Pizza Chicken Sounds Weird, Tastes Great
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The first time I saw the phrase “pepperoni chicken,” I assumed it was a misprint. Surely someone meant to write “pizza,” I thought. But it’s no mistake. Pepperoni chicken is not a pizza; it’s really just a way of describing a chicken breast covered with pizza toppings.
It turns out that putting pizza toppings on chicken is a great idea. People have put cheese and pepperoni on top of all types of crust substitutes made from pea flour to cauliflower over the years, but this recipe gets rid of the idea of a “crust” entirely to combine the pizza flavors people love in an easy, low-carb, gluten-free, keto-friendly weeknight dinner that cooks in about half an hour.
If you use jarred marinara and pesto sauces, you’ll be able to assemble the whole recipe in no time. Start with four chicken breasts in the bottom of a casserole dish and cover them with marinara sauce. Then add a dollop of pesto on top of each of those. Cover each chicken breast with a slice of mozzarella, and try to wrap the edges around the breast so it covers it completely. (That’s easier if the chicken breasts are near each other in the pan.)
Place a few slices of pepperoni on top of each of the chicken breasts and set the dish in the oven to bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. If you want to speed things up, you can always slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally so you have eight thin slices instead of four fat ones, but the effectiveness of that will likely depend on how many slices of chicken you can fit in your pan.
When you take the chicken out of the oven, the casserole dish will be full of juices and sauce from the chicken. If you’re not planning on eating this as part of a low-carb diet, the author suggests tossing some spaghetti in some of that sauce and serving it alongside or underneath the chicken. Personally, I also think that sauce sounds like it’d be pretty great tossed with some broccoli, too.
Get the recipe: Pepperoni Chicken from Julia’s Album
