Topped with chicken, bacon, and plenty of BBQ sauce, this BBQ chicken pizza will be your new favorite! My recipe works with a homemade or store-bought crust and takes just 15 minutes to prep.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Restaurant-quality results at home. This BBQ chicken pizza has an amazing flavor–you won’t believe it’s homemade (and so easy too).
- Customizable! I had a lot of fun playing with the flavors, but you can get even more creative. Ranch dressing, jalapeno, caramelized onions, and pineapple are also great toppings on this pizza!
- Can be made on a homemade or pre-made crust. I include instructions for both below.
- Fun alternative to classic pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese. If you want to switch things up even more, try my buffalo chicken pizza!
I first mentioned this BBQ chicken pizza years ago in my homemade pizza dough post. Since then, so many of you have made your own versions and absolutely loved them. Today, I’m finally sharing mine!
It starts with a BBQ chicken base and is topped with plenty of cheese, onions, peppers, and bacon before going into a hot oven. Once the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden, it’s ready to slice and enjoy. I think you’re going to like this one just as much as my family does 😋
Ingredients
Today’s recipe uses less than 10 ingredients! Here’s what you need to make it.
- Pizza dough. You can use a pre-made dough (or crust!), but I personally like to make my own. Sourdough pizza crust would also be great here! Since we’re loading the crust with toppings, I like to par-bake it to keep the dough sturdy rather than soggy.
- Veggies. Including onion (I like red onion), red bell pepper, and scallions. I like to thinly slice my onion and pepper so they are easy to bite on the pizza.
- Bacon. You can obviously leave this out if you don’t like bacon, but I always include it. The smoky flavor pairs with the BBQ sauce so well! You can use pre-cooked bacon, or just cook your bacon in the oven.
- BBQ sauce. Use your favorite BBQ sauce (or my homemade BBQ sauce). Note that different sauces give different flavor, so pay attention to the label and ingredients before you add it (just make sure it’s a sauce that you know you enjoy the flavor of!).
- Cheese. I tried making this pizza with a variety of different cheeses, blends and single cheeses (like Colby jack, gouda, smoked gouda, all mozzarella, cheddar, etc.); however, I enjoyed a blend of mozzarella and Monterey jack the best. As usual, I recommend you shred your own cheese for the best melting and cheese pulls!
SAM’S TIP: My slow cooker shredded chicken works perfectly in this recipe! It’s so easy to make too. I recommend setting it up in your crockpot in the morning so you can have it ready for dinner. You can also use rotisserie chicken or pre-cooked chopped chicken.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make BBQ Chicken Pizza
- Spread BBQ sauce over your par-baked crust and set aside. Toss the chicken in the remaining sauce, then evenly distribute this over your crust.
- Add your toppings (start with just half), then add the cheese. Top with the remaining toppings, then transfer to the oven. Bake until the cheese is bubbly, then top with scallions and serve.
SAM’S TIP: I like to top my pizza with chopped scallions, but cilantro would be tasty too!
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! You technically can use any cooked and shredded meat here; beef, pork, turkey, etc. will all work in this recipe.
Yes! To freeze, you will need to wrap the pizza in plastic wrap and place in a freezer-safe bag or container. I recommend enjoying within 3 months for the best taste.
If your crust is already par-baked, you can just follow the recipe from step 3. If you are using raw pre-made dough, you will want to follow the recipe as written.
This pizza would go great with a side of maple bacon brussel sprouts! Yum!
Enjoy!
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BBQ Chicken Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 homemade pizza dough click link to make mine, or use a pre-made dough
- Olive oil
- 1 ½ cups (200 g) diced or shredded chicken
- ½ cup (118 ml) favorite BBQ sauce
- ½ cup (50 g) thinly sliced onion
- ½ cup (70 g) thinly sliced red bell pepper
- ½ cup (60 g) chopped cooked bacon
- ¾ cup (85 g) shredded monterey jack cheese
- ¾ cup (85 g) shredded mozzarella cheese
- Scallions for topping optional
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450F (230C) and roll out pizza dough into a 12” (30cm) circle. Transfer to a pizza pan and brush lightly with olive oil.1 homemade pizza dough, Olive oil
- Transfer dough to center rack of preheated oven and bake for 9-10 minutes or until crust is just beginning to turn a light golden color. Do not turn off the oven.
- Spread a spoonful of BBQ sauce evenly over the baked pizza. In a separate bowl, toss together the chicken and remaining BBQ sauce, then layer this evenly over the pizza crust.½ cup (118 ml) favorite BBQ sauce, 1 ½ cups (200 g) diced or shredded chicken
- Sprinkle the chicken with about half of the onion, red pepper and bacon, top evenly with shredded cheese, then sprinkle the remaining onion, bell pepper, and bacon evenly overtop.½ cup (50 g) thinly sliced onion, ½ cup (70 g) thinly sliced red bell pepper, ½ cup (60 g) chopped cooked bacon, ¾ cup (85 g) shredded monterey jack cheese, ¾ cup (85 g) shredded mozzarella cheese
- Return pizza to center rack of oven and bake 10-13 minutes/until cheese is melted and bubbly. If desired, top with chopped scallions before serving. Allow to cool slightly before cutting and serving.Scallions for topping
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Sherry
This is now one of our favorites for pizza. We’re having it for our 2 person 4th of July lunch. I’ve made BBQ chicken pizza based on California Pizza kitchen before, but this is hands down the winner. Another great one Sam. Thank you.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Sherry! 🙂