This BBQ Chicken Pizza is made with cubed or shredded chicken tossed with sweet and smoky barbecue sauce, sliced red onions, and a combo of mozzarella, smoked gouda, and a sprinkle of cilantro.
If you’ve never tried BBQ Chicken Pizza before, you absolutely should because it’s is a total treat. Barbecue chicken makes *such* a good pizza topping, especially combined with red onions, mozzarella and smoked gouda, and cilantro.
Depending on how much time you have, you can make the crust from scratch (I recommend the crust from my Margherita Pizza) and cook the chicken yourself.
Or you can grab a rotisserie chicken and premade pizza crust at the store when you pick up the rest of your ingredients for a super easy weeknight dinner.
BBQ Chicken Ingredient Notes
- Pizza crust: Use your favorite medium-to-large pizza crust recipe or store-bought pizza crust here. If you’d like to try an alternative pizza base, scroll further down in the post for alternative pizza crust suggestions.
- Cooked chicken: This recipe calls for 1 cup of cooked chicken. As mentioned above, you can use rotisserie chicken, leftover roast chicken, or if you’d like to cook the chicken breast yourself, I recommend this method for cooking shredded chicken and this method for making cubed chicken.
- BBQ sauce: The BBQ sauce you use will have a huge impact on the flavor of your pizza, so be sure to use a BBQ sauce you enjoy. This basic sauce is my go-to for BBQ pizza.
How to Make BBQ Chicken Pizza
- To make the pizza, you’ll pre-season your cooked chicken with salt and pepper and toss it with a little BBQ sauce so it’s well-coated. Then you’ll just assemble the pizza.
- Spread BBQ sauce over the pizza crust and layer on the rest of the ingredients (minus the cilantro). Once that’s done, it goes into the oven and comes out gooey, beautiful, and delicious.
- Sprinkle with chopped fresh cilantro (don’t skip the cilantro–it adds a ton of flavor) and dig in!
More Pizza Toppings
The ingredients I’ve included in the recipe are the standard ones you’ll find for most barbecue pizzas, but like any pizza, you can really make this your own with a variety of toppings. Try:
- Bacon
- Pineapple (my favorite)
- Sliced jalapeños or banana peppers
- Blue cheese
Pizza Crust Alternatives
No pizza crust? No problem. Try it with one of these crust alternatives:
- French bread: (Makes 1 loaf, sliced into halves) Bake assembled pizzas at 400°F for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Naan: (Makes 2-3 naan pizzas) Bake assembled pizzas at 400°F for 12 to 14 minutes.
- Tortillas: (Makes about 4 taco-size, 2 burrito-size pizzas) Bake assembled pizzas at 425°F for 7 to 10 minutes.
- Cauliflower Pizza: Bake assembled pizza according to package or crust recipe instructions.
FAQ
Can I use leftover BBQ chicken in this recipe?
Yes! If you have cooked BBQ chicken on hand like my Shredded BBQ Chicken, you can use it here. Just use 1 cup of the chicken and skip tossing it with extra BBQ sauce. Make the rest of the recipe as written.
Can I freeze this pizza?
Yes. Like most pizzas, this recipe freezes and reheats well. Store slices in a freezer bag or double wrap the entire uncooked pizza in plastic wrap and then foil. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To reheat, unwrap and bake in a 400°F oven until heated through.
More Easy Weeknight Meals
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Ingredients
- Olive oil for brushing
- 1 medium-to-large pizza crust unbaked
- 1 cup (8oz) chopped or shredded cooked chicken
- ⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons thick and sweet barbecue sauce
- Salt and pepper
- ¾ cup (3oz) shredded smoked gouda cheese divided
- ¾ cup (3oz) shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- ¼ to ½ red onion thinly sliced
- Chopped fresh cilantro for topping
- Ranch optional for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat oven according to crust package or pizza crust recipe instructions.
- In a bowl, toss cooked chicken with 2 tablespoons of the barbecue sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Brush unbaked pizza crust with a light layer of olive oil and transfer crust to a lightly greased baking sheet.
- Spread remaining ⅓ cup of barbecue sauce over the crust, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges.
- Top crust with half of the gouda and mozzarella cheese, followed by the prepared chicken and red onion. Sprinkle remaining gouda and mozzarella over the top and bake pizza according to crust package or pizza crust recipe instructions.
- Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, slice, serve with ranch if desired, and enjoy!
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