Low-Carb Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake (Video)

Try this Low-Carb Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake when you need some low-carb and gluten-free comfort food! This is a dinner the whole family will enjoy; use Casserole Recipes to find more recipes like this one.

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Low-Carb Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake!

This new recipe for Low-Carb Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake is my gift to everyone who’s been carefully watching what they eat during January and is now craving something that qualifies as comfort food.  And although nothing might be quite as comforting as real pepperoni pizza, this dish is completely delicious and definitely scratches that pizza itch with something that’s also low in carbs. 

And if January is getting a little long, you can find more low-carb comfort food here. Low-Carb Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake was also featured in The BEST Low-Carb and Gluten-Free Recipes with Pizza Flavors. Check that out for more recipes for pizza without the carbs!

I made this a couple of times with my nephew Jake to get it just right. The first time we didn’t reduce the pizza sauce and the dish was too watery.  We also tried it first with turkey pepperoni, which was fine if that’s what you prefer, but this recipe doesn’t take a lot of pepperoni and the full-fat pepperoni definitely crisped up a lot better.  (It also adds more fat to the dish, but most of that fat is left in the bottom of the dish; if that’s an issue for you I’d go with the turkey pepperoni.)

What Pizza Sauce Should You Use for Low-Carb?

I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find a couple of brands of pizza sauce that are pretty low in carbs, but I prefer Rao’s Pizza Sauce (affiliate link) which has only 3 carbs in 1/4 cup.

How to Make Low-Carb Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake:

(Scroll down for complete printable recipe with nutritional information.)

1.  Don’t skip the step of simmering the sauce on low until it’s reduced to one cup.
2. Trim chicken well, cut each breast in half, and then pound until they’re as thin as you can get with out the chicken shredding apart. (I use a meat mallet (affiliate link) but anything heavy will work.
3. Season chicken with oregano-garlic powder mix, and then quickly brown the chicken on both sides.  (It won’t be cooked through.)
4. Layer the chicken pieces in a glass casserole dish that’s barely big enough to fit the chicken. 
5. Spread each piece with a generous amount of the reduced sauce. 
6. Put a thin slice of Mozzarella and few slices of pepperoni on each chicken breast. 
7. Bake at 400F/200C for 25-30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to slightly brown.
8. Serve hot and wait for compliments.

I promise this will be popular with all the pizza fans in the family! If you’re reheating leftovers, I recommend you cover the dish to keep the chicken from drying out.

More Low-Carb Ideas with Pizza Flavors:

Low-Carb Deconstructed Pizza Casserole ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Pepperoni Pizza Cauliflower Casserole ~ I Breathe I’m Hungry
Julia Child’s Eggplant Pizzas ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Flourless, Gluten-Free Low-Carb Pizza ~ Gluten-Free Easily
Low-Carb Zucchini Crust Vegetarian Pizza Margherita ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Fat Head Pizza ~ Ditch the Carbs
55+ Low-Carb and Gluten-Free Recipes with Pizza Flavors ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep  to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

Print

Low-Carb Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake

Yield Makes 8 servings.

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Try this Low-Carb Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake when you need some low-carb and gluten-free comfort food!

Ingredients

• 1 jar (14 oz) low-sugar pizza sauce, reduced to 1 cup (See note about pizza sauce)
• 4 very large boneless-skinless chicken breasts (at least 8 oz. each)
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 tsp. Greek oregano (sometimes just called oregano)
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 6 oz. piece of Mozzarella, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
• 2 oz. sliced pepperoni (regular or turkey pepperoni)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400F/200C. 
2. Put the pizza sauce in a small saucepan and simmer over low heat until it's reduced to one cup, about 20 minutes.  Don't skip this step or the dish will be watery.
3. While the sauce reduces, trim the chicken breasts and cut each one crosswise to make two same-size pieces.  Put chicken pieces one at a time inside a heavy plastic bag and use a meat mallet (affiliate link) (or something heavy) to pound the chicken until it's as thin as you can get it without it shredding apart.  (Don't worry if some pieces break apart a little.) 
4. Mix the Greek Oregano (affiliate link) and garlic powder in a little bowl and then sprinkle both sides of each piece of chicken with the mixture.
5. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in the largest non-stick frying pan you have (you may have to do this in 2 batches if your pan isn't big enough.) Add the chicken pieces and cook 1-2 minutes on each side, just long enough to brown the chicken but not long enough to cook it through.
6. Choose the smallest glass casserole dish you have that will fit all the browned chicken pieces, and lay the chicken in the dish in a single layer.  Cut the Mozzarella into slices and cut the slices as needed to make enough pieces to mostly cover the top of each piece of chicken.
7. By now the sauce should be nicely reduced, so spread sauce over the top of each chicken breast.  (Use it all.)  Top each piece with sliced Mozzarella and pepperoni slices, covering the top of each piece of chicken as much as you can.
8. Bake uncovered about 25-30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown and the pepperoni is slightly crisped.  (Some pieces of pepperoni will slice off the chicken, try not to obsess about that like I did.)  Serve hot.
9. This was great reheated in the microwave for a few minutes, although you might not have any left!

Notes

Use the lowest-carb pizza sauce you can find or make your own pizza sauce to keep the carbs low for this recipe.

Recipe created by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 221Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 5gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 75mgSodium: 317mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 25g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations. (I'm not sure why the carb count is coming out quite so low on this recipe.)

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This Low-Carb Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake with full-fat cheese and pepperoni should be great for traditional low-carb and Keto eating plans if you’re careful to choose low-carb pizza sauce (or make your own). You could use skim-milk Mozzarella and turkey pepperoni for the South Beach Diet. We definitely liked it best with full-fat pepperoni, but quite a bit of the fat is left in the dish.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.