BBQ Chicken Pizza Recipe

The bbq chicken pizza is a classic and a very easy pizza to make at home. Turn leftover chicken into a brand new meal!

I like making this with some of the leftover ingredients I have in my fridge. It’s easy to use up the leftover rotisserie chicken you have in the fridge as well as some of your extra veggies. I happened to have the end of a red onion and a couple of leaves of cilantro.

You can make your own pizza dough but if you’re looking for a quick and easy weeknight meal, it’s much quicker to pick up a pre-made crust. For this recipe, I used the Boboli original crust. It’s best to brush your crust with oil before placing your sauce on it so that it does not become soggy. The oil will keep the ingredients you place on it from soaking into the crust too much as it bakes.

I used about half a cup of sauce for this recipe, but if you enjoy more sauce on your pizzas, by all means, be more generous with your sauce. The opposite is also true. If you prefer less sauce, just use less sauce on the pizza. I really enjoy Kinder’s bbq sauce, but any bbq sauce will do.

Any kind of cheese will do for this pizza. I enjoy the classic mozzarella with some cheddar mixed in, but if you prefer all mozzarella or all cheddar then you can customize to your liking! Gouda cheese also gives a creamy and smokey flavor that will complement the sweetness of the bbq sauce well.

Ingredients:

1. Crust: You can use homemade pizza dough that is tried and true or you can use store-bought. I was a bit short on time so I used a Boboli pizza crust. Either way, make sure to brush your crust with a little oil before putting your sauce and toppings on to keep it getting soggy.
2. Sauce: For a BBQ Chicken Pizza, you’ll need, you guessed, barbecue sauce. My favorite is Kinder’s but anything in your fridge will do just fine. Start with a half a cup of sauce and adjust up or down depending on how saucy you like your pizza.
3. Cheese: I used two types of cheese for maximum flavor: mozzarella & cheddar. If you have gouda in your fridge I would add a bit of that since the smokey-ness of it pairs so well with the BBQ sauce. If not, adding any type of cheese that you like will work well.
4. Chicken: Adding on any type of pre-cooked chicken will work. You can coat the chicken in the sauce before adding it or add it plain. This recipe is perfect for leftover rotisserie chicken.
5. Other toppings: I also add some zesty diced red onion to the pizza before baking and cilantro when it comes out of the onion. I have red pepper flakes on the side as an option for those that like their food a bit spicier.

How to Make a BBQ Chicken Pizza

It’s easy to make your own barbecue chicken pizza, especially with a premade crust.

First, you will want to prepare your crust, wether it’s store bought or homemade. Make sure that your crust is cooked and ready for the toppings. Paint the crust with oil before adding your sauce and other toppings. Bake the crust, or prepare according to the package instructions. Baking the crust for about 10 minutes with the oil before adding the toppings will not only give the crust a nice crunch but also keep the crust from getting soggy.

Second, add your toppings as desired. Spoon on your bbq sauce onto the sauce and distribute evenly. Then add your cheese and shredded chicken.

It’s best to shred your own cheese since preshredded bagged cheese has an agent on it to prevent sticking, which also interferes with the melting process.

This is a great recipe to use up any leftover rotisserie chicken that you have from the weeknights in your fridge. Just cut it up into smaller bite-sized pieces so that it’s easy to eat.

Bake the pizza at 425 for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is warmed through.

Take the pizza out and serve it up!

How to Bake a Pizza

Baking your pizza is not as difficult as it may seem. While there are a lot of different fancy pieces of equipment out there (pizza stones, pizza ovens, etc), you don’t need any of that. Some ovens even have a built-in pizza oven on the bottoms. Turns out after I baked my pizza, I found out my oven is designed for baking pizzas on the flat bottom of it.

I used a round baking pan to bake my pizza on the middle rack of the oven. My bbq chicken pizza turned out perfectly with the crispiest crust! Turns out I didn’t need any of that fancy equipment and neither do you.

What to Serve with Pizza

Pizza in itself is a complete meal, but sometimes it feels like it’s missing something.

I always eat all my pizzas with crushed red pepper and a dressing of some sort, either bleu cheese dressing or ranch dressing on the side.

I also like to serve pizza with a side of veggies as well, since pizza is such a carb-heavy meal. Serve some well-cooked vegetables like roasted broccoli or even garlic artichokes on the side.

What do you like to eat your pizza with? Share with me in the comments below.

Did you try this bbq chicken pizza recipe? Tell me what you think of this recipe in the comments below.