Pizza chicken is a delicious low-carb chicken recipe made with boneless chicken breasts, marinara sauce, deli-style pepperoni, and sliced buffalo mozzarella cheese. Boneless chicken breasts marry the Italian flavors of your favorite pizza to make this easy chicken dinner.
I was trying to figure out what to have for dinner one evening. I had some leftover cooked chicken breasts in the refrigerator and I was trying to get creative and whip up something fun for the kids. My son said, "Mom, why don't you make pizza chicken!" Hmmm...pizza chicken?! Sounds interesting...so I threw together this simple dish to satisfy his cravings. That day, a new family favorite recipe was born.
I cut the chicken breasts up into bite-size chunks and placed them in individual serving-sized ramekins, topped with marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and a slice of pepperoni. Into the oven, they went to bake until bubbly perfection. From then on, "Pizza Chicken" has been a regular dinner request in this house. This simple dish is a tasty twist on classic chicken parmesan.
Now, when I make this dish, I use whole 4 oz chicken breasts and bake them in a cast-iron skillet topped with fresh chopped basil from the garden. Low-carb, delicious, and comes together in just over 30 minutes.
How To Make Low-Carb Pizza Chicken
Ingredients you'll need:
2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
6- 4 oz boneless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 ½ cups store-bought marinara sauce (I go for a sauce that's low in sugar)
6 large slices of pepperoni (I have this sliced in the deli)
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into 6 slices
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat olive oil in a Cast Iron skillet over medium-high heat. In a small dish, stir together garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle chicken breasts with the seasoning mixture on both sides. When the skillet is hot, add the chicken breasts and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes.
Remove pan from heat and top chicken breasts with marinara sauce. Add one slice of pepperoni on each breast.
Next, top with one thick slice of mozzarella.
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil, if desired. Serve with your favorite pasta and vegetables.
More delicious easy Italian-inspired recipes:
Simple Crockpot Italian Chicken
Gluten-Free Oven-Fried Eggplant
*This post was updated with new photos on April 10, 2020 from the original recipe posted Oct. 19, 2011.
Pizza Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 6 4 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 ½ cups store-bought marinara sauce I look for one low in sugar
- 6 slices pepperoni from the deli section
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese sliced into 6 slices
- 1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Heat olive oil in a Cast Iron skillet over medium-high heat.
- In a small dish, stir together garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle chicken breasts with seasoning mixture on both sides.
- When skillet is hot, add the chicken breasts and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes.
- Remove pan from heat and top chicken breasts with marinara sauce.
- Add one slice of pepperoni on each breast.
- Next, top with one thick slice of mozzarella.
- Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil, if desired.
Nutrition
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basilmomma: Heather Tallman
I love this! It is one of my husbands favorite meals but I can't bear to eat it the traditional way anymore...I will have to try this! We will all LOVE it!! Great post 🙂 Sorry, I never comment but I do read your posts...I just flit around from site to site!
Deborah
What a great idea!! I'm always looking for kid friendly ideas, and this fits the bill!
Kimby
Your smiley face is so cute! I love it when adults show kids it's okay to have fun with food! 🙂
Angie {Successful2gether}
I want this. Now 🙂 Great recipe!!!
Anonymous
Making this for dinner tonight!