A crispy pizza base smothered in a homemade smoky BBQ sauce, shredded chicken and a delicious blend of cheeses. BBQ Chicken Pizza is total comfort food, but really simple to make and can even use leftovers. Kids and adults will LOVE this pizza, and it's perfect for a movie night.
I have never met a pizza that I didn't like, and I have never met a person that sounds like pizza. Pizza is always a winner, and it always goes down well in our house. This BBQ Chicken Pizza might just be our favourite, because although it is really simple, it is so fully of flavour.
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Why you will love it
- You can use leftover chicken
- Kids love it
- Easy to load with vegetables
- Tastes great the next day too
Ingredients needed
- Pizza dough - We used a ball of our homemade wholewheat pizza dough. However, you could use a homemade white pizza dough, or just use a store bought ready rolled dough if you wanted to save yourself some time. It is worth making your own dough though.
- BBQ sauce - This is where so much of the flavour of the pizza comes from, so you want it to be the best BBQ sauce possible. We made our own, and it's so simple to make. You can use a store bought one, however go for a good quality one, as you will be able to taste the difference.
- Shredded chicken - This bbq chicken pizza is a great way to use up leftover chicken. If you don't have any leftovers, then you can just cook it fresh.
- Red onion - You can swap red onion for white onion or even shallots for a sweeter taste.
- Cheese - We used a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella. Use an extra mature cheddar, as the stronger flavour means you can use less of it, making it a lower in calories pizza.
- Jalapenos - This gives the pizza a nice spicy kick. You can leave it out though, or even just put them on half the pizza.
- Coriander (cilantro) - This adds a little freshness to the pizza, and some colour. You can leave it off, or swap it for fresh chives.
A full ingredients list with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step by step
One: Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/Gas 8. Hand stretch the dough to about 12 inches in diameter and place on a pizza tray.
Two: Spread two thirds of the bbq sauce over the base, leaving the edge uncovered.
Three: Mix the rest of the bbq sauce with the chicken and add to the base.
Four: Add the onions and jalapenos.
Five: Cover with cheese.
Six: Cook in the oven for 12-15 minutes.
Homemade BBQ Sauce
The majority of the flavour from this bbq chicken pizza comes from the BBQ sauce and it's a reeeeeal good BBQ sauce. It's our homemade healthy BBQ sauce. You could use your favourite store bought BBQ sauce, but it's worth making the effort to make your own, as you really will taste the difference.
Our homemade BBQ sauce uses less than 10 ingredients, all of which you probably have in your kitchen already! We sweetened ours with a little honey (although you could use maple syrup) and the great thing is, you can adjust the sweetness if you don't like a sweet BBQ sauce. You could even add a little chilli to it for something spicier.
Healthy Swap
Shredded chicken
Whilst the BBQ sauce is the main flavour in this bbq chicken pizza, that doesn't mean that the chicken takes a back seat. Shredded chicken is layered on this pizza to make it pretty much the perfect pizza.
We used leftovers from our Slow Cooker Whole Chicken, however if you don't have any leftover chicken then you could just grill a chicken breast and shred it to add to the pizza. It's worth giving our whole slow cooker chicken a try though, as it is rotisserie style seasoned chicken that is all cooked in the slow cooker. Only 2 minutes of prep as you just rub with the seasoned oil and then put it in the slow cooker for 4 hours.
What cheese to use
There are so many options when it comes to cheese on a pizza. We went with a simple mature cheddar and shredded mozzarella to add creaminess and flavour.
You could swap them for some goats cheese and parmesan. We like to use mature cheddar or another strong tasting cheese, as the stronger the flavour, the less you need to use on the pizza.
What vegetables to add
Pizza is always a good opportunity to get some extra vegetables in. They can then easily be hidden under the cheese. We used onions and shiitake mushrooms for this, but there are loads of other vegetables that would work. Courgette (zucchini), sweetcorn, bell peppers, jalapenos or even pineapple (controversial I know).
Go wild with your topping combinations and why not get the kids involved? They will love making patterns on the pizza with different toppings.
What to serve it with
Pizza is great on it's own, but here are some suggestions to take your pizza meal to the next level:
- Chips/Fries: We have The Best Air Fryer Fries, Baked Sweet Potato Fries or Baked Polenta Fries to choose from.
- Slaw: Add a side of slaw with either some Mexican Coleslaw, Asian Slaw, Broccoli Slaw or Cucumber Dill Salad.
- Potato Salad: Mustard Potato Salad, No Mayo Potato Salad or Mediterranean Potato Salad.
- Dips/Sauce: Healthier Ketchup, Healthy BBQ Sauce, Tzatziki, Salsa, Jalapeno Sauce or some Guacamole.
- Others: Onion Rings, Roasted Vegetables, Grilled Corn, Beetroot and Goat's Cheese Salad or Spanish Olives.
This is just a small selection of our side dishes. Check out our Side Dish Recipes for more inspiration.
FAQs
Healthy is such a subjective word, however make your own pizza at home from scratch is a great opportunity to make some healthy swaps, and you can control exactly what goes on to it. We used a homemade wholewheat base and then our lighter and lower sugar BBQ sauce. It is protein packed with the shredded chicken, and we used much less pizza than you would get on a takeaway pizza. You could also load it with vegetables if you wanted to.
Cooked pizza will keep well in the fridge for up to 2 days.
To freeze, let the pizza cool completely and wrap individual slices in cling film (Saran wrap). Put the slices in sealeable freezer bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To reheat, you can cook from frozen. Bake the pizza slices in the oven at 230°C/450°F/Gas 8, and cook until heated through.
Pineapple on a pizza is such a controversial topic, but we are big fans. We love it on any pizza, but it is especially amazing on a BBQ chicken pizza. The sweetness just goes perfectly with the BBQ sauce.
Yes, if you wanted to make a quick and easy pizza base, then you could use a tortilla wrap instead of traditional pizza dough. It wouldn't hold all the toppings together as well, but it's a nice lighter option.
More pizza recipes
If you’ve tried this chicken pizza recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - Use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.
Recipe
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 ball Pizza dough
- 100 g (3.5 oz) Cooked chicken - shredded
- 0.5 Red onion - diced
- 100 ml (0.5 cups) Barbecue sauce - for the base
- 50 ml (0.25 cups) Barbecue sauce - for the chicken
- 25 g (0.75 oz) Pickled jalapenos - thinly sliced
- 45 g (1.5 oz) Mozzarella - grated
- 45 g (1.5 oz) Cheddar cheese - grated
- 2 tablespoon Fresh coriander (cilantro) - chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 230°C/210°C(fan)/450°F/Gas 8.
- Hand stretch 1 ball Pizza dough until it is 10-12 inches in diameter. Put onto a pizza tray.
- Spread 100 ml Barbecue sauce over the base, leaving a small uncovered edge.
- Mix 50 ml Barbecue sauce with 100 g Cooked chicken and add to the base.
- Add 0.5 Red onion, 25 g Pickled jalapenos45 g Mozzarella and 45 g Cheddar cheese.
- Put in the oven for 12-15 minutes.
- Once cooked. sprinkle with 2 tablespoon Fresh coriander (cilantro).
Notes
- If you don't have leftover shredded chicken, then you can grill a chicken breast and then shred it to go on the pizza.
- You don't have to make your own BBQ sauce, you could use your favourite store bought one instead.
- If you are making your own pizza, then you can make it more or less sweet by adjusting the honey.
- Give this pizza a green veggie boost with some chopped spinach on the BBQ sauce.
Jac
Love this pizza recipe. The BBQ flavours were awesome. Thanks :)
Alisa Infanti
The homemade BBQ sauce on this pizza was amazing!
Jen
I love that little bit of red onion in each bite. We only put the jalapenos on half since the kids don't really like it. So good!
Gina
A classic pizza combination that we sure as heck love! I quick pickle the red onions before using them on the pizza for some tang. This recipe is a favorite!
Ty
BBQ Chicken pizza is one of my all time favorite pizzas but I’ve never thought to put jalapeños on it, genius idea!
Charla
Love you use of BBQ sauce as opposed to tomato. This pizza would be perfect for a game or chick flick night.
Taylor Kiser
One of my favorite ways to make pizza at home! So delicious!
Andrea Metlika
What i really like about this is that you tossed the chicken in that fabulous homemade sauce. I think that makes all the difference.
Amy
These is nothing better than homemade pizza and BBQ chicken is such a classic topping, love it!
Nathan
I absolutely LOVE BBQ chicken anything, and especially pizza, so I can't wait to give this recipe a try!
Emmeline Kemperyd
This pizza looks amazing! I love the idea to use leftover chicken - I always end up using it for tacos or quesadillas, but this will be my go-to the next time I have leftovers!