This.
Is.
So.
Good.
Oh-this-is-so-good. HEY!
{ahem} Starting with a chant today is totally necessary because this is a recipe so yummy that it is going to change the course of my 2013/2014 school year dinners, whiiiich is a pretty big deal. Within a half of a bite, it had earned a place in The Weeknight Regulars thanks to the phenom flavors, broad family friendly appeal, and ease of preparation. I am such a sucker for ease of prep. <— See that? I don’t even like to say the full word preparation.
Check the title right now if you want to know how many ingredients it takes to make one batch of Chicken Pizzaiola. Oh, that’s right. I said six. As in onetwothreefourfivesix and poof: dinner is done.
This recipe comes from an absolute gem of a cookbook: The 6 Ingredient Solution by the one and only America’s Test Kitchen.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: ATK writes great recipes. They just always always always work. Always. So think about how awesome that’s going to be when all of these beautiful recipes that only require six ingredients just work. Like, they taste amazing, save you a little time and money, and keep the family happy. That’s going to be pretty sweet: understatement of the year.
So where can you get one of these cookbooks?
You Can Buy It!
Oh, I’m excited for you already.
Can I do a quick rundown of the recipe for you? There are basically two steps to Chicken Pizzaiola. One: bake the chicken. Two: boil the noodles.
See? Easy and perfect.
When I made this at 4pm on a Friday afternoon like a true food blogger, I may or may not have found myself over the sink holding a plate of noodles doing a post-photo-shoot nose dive into the spaghetti noodles and cheesy pepperoni chicken. Even knowing that I was going to have Chipotle for dinner with friends in about an hour could not stop my ravenous self from devouring this perfectly pizza-like meal.
Right away when Bjork walked in after work, he commented on how good it smelled and asked what it was. I told him in my most fancy-lady voice: Chicken Pizzaiola. Because how can you not say that in a fancy voice? Try it.
And then I told him no, he probably shouldn’t try it right now because we were having Chipotle for dinner, remember? And no, I hadn’t had any either. Psh. And no, those weren’t red spaghetti sauce stains all over my face. Nooo way.
The beauty of this recipe (besides the cheese, pep, spaghetti, chicken, and general amazingness) is that the whole thing can be made while on the phone with your mom getting advice about things like home-buying. All it really takes to make the recipe come together is an absent minded stir here, and peek in the oven there, and a Sorry I Gotta Go Love You Mom when the chicken comes out of the oven.
If you want to have a delicious dinner that your whole family loves, and you want it 5 minutes ago without a trip to the store, and bonus if it includes tomato saucy noodles and chicken that reminds you of pizza, you want Chicken Pizzaiola.
Please make this so that you can love it. And so we can be dinner twins. Weeee!
Print
Chicken Pizzaiola
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This 6-ingredient recipe for Chicken Pizzaiola is a family favorite! Spaghetti noodles with pepperoni and cheese covered chicken. Yum!
Ingredients
- 3 cups of your favorite spaghetti sauce
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 6 ounces each)
- 1 cup shredded Mozzarella
- 2 ounces sliced pepperoni
- 8 ounces spaghetti
Instructions
- Chicken: Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Spread tomato sauce into a 9×13 baking dish. Spread Parmesan in a shallow dish. Trim chicken pat dry with paper towels, season with salt and pepper, and coat with Parmesan. Lay chicken on top of tomato sauce. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Chicken: Sprinkle Mozzarella and pepperoni over the chicken. Increase oven temperature to 475 and continue to bake until cheese melts, about 5 minutes.
- Spaghetti: Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts of water to boil in a large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, then drain and return to pot.
- Spoon some sauce from the baking dish into the pasta and toss to combine. Add reserved cooking water as needed. Serve with chicken and remaining sauce.
Notes
I found that I only needed about 1/4 cup of the crumbly Kraft Parmesan to coat the chicken. I could also only fit about 1 tablespoon of Mozzarella and a few slices of pepperoni on top of each chicken breast as well. The nutrition facts below reflect my slight cut backs on the cheeses and the pepperoni.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Italian-Inspired
Keywords: chicken pizzaiola, pizzaiola, spaghetti with pepperoni
Always make your own sauce. Own it. Chicken: brine it first. They pound out in wax paper till shnitzel-thin. Moisten and dredge chix in a mix of your own grated parm (no kraft), ssalt garlic powder oregano fresh gr blk pepper. Totally coat the chix. Put a large spoonful on sauce on topside and spread. Add a layer of grated moss mixed with fin chopt parsley and a little parm. Roll up chix. Place it in o.o. and sauced dish. After all rolls added layer more mozz then sauce and parm. Bake at 400 till done. Sprinkle w o.o. And chopt parsley. Mama mia
Made the Chicken Pizzaiola y a ing boneless, skinless thighs instead of breasts. Cooked it about 15 minutes longer to insure doneness and it was fantastic. Served with Penne Pasta.
I based my own recipe off this, but I start mine searing in a cast iron, add my sauce after searing/basting and shove the whole thing in a 450deg oven for 15 mins. EZPZ and delicious
Hi
what should the cooking temp and time be if I use chicken cutlets?
its so nice and easy for any family to prepare and make excelent
If I could point out one thing. In the ingredients it says shredded parmesan cheese instead of the crumby one. It was confusing at first.
I just found your blog a few days ago, and was curious about this recipe. I made this dish for my family for dinner, and it was a hit! I was skeptical, thinking it couldn’t be as easy as it looks, but it really is! Thanks for the great recipe…I look forward to trying more of your yummy food….:)
Great, Lorell! Glad you liked it!
i love this blue serving dish — do you remember where you got it? or the brand? thank you!
Hey Laura! Are you talking about the pot with the lid? I think it’s actually black or grey, but maybe the color in the picture looks a little off. š I got it at a thrift store a few years ago! sorry – not super helpful.
Excited to try this tomorrow. I also love the way you write. It makes me excited to cook. Cheers!
I’ve only preheated the oven and my mouth is already
Made this tonight – it’s actually the first thing I have ever made off your blog (some friend I am!). Turned out well, quite easy, and not too spendy to make. Only thing I messed up was forgetting how much salt is in Parmesan and, between salting the chicken and the salt in the pasta water, it was just a touch salty. Not bad at all, just a good lesson for next time š
Wow Joe! I’m impressed. Thanks for moving into the ranks of friends who try the recipes! š
Can you please share the tomato sauce you use? It looks yummy! Thanks
Hi Jennifer! Sometimes I use one called Francisco Rinaldi.
So I totally made this on accident the other day when I was making the BF and I chicken parm, I was all “hey, let’s use up this leftover pepperoni before it goes bad” and here I was thinking I was all creative, turns out IT’S A THING! Everything’s a thing!
ATK really kinda is the best thing ever, isn’t it?
Thanks for the recipe, and the lovely photos!
This is in the oven right now! Can’t wait to eat it! š
I need recipes that I can make and TALK on the phone.
Hello, easy and perfect weeknight meal! š
Such simple, easy, fresh ingredients! Perfect for a hectic day’s dinner. Love it!
This looks so fabulous that I may have to go make it right now!!
You had me with ‘6 ingredients’ – no need to say more! And yes, yes I would like to eat this for dinner. Looks amazing!!
Sounds like this would work well for talking to your mom about what to do about your teething toddler while making dinner. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve messed something up because I apparently can’t cook and talk at the same time – but this one looks like a winner! Pinned and on the meal plan for next week. Bam!
OMG! That looks soo good! Can’t you tell I’m hungry? Hungry or not, I have to try this one soon!
Another doozy to add to the list! I only found you about 10 days ago but already am in love….seriously…..I never joke about food! This will be hit with a picky eater in my house who thinks pizza is the only food on the pyramid and I love anything that will make the load a little easier. Thanks again and I love, love, love your site!
Ooooh Ooooh! Me! Me! š
This is TOTALLY happening. Tonight. Except … I think I have to use spaghetti sauce instead of tomato sauce cuz that’s what’s in my pantry. AND I have bushels of basil in my herb garden, so I figure if one of the ingredients is plucked from your yard a 7-ingredient meal is *almost* the same as a 6-ingredient prep, yes? Yummers.
Oh, that’s what it should be! spaghetti or flavored tomato sauce.
This looks like an amazing recipe for busy weeknights which every weeknight is right?! YUM!