Pizza Stuffed Chicken! This recipe has been a favorite chicken dinner of mine ever since my fiancé made it for me a few years ago. Pizza is (obvi) an American classic (and the the ULTIMATE comfort food) and I love the idea of taking those same flavors to create a juicy, weeknight meal.
Similar to most of my chicken dishes, this recipe is as simple as it looks. (Don’t believe me? Just watch the video below!).
For some crucial 😉 insights to make this recipe even easier, check out my tips below!
Properly Seasoning your Pizza Stuffed Chicken
Salt and pepper the chicken before adding the other ingredients. You want to make sure the chicken itself is flavorful on its own before adding the tomato, pepperoni, or cheese.
Red Pepper Flakes and Italian Seasoning can be added after adding tomato and cheese to the top of the chicken.
Timing Note: if you add red pepper flakes before baking, the flavors will develop and the dish will be significantly spicier; if you add red pepper flakes after baking, the heat will be a bit more subtle. Adjust accordingly.
Roasty *Antioxidant Packed* Tomatoes
One of the most crucial components of this recipe is the tomato. Many people are unaware of the fact that tomatoes, when cooked, develop more of the antioxidant lycopene. Lycopene is an antioxidant that helps your body rid itself of free radicals and fight disease. So you can feel good about the fact that by making this dish and incorporating tomatoes, you are maximizing the health benefits of this delicious veg (fruit?).
More importantly, the flavors of the tomato develop when cooked, with the drippings from the tomato saturating the chicken, and this creates an incredibly juicy dish that is the furthest thing from dried out.
NOTE: Don’t put the tomatoes OR cheese in the pocket!!! The tomatoes get soggy if placed inside the chicken and the cheese leaks out all over the pan! Trust me, I’ve made this mistake; the finished product is nowhere near as tasty.
Timing for Adding Cheese
There are a couple different times during the cooking process that you can add cheese to this dish:
I recommend adding cheese before you put your Pizza Stuffed Chicken into the oven. This results in the delightful, slightly browned crisp of the cheese seen in this blog post’s photos.
If you prefer a meltier cheese, add the cheese near the end of the baking process. After the chicken has cooked for 25 minutes, remove it from the oven, add the cheese, then bake for an additional five minutes.
Sandwich Sized Pepperoni
What is a pizza without pepperoni?! Pepperoni is a big flavor component to Pizza Stuffed Chicken. I typically splurge on a nicer artisanal brand of pepperoni (usually in the charcuterie section) for maximum quality.
I also highly recommend using sandwich-sized pepperoni. This will allow you to fold each slice in half (better ratios) and leaves a little pepperoni poking out of the side of the chicken. The exposed pepperoni gets a little crispy around the edges (like on a normal pizza) and adds a delicious, roasty flavor to the dish.
I hope you all enjoyed this recipe! Like I said, it’s super straightforward and easy to make – exactly what I need for weeknight meals – but at the same time very tasty, and very different from a typical chicken dish!
If you like this recipe and are looking for something similar, check out my Tomato Basil Stuffed Chicken and my Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken.
Pizza Stuffed Chicken
Equipment
- Baking Sheet / Sheet Pan
- Cutting board
- Serrated Knife
Ingredients
- 6 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 4 slices sandwich style pepperoni
- 3/4 vine ripe tomato sliced sandwich style (easier to slice with serrated knife!)
- 1 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp italian seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425° F.
- Salt and pepper chicken breast.
- Make an incision along the side of each breast. (The incision should stretch across the length of the chicken. Cut almost all the way through without cutting the chicken in half to form a pocket for the stuffing.)
- Fold each piece of pepperoni in half and insert all four, overlapping, inside the chicken breast. (There should be a little bit of pepperoni sticking outside the piece of chicken that will crisp up during cooking)
- On top of the chicken, lay four slices of tomato (also overlapping).
- Drizzle the mozzarella cheese on top of the breast. (Add in the beginning for a golden, crispier cheese on top. Add at the last 5 minutes of cooking for meltier cheese.)
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the inside of the chicken is no longer pink and is fully cooked through.
My boyfriend and I made this tonight and it was AMAZING!!! Cannot wait to try more recipes!
My 3 year old loves this recipe! He is a pizza fan – such an easy way to get him to eat some real food. 🙂
I made this recipe last night and it was amazinggg! We always struggle to find something different to do with chicken for dinner LOL but this was perfect, and soo good! Definitely going to become a staple dinner item! Seriously good recipe and so glad it was a success!