gluten free

This is an easy kid friendly make ahead meal that the whole family will love. Most kids’ ears perk up at the word “pizza” so this is a great recipe to get those reluctant chicken eaters on board!

I find that my kids also like food that’s stuffed with something. It’s almost like it contains a surprise so that’s another element of this dish that is appealing to the younger crowd.

As far as being appealing to moms, this dish can be made ahead and frozen until the day you want to serve it. While you’re at it, you might as well assemble several so that you have a few in the freezer ready to go. You’ll be glad you did.

The other thing about this pizza stuffed chicken recipe that appeals to moms is how few ingredients it requires. It’s an easy 5 ingredient meal that’s going to quickly become one of your go-tos for busy weeknights.

Let’s get this show on the road and get right to the recipe!

Pizza Stuffed Chicken Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 large chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
• 30 pepperoni slices
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 cup prepared pizza sauce
• salt and pepper

Assembly instructions:

1. Spritz a 9×13 oven safe dish or 9×13 foil tray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Slice chicken in half horizontally through the thickness of the breast. Pound to ½ an inch thick. You can make this easier by placing chicken between sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper when pounding.
3. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. In the middle of the chicken, place four slices of pepperoni and about 1 Tbsp. of shredded mozzarella. Roll the chicken, tucking in the edges, and place in the baking dish or foil tray.
4. Pour pizza sauce over each chicken breast. Top with remaining mozzarella and pepperoni slices.
5. Place two layers of aluminum foil over the tray and seal the edges well.
6. Label and freeze.

Cooking Instructions:

1. Take the tray out of the oven. Thaw.
2. Preheat oven to 375°. 
3. Place the tray in the oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes (depending on the thickness of the chicken breast) or until a meat thermometer reads 165°.

Serve with a salad and some garlic bread.

Check out these other make ahead kid friendly freezer meals:

Pizza Tater Tot Casserole

Turkey Sloppy Joes

KFC Style Chicken

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Pizza Stuffed Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 large chicken breasts boneless and skinless
• 30 pepperoni slices
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
• 1 cup prepared pizza sauce
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Assembly instructions:

1. Spritz a 9x13 oven safe dish or 9x13 foil tray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Slice chicken in half horizontally through the thickness of the breast. Pound to ½ an inch thick. You can make this easier by placing chicken between sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper when pounding.
3. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. In the middle of the chicken, place four slices of pepperoni and about 1 Tbsp. of shredded mozzarella. Roll the chicken, tucking in the edges, and place in the baking dish or foil tray.
4. Pour pizza sauce over each chicken breast. Top with remaining mozzarella and pepperoni slices.
5. Place two layers of aluminum foil over the tray and seal the edges well.
6. Label and freeze.

Cooking Instructions:

1. Take the tray out of the oven. Thaw.
2. Preheat oven to 375°.
3. Place the tray in the oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes (depending on the thickness of the chicken breasor until a meat thermometer reads 165°.

Serve these pork chops topped with spice pears to your kids and you’ll get no complaints. With ingredients like cinnamon and vanilla, it’s practically dessert for supper!

This meal can be made ahead and frozen. That makes for an easy supper midweek when you have a crazy busy schedule. No one will suspect how easy it was to cook.

This recipe requires slightly more prep than most of our freezer meal recipes do to make the sauce, but it’s worth it. I do recommend that because of this, you make several of this recipe at once. It takes just a minute or two more to cut more pears and the rest of the steps take the same amount of time whether you make one meal or four.

If you take that extra minute or two, you’ll be able to pull one of these out for supper every few weeks. It’s such a nice feeling knowing that there are meals ready to go in your freezer!

Pork Chops Topped with Spiced Pears Recipe:

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 2 ripe pears, peeled and chopped
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
• 2 lbs. boneless center cut pork chops, 1/2 inch thick

For cooking:

• 1 tsp. olive oil

Assembly instructions:

1. Peel, de-seed, and chop the pears.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add the prepared pears, 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon and the nutmeg.
4. Cook, stirring and mashing the pears continuously, until the “sauce” is thick and the pears are tender. This will take about 7-9 minutes.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Allow to cool while you prepare the pork chops.
6. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining cinnamon, salt, paprika and pepper.
7. Rub the spice mixture over the pork.
8. Place the pork in a large resealable freezer safe bag or a silicone reusable freezer bag. Seal.
9. Place the spiced pear topping in a medium sized freezer bag and seal.
10. Staple the medium bag to the one containing the pork chops. Be sure to staple above the seal to avoid leaks.

Cooking instructions:

1. Take the bag duo out of the freezer to thaw.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork chops and cook them until well browned and cooked through, about 6 minutes on each side. Top with the sauce and cover for a minute to allow the sauce to warm.
3. Serve. Sprinkle with a bit of parsley if desired.

This easy family recipe is gluten free and dairy free, making it versatile for many diets.

Suggested side dishes for pork chops:

• easiest coleslaw
• beer roasted asparagus
• Italian tortellini salad
• Colcannon (Irish mashed potatoes with greens)
• red potato salad with avocado and eggs
• corn on the cob
• rice
• green beans
• simple lettuce salad
• crispy smashed potatoes with garlic and herbs

Looking for other easy family freezer meals? Our Family Favourites Meal Plan includes recipes, shopping lists, and printable labels to take the guesswork out of dinners. 

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Pork Chops Topped with Spiced Pears Recipe

Prep Time

11 mins

Cook Time

13 mins

Total Time

24 mins

 

Course: Main Course

Keyword: pork chops

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 2 ripe pears peeled and chopped
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
• 2 lbs. boneless center cut pork chops 1/2 inch thick

For cooking:

• 1 tsp. olive oil

Instructions

Assembly instructions:

1. Peel, de-seed, and chop the pears.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add the prepared pears, 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon and the nutmeg.
4. Cook, stirring and mashing the pears continuously, until the "sauce" is thick and the pears are tender. This will take about 7-9 minutes.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Allow to cool while you prepare the pork chops.
6. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining cinnamon, salt, paprika and pepper.
7. Rub the spice mixture over the pork.
8. Place the pork in a large resealable freezer safe bag or a silicone reusable freezer bag. Seal.
9. Place the spiced pear topping in a medium sized freezer bag and seal.
10. Staple the medium bag to the one containing the pork chops. Be sure to staple above the seal to avoid leaks.

Cooking instructions:

1. Take the bag duo out of the freezer to thaw.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork chops and cook them until well browned and cooked through, about 6 minutes on each side. Top with the sauce and cover for a minute to allow the sauce to warm.
3. Serve.

Our other make ahead pork chop recipes:

Simple Marinated Pork Chops Apple Pork Chops