Pepperoni Pizza Panko Chicken. Say that a few times really fast! This is an easy, kid friendly recipe that screams weeknight meal to me! It combines panko and parmesan crusted chicken, pizza sauce, Applegate Pepperoni, and melty mozzarella cheese to make a delicious main dish.
Truth…I am not a huge pepperoni person, and never have been. Growing up I was just an extra cheese kind of girl. I have ventured out a bit since those days, but my ideal slice of pizza is still extra cheese. Cheese = Life.
My children, on the other hand, love pepperoni. They have been known to completely abandon a slice of pizza after eating just the pepperoni off of the top.
WHO. DOES. THAT.
Despite not being a super duper pepperoni lover, I saw this Applegate Naturals pepperoni at the grocery store and thought it looked brilliant. It was huge. It was massive. It deserved to sit atop a chicken breast with melty mozzerella cheese and fresh basil on top. I needed this pepperoni in my life to show my children that I, in fact, can be a pepperoni person too.
Here is my husband pretending to be tall, dark, handsome, and mysterious while showing off this wonderful Applegate Naturals Pepperoni! He attempted to give me several pointers on how to get this shot. I didn’t listen to any of them!
Ingredients and Tips
I have been mentioning this a lot here lately, and here I go again. Target is really killing it with their organic, non-GMO, and better ingredient oriented grocery selection lately! I am so impressed with their organic selection, sometimes I forget I’m even at Target. As I browsed the isles, or ran through them with a screaming baby, I picked up a jar of their Simply Balanced organic pizza sauce for $1.29!
$1.29!!!! I thought it was a steal. 🙂
I also used Kikkoman panko bread crumbs, grated parmesan cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, and thin cut chicken breasts. If your chicken breasts are thicker, I highly suggest filleting them first (cutting them in half length-wise), and pounding them thin with a meat tenderizer.
When I sauté chicken, temperature and enough olive oil is key to getting those perfectly crisp panko crumbs on the outside. I had my burner on a steady medium-low the whole time. I knew I did not want to crank it up too high, as to not burn the olive oil or the panko bread crumbs. I think the crucial part to getting perfectly crisp and browned breadcrumbs is 100% the amount of oil in your pan. So before you put each piece of chicken in your skillet, make sure there is a generous dash of oil waiting for those breadcrumbs!
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Pepperoni Pizza Panko Chicken
By Published: March 16, 2017
- Yield: 4-6 Servings
- Prep: 5 mins
- Cook: 35 mins
- Ready In: 40 mins
Pepperoni Pizza Panko Chicken. Say that a few times really fast! This is an easy, kid friendly recipe that screams weeknight meal …
Ingredients
- 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 6+ Applegate Naturals Pepperoni
- 1/2 cup pizza sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves chopped, for topping
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, and 1/4 tsp kosher salt.
- Over medium heat, preheat a large skillet with 2 Tablespoons olive oil. Also preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dip each chicken breast in panko breadcrumb/parmesan mixture to lightly coat. Lightly sauté each chicken breast until golden brown on each side, about 2-3 minutes per side.
- Arrange chicken breasts in oven safe baking pan. First, top each with pizza sauce followed by pepperoni. Next, top with mozzarella cheese and fresh basil leaves. Place in oven and bake until chicken is cooked through and cheese is starting to brown, about 15-20 minutes.
