Pizza Chicken
Posted Jan 25, 2026
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This baked pizza chicken recipe is an easy, high-protein dinner! Tender chicken breasts are seasoned then topped with pizza sauce, melty mozzarella and your favorite toppings.
If you’re always looking for new ways to serve chicken for dinner, then this pizza chicken recipe will become a go-to meal for you! It’s juicy and flavorful and best of all, every single one of my kids devours it (which is always the ultimate win). It takes everything you love about pizza and turns it into an easy baked, high-protein chicken dinner!
One of my favorite things about this recipe is how easy it is to prepare in advance. Just season the chicken breasts and store them right on the baking sheet in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake.
When dinnertime rolls around, just top with pizza sauce, bake for a while, add the cheese and your favorite toppings, and finish baking until the cheese is melted. Dinner truly doesn’t get easier or more delicious than this.
Pizza Chicken Recipe: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Italian seasoning. I always have this on hand – you can make your own or use dried herbs like basil and oregano.
- Pizza sauce. I suggest using my homemade pizza sauce recipe, it’s the best! Or use your favorite store-bought pizza sauce.
- Toppings. We use pepperoni because it’s easy, but here are some more suggestions: pepperoni, cooked bacon or ham, mushrooms, black olives, bell peppers, onions, and fresh basil.
How to Make Pizza Chicken
Let’s walk through this recipe together, and as always you can watch the video for further guidance.
Begin by putting a wire rack inside a baking sheet (I suggest this baking sheet that comes with a wire rack that fits perfectly)!.
Then, make the spice rub by combining the ingredients in a small bowl.
Next, arrange the chicken breasts on the prepared baking sheet. Use an olive oil spray to spray each chicken breast on both sides with olive oil, or rub olive oil on each chicken breast.
Then, evenly sprinkle ⅓ of the seasoning on the bottom side of the chicken breasts. Flip the chicken over so it’s resting bottom-side down on the wire rack.
Then sprinkle the remaining seasoning evenly over the top of the chicken breasts. Cover the chicken breasts and let them sit for 15-30 minutes at room temperature, or longer in the refrigerator.
To prepare in advance
At this point you can cover the seasoned chicken and let sit in the refrigerator for up to 6 hours. This way you can prepare the chicken earlier in the day so it’s ready to go at dinnertime.
When you’re ready to bake the pizza chicken, evenly spread pizza sauce over the top of each chicken breast.
Bake for about 20 minutes (this depends heavily on the thickness of your chicken, if it’s very thin you will need to decrease baking time. If it’s thick you will need to increase baking time.
After 20 minutes, spread mozzarella cheese on top of the pizza sauce on each chicken breast.
Then add the fresh basil, your favorite toppings – in this case pepperoni – and finish everything off with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper over the toppings.
Then bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the internal temperature of the chicken is 165°F (74°C).
Once this pizza chicken has finished baking, let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Serve
Serve with some vegetables like roasted broccoli or balsamic roasted brussels sprouts. Or, serve it with a yummy salad like this burrata salad.
We also love serving it with homemade bread like this crusty no knead bread or homemade french bread!
Store/Freeze
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. Reheat in the microwave or covered in the oven set to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (163 degrees Celsius).
Pizza Chicken Recipe FAQS
You can prepare and season the chicken breasts up to 6 hours in advance and store them on a baking sheet in the refrigerator. But I recommend baking the chicken fresh before serving.
I always recommend using an instant read thermometer and measuring the doneness of meat by temperature. Pizza chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C).
You can use boneless, skinless chicken thighs if you’d like.
Here are my top suggestions: pepperoni, bacon or ham, mushrooms, black olives, bell peppers, onions, and fresh basil.
Yes absolutely, slices of fresh mozzarella work well on this recipe for a “margherita” style pizza chicken.
If you make and love my recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, TikTok and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so I can see your creations!
Pizza Chicken
Video
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (sliced thin, 6 pieces)
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil (or olive oil spray)
- 6 Tablespoons pizza sauce
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- 3 Tablespoons parmesan cheese
- ⅓ cup pepperoni
- ¼ cup fresh basil chopped
- 1 Tablespoon crushed red pepper
Instructions
- Put a wire rack inside a baking sheet. Lightly grease.
Season the Chicken Breasts
- Combine the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Spray or rub the chicken breasts on both sides with olive oil.
- Sprinkle ⅓ of the seasoning on the bottom side of the chicken breasts (evenly). Then, place it bottom-side down on the wire rack.
- Sprinkle the remaining seasoning evenly over the top of the 6 breasts on the wire rack.
- Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, and up to 4 hours.
Assemble & Bake
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius).
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator. (I suggest letting it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes before baking if it has been in the refrigerator for over 1 hour).
- Spread 1 Tablespoon pizza sauce on top of each chicken breast.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes remove the baking pan from the oven and sprinkle each breast with 3-4 Tablespoons of mozzarella cheese and then sprinkle each breast with fresh basil.
- Next, add your toppings to each breast (pepperoni, vegetables, mushrooms, onions, etc.)
- Then sprinkle ½ Tablespoon parmesan cheese on top of the toppings and some crushed red pepper flakes (if desired).
- Return the pizza chicken to the oven and bake an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit (75 degrees Celsius) and the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes on the pan before serving.
Notes
- Italian seasoning. I always have this on hand – you can make your own or use dried herbs like basil and oregano.
- Pizza sauce. I suggest using my homemade pizza sauce recipe, it’s the best! Or use your favorite store-bought pizza sauce.
- Toppings. We use pepperoni because it’s easy, but you can use fresh herbs, veggies, etc.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
