Once again, a Simple Recipe saves the day. Three cheers for Simple Pizza Chicken Bake! (Hip, hip…okay, let’s just get to the recipe.)
Truth: I have been too busy to cook lately. Why? Well, for one thing, I’ve been quite occupied by writing about how to put simple meals on the table.
Do not miss the irony of this.
Oh my dears. We hosted people for Thanksgiving, then turned right around and traveled to Kansas. We arrived home a few days later happy and tired, and very behind on all of our work. We began to play catch up while getting ready for Christmas and finishing up our kids’ semester of school work. Our youngest has been in our big downtown Christmas play, so we’ve been running to practices and performances and hosting family who came into town to watch. We hosted Christmas parties for two groups of college students, and enjoyed a big basketball triangular in town with the team our two middle boys are involved with.
Did I mention we’re getting ready to drive to California to see family at Christmastime?
All this fun in the midst of trying to keep up with everyday life has threatened to push me into the next level of crazy-head. (No one wants to see what that looks like.) So when Matt got home from his current job site one day last week and asked how he could help with dinner, I looked up from my computer (where I was editing a post about keeping dinner simple) and said, “I’ve been too busy writing about how to put food on the table easily to actually get food on the table. I love you. I’m hungry. Malachi needs to leave for practice in 15 minutes.”
Fun times. I have no recollection of what we actually ate that night. But no one starved, and I think I’m back on track this week to at least have the brain power to throw something in the crock pot or oven at a reasonable time.
Keep this new Simple Recipe in your back pocket. It truly is a no-brainer, and maybe it’s just me, but I think we can all use no-brainer recipes this time of year and always.
Simple Pizza Chicken Bake
- 3 pounds boneless chicken breasts or thighs
- 14 ounces pizza sauce
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 6 ounces sliced pepperoni
- Cut chicken into thin strips and spread them into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
- Spread pizza sauce over the chicken.
- Sprinkle with cheese.
- Top with pepperoni.
- Bake, uncovered in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.

I’m happy to report that the work I was behind on is almost caught up, and the work I’m trying to get ahead on is coming along at a nice pace. I got to a good enough point a few days ago that I told Matt, “Hey, I think I’ll be able to go to California with you for Christmas after all.” Now here’s hoping he gets all his work done so he can go too.
Other Simple Recipes I’ve Shared Recently:
- Simple Baked Salmon and Asparagus
- Simple Crock Pot Chicken Soup with a Kick
- Simple Skillet Taco Pasta
- Simple Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken Legs
- 20-Minute Taco Soup
- Simple Cheesy Baked Chicken
- Simple Creamy Chicken Stew in the Crock Pot
- Simple Italian Beef and Broccoli Skillet
- Simple Bacon Ranch Chicken
- Simple Hawaiian Crock Pot Chicken
- Simple Taco Rice Dinner
- Simple Last Minute Nacho Plate
- Simple Chicken Cheeseballs with a Kick
- Simple Beanie Weanies
- Simple BBQ Spareribs
If you haven’t joined Simple Meals, we invite you to come aboard! We’ll provide the plans. We’ll provide the recipes. We’ll provide the grocery list. All you have to do is take a deep breath and enjoy how simple your life in the kitchen has become! Join Simple Meals!
Wow, that’s such an easy pizza recipe! Can’t wait to bake it & most importantly eat it! :D
Making this next week for sure!! Thank you for all of these recipes Laura. We are really, really appreciating (me the cooking, family the eating!) them at our house!!!!
Making it tonight! Thank you!
I made this for our small group last night, and they scraped the pan clean. My husband asked me to make it again. It was a hit! Thank you so much for your fun and easy recipes.
I made these and everyone loved them! And what’s even better, I was able to skimp on sauce and cheese and it was still good! I was in a rush and didn’t have enough jarred marinara sauce or cheese to cover everything, so I just put a dollop of sauce on each FROZEN boneless, skinless chicken thigh (lightly seasoned), covered with a good sprinkle of cheese, placed a couple of pepperonis on each thigh and baked. Oh, I did sprinkle a little dried oregano on top. It was great! So simple it was silly.
So I got inspired and experimented with Salsa on thighs coated with a little cumin, salt and pepper…AWESOME! I now have 2 really simple HEALTHY meals that can be assembled in like 5 minutes with frozen chicken thighs. Throw a salad together and dinner was on…no take out needed! Thank you!