Juicy low carb chicken thighs smothered in pizza sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella. This easy one-pan meal will be a hit with your whole family. Keto diet recipe.
Low Carb Pizza Chicken Recipe
Riddle me this, friends: Why do chicken thighs always come in packs of 5? Isn’t that a strange number, relative to how other things come? Chicken breasts tend to come in fours, chicken legs in twos. But a package of chicken thighs always seem to contain five. Which, being a family of 5, is very convenient for me. Too often I am getting the short end of the stick, with some fabulous offer being for…a family of four. Restaurants, resorts, theme parks, they always do their package deals for four. And pre-packaged food seems to always come in amounts that are best divvied up between TWO kids, not three. A friend once said that modern life is made for families of four and I have invariably found this to be true. Except for chicken thighs.
Which is perhaps why I favour chicken thighs over chicken breasts. That and the fact that they are tastier, less dry, and have a better fat content. So I usually have several packages of chicken thighs somewhere in my fridge or freezer for easy weeknight meals just like this one.
And this low carb pizza chicken is a huge hit with my family of five. I’ve made it countless times already and it’s quick to come together on a busy night. At first, I was browning the thighs in a pan and then transferring them to a baking dish. Silly me, it was clearly an extra step that I did not need. And so was born the Easy One Pan Pizza Chicken!
Turns out I am far from the only low carb blogger to have developed a pizza chicken recipe. Check out this Low Carb Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake from Kalyn’s Kitchen. We had almost identical ideas!
Hope your family loves it as much as mine does.
Looking for more low carb easy chicken skillet dinners?
Tuscan Chicken Skillet from The Wanderlust Kitchen
Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Skillet Chicken from A Spicy Perspective
Skillet Lemon Rosemary Chicken from Two Peas and Their Pod
Skillet Chicken with Mushrooms, White Wine, Bacon and Leeks from Rachel Cooks
Skillet Balsamic Chicken with Sweet Peppers and Zucchini from Aggie’s Kitchen
- 2 tbsp avocado or olive oil
- 10 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup pizza sauce or marinara sauce make sure it has no added sugar
- 2 ounces sliced pepperoni I like this one from Applegate
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Heat oil in a large 12-inch skillet over medium heat (if it's a cast-iron skillet, be generous with your oil to avoid sticking). Sprinkle chicken thighs with salt and pepper and to pan. Cook until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- Pour pizza sauce over chicken thighs, spreading to coat. Arrange pepperoni over chicken and sprinkle with mozzarella.
- Bake 25 minutes, then turn on broiler for a minute or two until cheese is bubbly and browned in spots.
Serves 6 to 8 (about 1 1/2 thighs per serving). For 6 servings, each serving has 2.98 g NET CARBS.
Food energy: 443kcal
Total fat: 26.84g
Calories from fat: 241
Cholesterol: 202mg
Carbohydrate: 3.59g
Total dietary fiber: 0.61g
Protein: 44.79g
KalynsKitchen says
Maybe it’s because I am in Utah (the land of big families) but here the chicken thighs almost always come in packs of 10! I don’t know if that’s better or worse.
Your chicken looks great. Please come to my house and make videos for me, lol!
Carolyn says
Ha, that makes sense. All of mine seem to come in fives, which is perfect for me. I buy two because we love leftovers!
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom says
Carolyn, I am so making this! We eat chicken thigh meat at least once a week, maybe every other week but my kids love it when I just bake them with BBQ sauce. . I need to change it up! love this idea! and so easy!
Carolyn says
Thanks, Alice. I can guarantee your kids will love this one!
Kat says
I think that maybe 5 is what fits in the tray (packaging) the best.
Thanks again for all your hard work.
It’s greatly appreciated.
Sarah G says
Family of 10 here, so not only is it impossible to find things in the right number without doubling or tripling) but recipes always say, serving size 4! Well, that’s awkward and I don’t always know how to triple them since not every ingredient will work right if tripled. 🙁
So, Carolyn, I always love your BIG recipes. 🙂
Carolyn says
Whoa, family of 10! Well this makes 10 thighs but that’s only one thigh apiece and you will want more than that. Easily doubled, though. This one will work easily if you just double everything! (but I suspect it will no longer be a one-pan dinner 😉 )
Sarah G says
Haha, no it won’t.
I think with some sides though, a thigh a piece would be filling. We don’t often get seconds anyway. This looks so good!
Pam says
I need a great sugar-free BBQ sauce that is like Sweet Baby Ray’s.
Gracie says
Try GHughes https://www.walmart.com/ip/G-Hughes-Smokehouse-Sugar-Free-Hickory-Flavored-BBQ-Sauce-18-oz/40740655?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227028257513&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=47344750352&wl4=pla-93452831792&wl5=9008704&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=40740655&wl13=&veh=sem
At Walmart, my husband is a diabetic and he loves this stuff. I don’t remember what flavor we got but it was great.
Joshua Hampton says
Wow. I can’t wait to try this pizza chicken. I love cheese in nearly everything and I love how the mozzarella seems to stick to the meat. My boys are going to gobble this up too. Thanks for this recipe.
Kathleen says
OMG!!!! I was trying to decide what to fix for Superbowl Sunday and after finding the slow cooker cauliflower and ham soup, I discovered this Pizza chicken!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m pulling thighs out to thaw and and we will be having tomorrow!! Yum and Thanks!!
Jan says
I made this the day you posted it, though I cut it down for two servings. It was a hit here, too! I’ll be making this again! Thanks!
Carolyn says
Thanks!
Tanya says
This looks AmAzInG! Quick question, would the cooking time change for bone-in with skin thighs & would you recommend it for this recipe?
Thank you for ALL of your AMAZING recipes & helping make low carb eating easy. You are my savior for the BEST recipes, I have truly NEVER been disappointed!
Carolyn says
You can definitely use bone in skin on chicken…the only issue being that the topping tends to slide off as you try to cut around the bone, but it’s not that big a deal. Try cooking for an extra 10 minutes in the oven.
Kari says
I can’t seem to find a no added sugar pizza sauce. Which one do you recommend?
Carolyn says
I just got a marinara sauce from my local New Seasons. It didn’t specifically state that it was no sugar added, but I checked the ingredient list. Can’t remember the name of the brand but it was not one of the big names. Some local organic brand.
Debra Beard says
Made this Pizza Chicken recipe last night.
Wow! Definitely a new favorite!
Didn’t miss the skin one bit.
Was so moist and flavorful.
Thx Carolyn!
Christina says
Would this work with chicken breasts?
Carolyn says
Yes, but I don’t really know how long you’d want to cook the for. Don’t overcook or they will be dry!
Erin Parker says
Carolyn, love this but are you sure 1 1/2 thighs per person is close to 45g protein? Seems like an awful lot. Maybe it’s an error?
Carolyn says
I agree, it does seem like a lot. It’s what my MacGourmet software tells me but I have thought for a while that it might be off. Self Nutrition Data says one boneless, skinless thigh is 8g. They both pull from the USDA database so I can’t figure out why my software tells me it’s so high. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/poultry-products/735/2
Carolyn says
But I also have to say…the self nutrition one seems to low. There has to be a happy medium… 🙂
Tiffany says
This looks fantastic. Definitely going to try on the weekend. What is a broiler? Does the cheese not get bubbly and browned in the oven?
Carolyn says
In the US, most ovens come with a broiler…the top heating element (as opposed to the baking element which heats from below). Yes, the cheese gets melted and bubbly but I like some little browned spots and a broiler is the best way to do this. It’s VERY hot so it only takes a minute or two. (it doesn’t heat like the baking element, it only turns on super hot).
steph says
can i use a microwave as my oven isn’t in good shape?
Carolyn says
No, you would end up with awful rubbery chicken.
Tracey Lago says
Carolyn – thank you so much for your amazing blog and even more amazing LC recipes. I made the pizza chicken last night and it was soooo good! You are such a wonderful asset to us not-so-creative LC cooks trying to keep decent food on the table!
Marlene says
Made this tonight. Came out fantastic!! Such flavor and tenderness! I used chicken breasts as that was all I had in the house but it was so delicious! My son loved it as well and even asked me why I didn’t make more! Thank you for so many amazing recipies!!
Julie says
did you adjust your cooking time at all?
Katharine says
I’ve made this at least 5 times! So easy and now I just keep the ingredients on hand to have it as a quick weeknight dinner. Everyone in the family eats is!
Sara says
This also works for thighs with bone in. I just baked them for 40 min instead of 25. Tasted amazing and I have leftovers for lunch at work the next 2 days. Definitely will make this again.
Aggie says
It’s been too long since I cooked up chicken thighs, this looks so delicious and my family would love it too!