We’re excited to share a delicious dish that combines the best of Italian flavors with juicy chicken for a meal your whole family will love. This easy and satisfying dinner option is perfect for busy weeknights.
Ready in just 35 minutes, this recipe transforms ordinary chicken breasts into something extraordinary with the addition of pepperoni and cheese, creating a pizza-inspired flavor profile that’s irresistible.
Key Takeaways
- Quick and easy dinner solution ready in 35 minutes.
- Combines chicken, pepperoni, and cheese for a satisfying meal.
- Perfect for busy weeknights or casual entertaining.
- Minimal ingredients and kitchen equipment required.
- Clear instructions ensure a perfectly cooked dish every time.
Why This Pepperoni Chicken Is Perfect for Busy Weeknights
Busy weeknights demand quick and delicious solutions, and our pepperoni chicken recipe delivers just that. This dish is a game-changer for families looking for a satisfying meal without the hassle of lengthy preparation.
A Simple Yet Flavorful Dish
Our pepperoni chicken is a simple yet flavorful dish that requires minimal ingredients and preparation steps. With just a handful of ingredients, including skinless chicken breasts, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese, you can create a meal that tastes like you spent much more time on it. The beauty of this recipe lies in its simplicity, making it perfect for weeknights when time is scarce.
- The recipe uses straightforward preparation steps, minimizing prep time.
- The combination of chicken, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese delivers bold Italian flavors.
Ready in Just 35 Minutes
This recipe is ready in just 35 minutes, making it ideal for busy weeknights. The entire dish comes together quickly, from prep to step completion, ensuring you can serve a homemade meal even on the most hectic evenings. By streamlining the cooking process and using just one skillet, we’ve minimized cleanup and reduced the overall time spent in the kitchen.
Ingredients for Our Pepperoni Chicken Recipe
To make our delicious pepperoni chicken, you’ll need a few simple ingredients that come together to create a flavorful dish. The beauty of this recipe lies in its simplicity and the ease of finding these ingredients in most supermarkets.
Chicken and Seasonings
For the chicken base, you’ll need 4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts. If your chicken breasts are large, consider cutting them in half horizontally to create thinner cutlets that cook more evenly. Our seasoning blend includes kitchen staples like salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried Italian seasoning that enhance the chicken’s flavor without overpowering the other ingredients.
Sauce and Toppings
The sauce component features marinara sauce (either jarred or homemade) that creates a rich, tomato-based foundation that complements the chicken and pepperoni beautifully. For toppings, you’ll need approximately 32 pepperoni slices and 1½ cups of shredded mozzarella cheese that create that pizza-inspired flavor profile everyone loves.
Optional Ingredients and Substitutions
For those looking to customize the recipe, we suggest optional ingredients like different pizza toppings (green peppers, mushrooms, onions) or substitutions like turkey pepperoni and part-skim mozzarella for a lighter version. You can also use butter and vegetable oil for searing the chicken to golden perfection.
| Ingredient | Quantity | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Boneless, skinless chicken breasts | 4 small | Main protein |
| Pepperoni slices | 32 | Topping |
| Marinara sauce | 1 jar | Sauce base |
| Mozzarella cheese | 1½ cups shredded | Topping |
Step-by-Step Recipe for Pepperoni Chicken
The real fun begins as we start cooking; here’s how to make our pepperoni chicken recipe in just a few easy steps. This dish is a perfect blend of flavors and textures, making it a great option for a quick weeknight dinner.
Preparing the Chicken
We begin our pepperoni chicken recipe by properly preparing the chicken breasts. If they’re particularly thick, consider slicing them horizontally to create thinner cutlets that will cook more evenly and absorb more flavor. This step is crucial for achieving tender and juicy chicken.
Seasoning and Searing
Next, we season both sides of the chicken generously with a blend of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. This creates a flavorful foundation for the dish. Then, we heat a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat with a tablespoon each of vegetable oil and butter. Once hot, we sear the seasoned chicken breasts until they develop a beautiful golden-brown crust on both sides, approximately 5 minutes per side.
Adding the Sauce
After searing the chicken, we temporarily remove it from the skillet and add our marinara sauce to the same pan. We allow it to simmer and pick up all those delicious browned bits from the chicken. Then, we return the seared chicken breasts to the skillet, nestling them into the bubbling sauce.
Layering with Pepperoni and Cheese
Now comes the fun part – we top each chicken breast with 4 slices of pepperoni, followed by a generous portion of shredded mozzarella cheese, and then another layer of 4 pepperoni slices on top. This layering process is what gives our dish its signature flavor and texture.
Final Cooking and Melting the Cheese
To finish the dish, we either cover the skillet with a lid until the cheese melts completely, or for a more golden, bubbly cheese topping, we place the oven-safe skillet under the broiler for a few minutes, watching carefully to prevent burning. The result is a beautiful, bubbling skillet of pepperoni chicken with perfectly melted cheese and slightly crispy pepperoni.
Serving Suggestions and Storage Tips
Now that you’ve mastered our quick and easy pepperoni chicken recipe, let’s explore the various ways you can serve it. This versatile dish can be paired with a variety of sides to create a complete meal.
For a classic Italian-inspired dinner, serve the pepperoni chicken over a bed of your favorite pasta, such as rotini, spaghetti, or penne, and spoon some marinara sauce over the top. Alternatively, for a lighter meal, consider serving it alongside a fresh green salad dressed with a simple vinaigrette to balance the richness of the chicken.
If you’re watching your carbohydrate intake, pairing the chicken with roasted vegetables like bell peppers, zucchini, or broccoli is a great option. You can also get creative with leftovers by slicing the pepperoni chicken and using it as a filling for sandwiches on toasted sub rolls with extra marinara sauce.
To store leftovers, allow the chicken to cool completely before transferring it to an airtight container. It can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. When reheating, use the oven at 350°F covered with foil until heated through to maintain the best texture.