Pizza Stuffed Chicken is an easy, five ingredient meal that the entire family will love. Chicken breasts are stuffed with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni, then topped with pizza sauce and baked in the oven.
If your family loves pizza, you may need to give this pizza stuffed chicken a try. Made with chicken breasts, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and pizza sauce, it's an excellent, low-carb alternative to a traditional pizza.
This recipe is easy to customize with your favorite pizza toppings. Try stuffing your chicken breasts with cooked Italian sausage, or thinly sliced onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms.
Ingredients and substitutions
For this recipe, you'll need about 16-20 ounces of chicken breasts. This may be two large chicken breasts, or four smaller chicken breasts.
Feel free to add your favorite pizza toppings to your chicken. If you'd like to add other meats, like Italian sausage, I recommend crumbling and cooking it before stuffing your chicken.
Other great additions - thinly sliced onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, or banana peppers.
How many chicken breasts do I need?
So, here's the deal. Over the years, chicken breasts have gotten bigger and bigger. One serving of chicken is 4 ounces. The two chicken breasts pictured are 10 ounces each. If you are finding these larger breasts at your grocery store, I recommend stuffing them as directed, then slicing each breast in half just before serving. Each breast will easily serve two people.
If you have smaller chicken breasts, feel free to use a larger (9x13) pan and stuff four smaller breasts. Chicken breast thickness and size will affect your cooking time, which I go over in the recipe card below.
Stuffing your chicken
To stuff your chicken, you'll need to cut a pocket into the side of each chicken breast. Carefully, using a chef's knife, slice lengthwise into each chicken breast, leaving the opposite side intact, to create a pocket for your ingredients.
Once you've added your ingredients, place them in a lightly greased baking dish. For two chicken breasts, this 8x8 pan was the perfect size. If you're cooking four chicken breasts, a 9x13 pan should be a good size for you.
Meat thermometer
The baking time for your chicken will depend entirely on the thickness of your chicken breasts. This could take anywhere from 30-45 minutes.
I highly recommend investing in a digital meat thermometer. All you'll have to do is stick your thermometer in your chicken, select the 'chicken' setting, and it will beep when your chicken is cooked through in the middle.
Pizza Stuffed Chicken
Ingredients
- 16-20 ounces boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 24 pepperoni slices
- ¾ cup pizza sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Butterfly your chicken breasts - hold your hand on top of the chicken breast and slice into the side of the chicken breast, cutting from one side to the other, leaving the opposite side intact. Your goal is to create a pocket for your filling.
- Season chicken breasts with garlic powder, salt, and pepper on both sides. Stuff chicken breasts with pepperoni slices and half of the mozzarella cheese. Place in a lightly greased oven-safe baking dish.
- Top chicken breasts with pizza sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 35-45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through to 165 degrees Fahrenheit. I highly recommend using a meat thermometer. Cooking time will depend entirely on the thickness of your chicken breasts.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Chicken cooking time is based entirely on the thickness of your chicken breasts, and could take longer to cook through. I highly recommend investing in a digital meat thermometer - simply insert the thermometer into the thickest chicken breast, set your meat thermometer to 'chicken', and it will beep when your chicken is safely cooked through.
- Other toppings to try: thinly sliced onions, bell pepper, mushrooms, or cooked Italian sausage.
- Pizza sauce can be substituted with marinara or spaghetti sauce.
Leave a Reply