Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake (Video)
Try this Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake when you need some delicious low-carb comfort food that the whole family is going to love! And of course if pepperoni is not your jam, you can make your version of pizza chicken with any toppings you prefer.
PIN Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake to make it later!
This Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake is for everyone who’s craving something that tastes like comfort food. And although nothing might be quite as comforting as real pepperoni pizza, this chicken with pizza flavors is completely delicious and definitely scratches that pizza itch with something that’s also very low in carbs.
When the idea of making a recipe for thin pieces of chicken topped with pizza sauce and pepperoni popped into my head, I tested the pizza chicken recipe a couple of times with my nephew Jake to get it just right for you. The first time we didn’t reduce the pizza sauce and the sauce was too watery. We also tried it 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.
And every time we tested it we happily gobbled it up, and it’s turned into a hugely popular recipe on the site. But I know there are still probably some readers who haven’t tried it, so I’m featuring this pepperoni pizza chicken recipe for Friday Favorites this week; I hope you’ll put this on your menu soon!
What Ingredients do you need?
- Rao’s Pizza Sauce (affiliate link)
- large boneless-skinless chicken breasts (at least 8 oz. each)
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- Greek Oregano (affiliate link)
- Garlic Powder (affiliate link)
- Mozzarella cheese, sliced
- sliced pepperoni (regular or turkey pepperoni)
What sauce should you use for low-carb pizza?
I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find a couple of brands of pizza sauce that are pretty low in carbs, but I use Rao’s Pizza Sauce (affiliate link) which has only 3 carbs in 1/4 cup.
What is Greek Oregano?
Greek Oregano may also just be called oregano; any mediterranean oregano will work but don’t use Mexican oregano for this recipe.
Want lots more ideas for low-carb pizza?
If you’re really craving pizza, check out my HUGE collection of Low-Carb Pizza Recipes for more pizza or pizza-flavored dishes! Those recipes are almost all Keto and gluten-free as well.
How to Make Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake:
(Scroll down for complete printable recipe with nutritional information.)
- Don’t skip the step of simmering the sauce on low until it’s reduced to one cup.
- 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.
- Season chicken with oregano-garlic powder mix, and then quickly brown the chicken on both sides. (It won’t be cooked through.)
- Layer the chicken pieces in a glass casserole dish that’s barely big enough to fit the chicken.
- Spread each piece with a generous amount of the reduced sauce.
- Put a thin slice of Mozzarella and few slices of pepperoni on each chicken breast.
- Bake at 400F/200C for 25-30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to slightly brown.
- Serve hot and wait for compliments.
- If you’re reheating leftovers, I recommend you cover the dish to keep the chicken from drying out.
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
If you want a side dish this will taste amazing with Cauliflower Rice with Basil, Parmesan, and Pine Nuts, Stir-Fried Spinach with Garlic and Parmesan, Cheesy Zucchini with Garlic and Parsley, Lemon Parmesan Kale Salad, or Sweet and Sour Broccoli Salad. Or make something simple like Air Fryer Roasted Mushrooms.
More Low-Carb Pizza Variations:
Low-Carb Deconstructed Pizza Casserole
Sausage and Pepperoni Layered Pizza Bake
Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza-Stuffed Peppers
Pepperoni Pizza Keto Crustless Quiche
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake
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
- Preheat oven to 400F/200C.
- 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.
- 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.)
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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:
8Serving Size:
1Amount 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 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 original South Beach Diet or another low-glycemic 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 Casserole Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was first posted in 2017 and it’s been hugely popular on the site. It was last updated with more information in 2022.
159 Comments on “Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake (Video)”
Is it possible to use thighs for this??
I Haven't made it that way, but I'm guessing it would work. I worry a bit about the difference in thickness, even if the thighs are cut open and spread out there are some thinner parts. I would Love to hear how it works if you try it.
Glad you liked the recipe. I just follow carb-conscious eating but don't calculate things, so I don't know whether it would be right or not; I think those things are pretty hard to calculate accurately.
If you look immediately after the recipe where it says "Nutritional Information" there's a link where you can copy and paste the recipe and it will calculate it. Or if you're a member of Yummly, just use the YUM button at the top to save the recipe and it will give you the nutritional info.
Where did you purchase your pepperoni? I want to purchase delicious pepperoni.
I just got pepperoni at my regular grocery store. I think I used Hormel brand.
Making this tonight! Thinking of adding Spinach to the bottom of the pan to lay the chicken on and add Bell Peppers to the top. 🙂
That sounds good to me Doreane! I might pre-cook the peppers so the dish doesn't get watery.
I find it hard to recommend menu combinations because everyone likes different things, but I'd love this with a roasted green vegetable like green beans or broccoli. You could cook it in the same oven.
Any ideas for sides other than a salad or spaghetti?
For those whose diet includes some fresh fruit, our meal included a fresh fruit salad.
It says in the recipe you can make your own pizza sauce if you want less sugar. And if you use the sauce I did, the sauce still has 18 carbs after it's reduced, divided by 6 or 8 servings, that is 2.5 or 3 carbs per serving for the sauce. Not much else has carbs except a little in the cheese so I still feel this is low-carb.
Delicious recipe, will make again soon! Thank you!
So glad you liked it; thanks for letting me know!
Finally got around to making this!! Didn't have the recipe pulled up, so I was improvising. Was cooking just for me, so I used 2 large and one small chicken breasts, which I didn't cut up. Used a packet of pizza sauce I had left from a pizza crust kit I didn't use before expiration of the crust.
Always looking to add more veggies, so I put browned chicken in the baking dish, topped with a smidge of the cheese (to work as "glue,") and then put a layer of spinach/creminis/garlic that had been cooked in a non-stick pan. Then layered reduced sauce, remainder of mozz, pepperoni and a sprinkle of parm.
It had been a bad week at work (I didn't get to eat this until almost 10 that night!), and this was the perfect comfort food. Served it with some spaghetti squash that I had previously cooked in the slow cooker… took half a squash and simmered it with a cup of low sugar marinara while the chicken was in the oven.
Eating round one of the leftovers while I type this, and it is sooooooo good.
Thanks, Kalyn! This one is definitely a keeper!!
Thanks CJ, so glad you enjoyed it! Love hearing how you improvised.
This. Is. So. Awesome!
Thank you! So glad you like it.
Such a great idea! And looks so tasty!
Thanks, glad you like it!
Thank you for the idea! Can't wait to try this out. How were the leftovers?
The leftovers were great.
What a great idea Kalyn – I don't think anyone would miss the crust!
Thanks Jeanette!
What a fun idea! Really, who needs pizza crust with so many great flavors going on in this dish?
Thanks Lydia. My favorite part is the cheese and the pepperoni, so I'm good with this.
Looks amazing Kalyn, I can't wait to try it!
HAPPY NEW YEAR K!
Thanks Mike, so glad you like it! And Happy New Year to you too.
This reminds me of the chicken do-dads Dominos has been doing. I've been curious why they don't have a classic pizza option… Love this recipe/idea! Can't wait to make at home!
CJ, haven't seen that from Dominos, but I'm sure there are endless variations of this idea. Hope you enjoy!
This recipe will be terrific for the thin sliced chicken breasts that I sometimes buy, Kalyn! Thank you. 🙂
Shirley
Thanks; hope you enjoy!
What a brilliant solution to the no-carb pizza dilemma! Thanks so much, Kalyn & Jake.
So glad you like it!
As a confirmed carb lover, I can tell I wouldn't even miss them in this meal!
Thanks Pam; I will take that as a real vote of confidence!
Honestly (we are doing low carbs first three months of year) this was INSANELY delicious and we'll make it every ten days for the foreseeable future.. I'm going to add black olives under cheese next time for more pizza goodness… added you on Pinterest.. great stuff!
Thanks Greg; so glad you liked it. Love the idea of adding olives!