Pepperoni Chicken

Here’s what this recipe isn’t: fussy, complicated, complex, difficult, elaborate, laborious, burdensome, or tricky.

Here’s what this recipe is: fast, simple, tasty, easy, versatile, satisfying, and speedy.

Let’s make it and I’ll show ya!

Start with a couple of chicken breasts (the recipe calls for 2, but I just cooked 1 for these photos.)

Use a knife to carefully slice the chicken breasts in half across the middle (it’s easier if you hold your other palm firmly against the top of the breast while you slice with the other hand)…

So that you wind up with 2 thinner chicken cutlets. Whenever I’m cooking a recipe that leaves chicken breasts “whole,” I so often slice them in half like this. They cook more evenly that way and don’t dry out as much!

Season them with salt and pepper and lay them in a skillet with some olive oil and butter over medium to medium-high heat.

When the first side is nice and deep golden…

Flip them over and finish cooking them on the other side until they’re cooked through and beautiful.

Remove them to a plate and set them aside for a minute.

Into the same skillet (don’t clean it, obviously!) pour in some marinara sauce. You can spend some extra time to make your own sauce by adding crushed tomatoes, sugar, seasonings, etc, but a jar works well, too!

Stir the sauce and let it heat up and start to bubble, then nestle the chicken breasts in the sauce.

Now here’s where things start to get crazy, otherwise known as shocking, otherwise known as mind-blowing, otherwise known as cray, otherwise known as totes cray, depending on your age group: Open up a package of pepperoni slices and lay them all over the top of each chicken breast!

Um, the mild flavor of chicken combined with the salty wonder of pepperoni? It’s a match made in Heaven.

Next, lay a slice of mozzarella cheese over the top of each piece of chicken, then cover the skillet (if you don’t have a lid that fits, just lay a baking sheet over the pan!)…

And let it bubble up until the cheese is totally melted.

Oh, baby.

Mince up some parsley…

Sprinkle it over the top…

And dinner is served! How simple was that?

How you serve it is up to you: You can cook some pasta and spoon over some sauce…

Then grab the chicken…

And lay it right on!

Or you can serve the pepperoni chicken with a side salad and pull back on the carbs.

Or you can lay the pepperoni chicken in a toasted sub roll and eat it as a sandwich!

We’re getting ready to get into a lot of holiday cooking, so I hope you’ve enjoyed this nice, quick recipe this morning.