Crustless Pizza Chicken Skillet

Craving pizza but want something a little more protein-packed?

This Crustless Pizza Chicken Skillet gives you all those familiar pizza flavors—pepperoni, marinara, mozzarella, garlic, oregano, mushrooms and olives—but swaps the traditional pizza crust for chicken.

And because we're starting with a cooked rotisserie chicken, it comes together quickly without requiring a long list of steps.

This is one of my favorite kinds of recipes: simple, satisfying and easy to customize based on what you already have in the refrigerator.

All the Pizza Flavor Without the Crust

I love pizza as much as anyone, but sometimes I want the flavors of pizza without making an actual pizza.

That's where this recipe comes in.

Instead of starting with dough, chicken becomes the protein-rich base of the meal. Then we're adding pizza sauce, pepperoni, vegetables, Italian herbs and optional mozzarella.

The result is somewhere between a pizza bowl and a hearty chicken skillet.

You can eat it straight from a bowl, serve it over vegetables, or pair it with a simple side salad.

A Great Way to Use Rotisserie Chicken

Rotisserie chicken is one of my favorite shortcuts for making healthier meals happen on busy days.

If the protein is already cooked, you're halfway to dinner.

For this recipe, simply remove the skin, chop the chicken and add it to the skillet with the vegetables, seasonings and pizza sauce.

You can also use leftover cooked chicken if that's what you have available.

Make Your Pizza Chicken Your Own

One of the best things about this recipe is that you can treat it exactly like pizza.

Don't like olives? Leave them out.

Love mushrooms? Add more.

Want some heat? Be generous with the crushed red pepper flakes.

You could also experiment with other pizza-inspired additions such as:

• bell peppers

• fresh basil

• artichoke hearts

• extra spinach

• turkey sausage

• banana peppers

• roasted garlic

• fresh tomatoes

You can also omit the mozzarella to make the recipe dairy-free.

That's the beauty of recipes like this—you don't have to follow every ingredient perfectly for dinner to turn out well.

Crustless Pizza Chicken Skillet

Ingredients:

• 1 cooked organic rotisserie chicken, chopped with skin removed

• 1 12.3 oz jar Rao's pizza sauce

• 1/3 cup Applegate Farms sliced uncured pepperoni, chopped

• 1 cup organic shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 red onion, diced

• 1 cup mushrooms, diced

• 1/4 cup sliced black olives

• 2 cups organic spinach

• 1/2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil

• 1/2 tsp dried basil

• 1/2 tsp dried oregano

• sea salt & black pepper, to taste

• crushed red pepper flakes, pinch to taste

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan or wok over medium-high heat.

2. Add onions and mushrooms and cook until translucent.

3. Add in chicken, garlic, basil, oregano, a pinch of himalayan salt and black pepper.

4. Stir in pizza sauce, pepperoni, and black olives and cook until sauce starts to bubble.

5. Add in spinach and cheese.

6. Cook until spinach has wilted and serve.

How to Turn It Into a Complete Meal

This dish already gives you plenty of protein from the chicken and pepperoni, along with vegetables from the mushrooms, onion and spinach.

If you want something alongside it, keep it simple.

Serve it with roasted broccoli, zucchini, asparagus or a green salad. You could also serve it over spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles if you're craving more of an Italian-style dinner.

And if you aren't concerned about keeping the meal lower in carbohydrates, there's nothing wrong with adding a side of rice or roasted potatoes.

Build the meal around what works for your body and your nutrition needs.

Dr. Stephanie's Tip: Healthy eating becomes much easier when you stop thinking that your favorite foods have to disappear.

Instead, think about what you love about the meal.

With pizza, it's usually that combination of tomato sauce, garlic, Italian herbs, pepperoni and melted cheese that makes it so satisfying.

You can use those same flavors in a completely different meal.

That's exactly what we're doing here.

You're not pretending a piece of chicken is pizza crust. You're simply taking the flavors you love and turning them into a quick, protein-rich dinner.

Healthy Food Should Still Taste Good

You don't need another boring chicken recipe.

Chicken is one of the easiest proteins to prepare, but eating plain chicken breast with steamed vegetables every night is a pretty quick way to become completely uninterested in healthy eating.

Recipes like this keep things interesting.

This Crustless Pizza Chicken Skillet is warm, savory, customizable and loaded with familiar pizza flavors. Better yet, using rotisserie chicken means you can get dinner on the table without spending your entire evening in the kitchen.

Make it exactly as written or add your own favorite pizza toppings.

Either way, pizza night just got a new option.

Want More Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Recipes?

If you like recipes that make healthy eating actually taste good, you'll find plenty more in my cookbook, Allergy-Free Tastes Good to Me.

It's filled with 93 gluten-free and dairy-free recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and more—made with real ingredients and designed for everyday life.

Because eating healthier shouldn't mean eating boring food.