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Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken

Snejana Andreeva - 1

By Snejana Andreeva

on Mar 31, 2022, Updated Apr 03, 2024

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This 3-ingredient Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken 🍗 came to me in a moment of kitchen inspiration. I wanted to make something creative and new, but I only had a few ingredients on hand: chicken thighs, pizza sauce, and olives. I thought to myself: “I wonder if pizza sauce would be good baked on chicken?”. 45 minutes later, I discovered the answer was a resounding 💯 “YES!” – it makes for a delicious combination. When I say pizza sauce, I mean a seasoned 🍅 marinara sauce, either store-bought or homemade. My favorite store-bought brand is Rao’s or try my Authentic Italian Tomato Sauce (Sugo) recipe made without the meat. If you love pizza and chicken, you will love this recipe.

  • Why You’ll Love Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken
  • How to Prepare Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken
  • Nonna’s Tip
  • Variations and Substitutions for Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken
  • Similar Recipes
  • Best Served With
  • Common Questions
  • Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken Recipe

Why You’ll Love Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken

The best part of this dinner idea is that it’s a 🫰 SNAP to make, without sacrificing any flavour. By using a premade sauce, you are imparting beautiful Italian flavours into the dish, usually oregano and/or basil. PLUS the acidity from the 🍅 tomatoes helps tenderize the chicken as it bakes. This also comes together in one dish : you prepare and cook the recipe in the same oven-safe baking dish, making clean-up a breeze.

How to Prepare Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken

🔥 First, preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

🍗 Next, add the chicken thighs to an 8 x 8 inch oven-safe dish .

🧂 Now, add the olive oil, season with salt , and then cover each chicken thigh with a heaping tablespoon of pizza sauce.

🫒 Add the olives and a splash of olive juice, if using. Then give everything a nice massage with clean hands.

⏲️ Next, bake uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size of the thighs/breasts (or until the juices run clear and a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a piece of chicken measures 165F).

👩‍🍳 Enjoy on or alongside salad, mashed potatoes, or vegetables.

Nonna’s Tip

If you’re using premade tomato sauce, only add a pinch of salt in case the pizza sauce is already salty.

Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken - 5

Variations and Substitutions for Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken

  1. The 🫒 olives in this dish are optional, but I love how they become meltingly soft in the oven and add a bit of saltiness to the dish. You could also use capers in place of or in addition to olives.
  2. To make this even more pizza-flavored, finish it off with shredded mozzarella and grated Parmesan 🧀 and let melt in the oven for the last minute or so of cooking.
  3. You can absolutely make this with any cut of 🍗 chicken, but the cooking times will vary.

Similar Recipes

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Lemon Yogurt Chicken

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Best Served With

  • A big, beautiful salad like my 🥗 Wedge Salad , Simple Green Salad or Healthy Potato Salad .
  • A classic side of potatoes like my 🥔 Parmesan Smashed Potatoes or Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes .
  • Any vegetable side such as grilled vegetables, steamed 🥦 broccoli or sauteed carrots.

Common Questions

For this Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken recipe, make sure you get a good-quality pizza sauce with good ingredients because that will make all the difference. Mine is by Rao’s and you can find it at grocery stores everywhere.

To make sure your chicken is always perfectly cooked and still juicy and tender, bake the chicken until the juices run clear and a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a piece of chicken measures 165F.

Absolutely! Just watch the cooking time. Chicken breast, bone-in or -out will take anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes to cook depending on how thick it is so make sure to use a meat thermometer to check it’s cooked to 165F.

Jarred capers, with a bit of the juice, will also add a lovely brininess to this dish which complements the tomato flavours perfectly.

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Video

Equipment

  • ▢ Baking Dish
  • ▢ Redmond Real Salt
  • ▢ Meat Thermometer
  • ▢ Baking Dish

Ingredients

  • ▢ 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
  • ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ▢ ½ teaspoon salt , to taste
  • ▢ ⅓ cup pizza sauce , I love the brand Rao’s
  • ▢ ¼ cup olives , such as kalamata or green olives
  • ▢ touch of olive juice , (optional)

Instructions

  • ▢ Preheat the oven to 400°F (200C).
  • ▢ Add the chicken thighs to an 8 x 8 inch oven-safe dish. Add the olive oil, season with salt, and cover each chicken thigh with a heaping tablespoon of pizza sauce.
  • ▢ Add the olives and a splash of olive juice, if using.
  • ▢ With clean hands give everything a nice massage. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size of the thighs/breasts, or until the juices run clear and a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a piece of chicken measures 165F. Enjoy on or alongside salad, mashed potatoes, or vegetables.

My Notes

Nutrition

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken

Equipment

  • Baking Dish
  • Redmond Real Salt
  • Meat Thermometer
  • Baking Dish

Ingredients

  • 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon salt to taste
  • ⅓ cup pizza sauce I love the brand Rao’s
  • ¼ cup olives such as kalamata or green olives
  • touch of olive juice (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F (200C).
  • Add the chicken thighs to an 8 x 8 inch oven-safe dish. Add the olive oil, season with salt, and cover each chicken thigh with a heaping tablespoon of pizza sauce.
  • Add the olives and a splash of olive juice, if using.
  • With clean hands give everything a nice massage. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size of the thighs/breasts, or until the juices run clear and a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a piece of chicken measures 165F. Enjoy on or alongside salad, mashed potatoes, or vegetables.

Video

Nutrition

Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken https://themodernnonna.com/pizza-sauce-baked-chicken/ March 31, 2022