Pizza Stuffed Chicken Quinoa Bake is a hearty but healthy casserole filled with fluffy quinoa and your favorite pizza toppings along with garlic herb cheese and pepperoni stuffed chicken breasts for a dinner recipe the whole family will love!
Quinoa might sometimes be a hard sell for kids…or in my case a large 30 year old kid. It is “different” and some people shy away from it. There is no need to be scared of this power food though. Pairing it with pizza sauce, tomatoes, pepperoni and cheese is the best way to take the leap and introduce it to those picky eaters in your family.
I have been dreaming up this meal for awhile now and it turned out even better than I could have imagined. The quinoa came out nice and fluffy and took on the flavorful spices of the pizza sauce and the chicken breast was tender and filled with bold flavor from the pepperoni and garlic herb cheese spread.
Apart from cutting a slit in your chicken breast and filling it, this meal is as simple as throwing everything in one pan and baking it! I love a good meal that comes together easily and tastes so amazing. I am thoroughly excited to share this dinner idea with you!
Another beautiful aspect of this dish, is that it is so easy to customize. Add your favorite pizza toppings to appeal to your family. For me, I wanted to load it up with veggies, so I added some cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and mushrooms along with the turkey pepperoni. If you aren’t a big veggie fan, you can skip some or all of them or you could even try it Hawaiian style with Canadian bacon and pineapple. Make it vegetarian by skipping the chicken and adding more of your favorite veggies such as olives and spinach.
Unless you are just making this dish just for yourself, I doubt there will be much of any leftovers. In my case, my husband was away on a fishing trip, so I had the luxury of packing up the extras for lunch throughout the week. I love when I get to enjoy a hot dinner in addition to having leftovers so I don’t have to worry about making separate lunches for the week!
Pizza Stuffed Chicken Quinoa Bake
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts
- 3-4 wedges Light Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb spreadable cheese -or- herbed soft goat cheese
- 1 pkg. 6oz turkey pepperoni
- 1 3/4 c. pizza sauce
- 1 1/4 c. chicken broth
- 2 c. quinoa uncooked
- 1 1/2 c. onion diced
- 2 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 c. cherry tomatoes halved
- 2/3 c. bell peppers diced
- 2/3 c. mushrooms thinly sliced (optional)
- 3/4 c. reduced fat shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°.
- In a sprayed 9x13 pan, mix the quinoa, pizza sauce, chicken broth, onion, Italian seasoning, garlic and veggies until everything is mixed well.
- Cut a horizontal slit through the thickest portion of each chicken breast to form a pocket. Spread one wedge of garlic herb cheese inside of each breast and top with 4-5 slices of pepperoni. Lay the chicken breasts on top of the quinoa mixture and top with shredded cheese.
- Cut the remaining turkey pepperoni into quarters and sprinkle over the top of the casserole.
- Bake at 400° covered for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and stir the quinoa. Bake for an addiitonal 10-20 minutes or until all of the quinoa is sprouted and chicken is cooked through. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
21 Day Fix Approved Recipe – 2/3 Red, 1/2 Blue, 1 Green, 1 Yellow
More great quinoa dishes!
Asparagus and Feta Quinoa Salad
Asparagus, Chicken & Quinoa Bake
Strawberry & Gorgonzola Quinoa Salad
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