Can you Stuff Pizza in a Chicken Breast?
How can you even think of pizza being stuffed into chicken breasts? That doesn’t make sense. Or does it?
When I was a kid I drove my family crazy. I combined everything on my plate. My mashed potatoes were filled with corn. I mixed side dishes with the main dishes. My plate was a mess. If I had only known the day of the “turning everything into a bowl” was coming!
Nowadays the world is used to mixing and matching their foods. Every restaurant has a bowl item on the menu. It makes me want to run back to my parents and say, “I told you so!”
An Easy Approach to Stuffed Chicken
Looking for an easy, fun, and tasty lean and green recipe? Look no further than pizza-stuffed chicken breasts! This recipe is simple to make, uses only a few ingredients, and takes only 10 minutes to prepare. Plus, the cooking time is only 40 minutes! You can’t get much better than that. These chicken breasts are perfect for a quick and healthy meal any night of the week.
This recipe was inspired by thatlowcarblife.com and we have made some adaptations to help you on your health journey. This is especially true if you’re on Optavia’s 5&1.
Lean and Green Meals Don’t Have to be Boring
Just because you’re trying to eat healthy doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to your favorite comfort foods. With a few simple substitutions, it’s easy to make delicious, health-conscious lean and green meals that will leave you feeling satisfied.
In this stuffed chicken recipe we are just taking what we love from pizza and tossing out the dough! It’s what you love without the guilt! We always say that food is fuel but fuel can be a tasty tool. Spicing up your recipes by combining foods like pizza with chicken is simple but genius!
How do you stuff chicken breast?
Butterfly chicken breast is a great way to add flavor to otherwise plain chicken. The process is simple: first, carefully butterfly the chicken breast open. It doesn’t have to be perfect – a little messiness is perfectly fine. Next, add your seasonings to one side of the chicken. Then, fold the other half of the chicken breast over the top, enclosing the seasonings inside.
Important Safety With Slicing The Chicken Breast
Take your time. When you cut the chicken slow and steady wins the race. First, you don’t want to cut yourself. Second, your goal is to open the breast up without cutting through the chicken.
Don’t Over-Stuff your Chicken
A little pizza goes a long way. In this lean and green recipe, you’ll top the dish off with pasta sauce and the leftover cheese and pepperoni. There will be plenty left and you’ll get all the tasty goodness.
Sealing Your Stuffed Chicken Breasts
When you fold the chicken breast over onto the pizza stuffing you may need to use a toothpick to keep it closed. This is usually a sign there is too much pizza inside the chicken.
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What You Need For Pizza Stuffed Chicken Breasts
The Lean Proteins
We are using our favorite Butcherbox-delivered chicken. We pick up at least three pounds every month in our order. You’ll need four chicken breasts butterflied for this recipe. In our experience, one chicken breast is rarely a full 6 ounces after being cooked. Check out our other ButcherBox inspired recipes!
Pepperoni
Pick up some lean turkey pepperoni to make this meal more compliant with your Optavia lean guidelines.
Cheese
If you’re on the Optimal 5&1 program, a portion of your lean can be made up in low-fat cheese. We’re using mozzarella for this lean and green meal.
The Greens
Marinara Sauce
We are using our favorite pasta sauce from our list of Optavia-approved pasta sauces. Rao’s is our go-to sauce. We’ve tried them all and we like this one the best.
Read Our Tips on the Best Approved Pasta Sauces
Fun Tip:
Did you know you can thicken up your sauce by adding cauliflower to it and blending it up. Cooked cauliflower blended with pasta sauce gives a rich and thicker sauce for your lean and green meal!
How we Made our Stuffed Chicken Pizza
Prep the Oven
We used our favorite oven gadget from Ninja. The Foodi XL oven is perfect for these kinds of meals. Pre-heat whatever oven you are using to 400 degrees.
Butterfly and Stuff Your Chicken
Once you’ve sliced your chicken breasts lay them out open side up. Start by adding 1/4 of the minced garlic. Next, add a layer of mozzarella cheese. Top it off with three to four slices of pepperoni.
Seal and Season Your Stuffed Chicken
Fold the chicken over on itself. If it’s too full, use a toothpick to seal it. Season with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. We only seasoned one side and it was perfect. If you’d like to season the other side you can flip the chicken when placing it in the pan.
Add to the Dish and Sauce it Up
We use a square dish but you can use whatever you have. Add each breast to the dish. Pour the sauce over the top of the chicken until it’s covered.
Top with whatever remaining pepperoni is left. Top with the remaining cheese.
Bake The Stuffed Chicken
Bake the chicken covered with tin foil to prevent the cheese from burning. When you have about 10 minutes left, you can remove the tin foil covering to ensure the top cheese is melted and browned.
That’s it! Enjoy every bite guilt free!
FAQ
We made a simple Caesar salad to complete our lean and green meal. Whatever sides go with Italian food work here! You may want to try some awesome cauliflower garlic bread
Every oven is different. This means cooking times will vary. The important thing to remember is your chicken must reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees to be considered “done”
Short answer: We don’t have the patience or the skill! But if you do we want to see what it looks like!
Absolutely! Our Foodi is a multi function oven and you could definitely air fry these as well. One word of caution: Your cheese may melt out before your chicken is done when air-frying.
Lean and Green – Pizza Stuffed Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken Breasts butterflied
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 oz Low Fat Mozzarella Cheese Shredded
- 1/4 cup Turkey Pepperoni
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 cups Rao's Original Marinara Sauce
- Salt & Pepper to Taste
Instructions
- Butterfly each chicken breast4 Chicken Breasts
- Add garlic, 1/4 Mozzarella, and three pepperoni pieces to inside the chicken. Fold over and use a toothpick to seal closed4 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup Turkey Pepperoni, 3 oz Low Fat Mozzarella Cheese
- Season the top of the chicken breast with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper2 tsp Italian seasoning, Salt & Pepper to Taste
- Place in square baking dish, cover with sauce2 cups Rao's Original Marinara Sauce
- Top with any remaining cheese and pepperoni. Bake covered at 400 until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.You can uncover for the last 10 minutes to melt and brown the cheese.
Video
Notes
5&1 Approved: This meal is lean and has approved greens. Exact number of lean and greens have not been calculated for this recipe. One chicken breast with included ingredients has an estimated value of 1 leaner and 1 green.