Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken
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
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.
Variations and Substitutions for Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken
- 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.
- 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.
- You can absolutely make this with any cut of 🍗 chicken, but the cooking times will vary.
Similar Recipes
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55 mins
Baked Parmesan Chicken
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Garlic Lemon Chicken Thighs
52 mins
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.
Pizza Sauce Baked Chicken
Ingredients
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.
Never would have thought to make chicken this way! YUM!
Easy and delish! Definitely an inexpensive meal which is great for our family. Will be making this again!
This recipe was a hit with the whole family! I can’t believe how easy it is: both quick to prepare and uses only a couple of ingredients that are often on hand! The meat was so tender and flavourful. I used skinless boneless chicken thighs, Classico brand pizza sauce as that’s what I had, and topped the chicken with a bit of shredded mozzarella and shredded parmesan at the end for a couple of minutes. Served with mashed potatoes. I’ll definitely be making this again and again!
Thank you so much, Adrijana. So glad your family enjoyed it! ❤️
Absolutely delicious and easy… served with white rice and some avocado…. best dinner EVER and budget friendly!!
So glad you loved it Barbara