, but the crispiness and the texture of eggplant. while good, just honestly doesn't compare.

We were both shocked and happy to find these faux chicken patties by Morningstar, and we decided to give them a go, since Kate had been missing her favorite dish: chicken parmesan.

The dish turned out absolutely spectacular!

There are, however, some things to watch out for.

Parmesan cheese is a strange beast. One would assume that parmesan is vegetarian since it is a cheese, however it contains a product called rennet which is derived from the intestines of an animal.

Many brands of parmesan cheese are not vegetarian - if you're in Europe, any parmesan cheese you may find is likely to not be vegetarian, due to restrictions on how the cheese is made.

According to Kraft, their version of parmesan cheese uses a microbial rennet (derived from a fungus) instead of an animal rennet. We personally buy Kraft parmesan for this reason. If you're still skeptical, you can always buy some vegan parmesan.

Vegetarian Chicken Parmesan Recipe:

Ingredients:

4 Morningstar original chik patties
1 jar (24 oz) marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella (or vegan option)
OPTIONAL: 8 oz cooked spaghetti noodles
OPTIONAL: sprinkle of parsley to garnish
OPTIONAL: Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese (it's vegetarian!)
Read - Is Parmesan Vegetarian?

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the patties for 15 minutes, flipping them over once halfway through.
After 15 minutes, cover the patties with marinara sauce. Sprinkle 1/4 cup mozzarella onto each patty.
Broil until the cheese melts, then add optional ingredients if desired.