BBQ Chicken Pizza

This simple BBQ Chicken Pizza is quick, easy, and better than delivery.  Piled high with cheddar cheese, chicken, bacon, and bbq sauce, you cannot beat it!

BBQ Chicken Pizza is my all time favorite pizza! Crispy garlicky crust with all the best toppings.  Mmmmm.  Cue happiness!  Try it alongside other favorites like crispy oven roasted brussel sprouts, and an easy antipasto salad.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

BBQ Chicken Pizza Ingredients

• Pizza crust – If you’re making the crust at home, be sure to par bake it for about 5 – 7 minutes and let it cool before topping and baking again.  We love this easy pizza dough recipe, but sometimes cheat and use a quick just add water crust.
• Barbecue sauce – Make it yourself or grab a bottle of your favorite!
• Cheddar cheese – Sometimes we’ll also substitute for Mexican or Fiesta blend cheese in this recipe.  It’s wonderful both ways.
• Cooked chicken – I typically always have baked chicken on hand in the freezer, but you could also use canned chicken, or shredded rotisserie chicken.
• Red onion – I’ll never understand why it’s called red onion when it’s actually they color purple.  I like mine either small diced or in thin rings.
• Bacon – Another things we typically keep on hand in the freezer. I like to cook large batches of bacon on a sheet pan in the oven and then freeze it for later use. You can also buy bags of real bacon bits at the market and keep those in the freezer.
• Optional: Green onion, Parmesan cheese (the cheap stuff in the spaghetti aisle), and garlic salt. (Please don’t skip the garlic salt).

How do you make barbecue chicken pizza? (Step-by-step)

⭐ First, add a thin layer of barbecue sauce to your crust, followed by cheese, then chicken, bacon, and onion.

⭐ Next, top everything off with a pretty swirl of barbecue sauce and (if you want to bring your crust to the next level!!!) dust around the edges with garlic salt and Parmesan cheese (OMG YES, DO THIS).

⭐ Then, bake according to your dough directions.

⭐ Finally, sprinkle with fresh green onion and ENJOY!

Scroll down to the printable recipe card toward the bottom of this article for ingredient measurements and detailed cooking instructions.

Preparation

Can you make BBQ chicken pizza ahead of time?

If you make sure to pre-bake the dough for several minutes before adding toppings, you can prepare the topped pizza up to a couple days ahead of time and just pop it into the oven when ready.

You can also prepare and bake the entire thing ahead of time, then warm it up for several minutes in the oven before serving. This is my preferred method, but either will work.

Leftovers and Storage

How long does leftover BBQ chicken pizza last?

The leftover pizza will last 3 – 5 days in the refrigerator, or several months in the freezer.  Make sure that the pizza has cooled to about room temperature (but not stayed cool in excess of 2 hours) before wrapping tightly and storing in the refrigerator or freezer.

What is the best way to reheat leftover pizza?

I will fight anyone who doesn’t think pizza is best reheated in the oven (or toaster oven). Reheat for 5 – 7 minutes at 400F for an individual slice, or 7 – 10 minutes for several slices (watching closely to make sure it doesn’t burn).

If you’re in a time crunch though, barbecue chicken pizza is good no matter how you reheat it (or even if you don’t), so feel free to pop it in the microwave for 30 – 60 seconds on high power.

Complete your day with these recipes suggestions!

I’m going to suggest waking up to a batch of delicious strawberry shortcake waffles, followed by creamy egg salad for lunch, and then (of course) this yummy pizza for dinner alongside an easy broccoli salad! And don’t forget an easy peach cobbler for dessert!

More awesome pizza recipes

• Pizza made with Bisquick
• Mini pizza croissants
• Egg and cheese breakfast pizza
• White pizza flatbread
• Fruit pizza with cookie dough
• See all our easy pizza recipes!

More great chicken recipes

• Pan roasted chicken thighs
• Chicken enchilada casserole
• Barbecue chicken nachos recipe
• Coconut chicken fingers
• One pan peanut butter chicken
• See all our easy chicken recipes!

BBQ Chicken Pizza Inspiration

When I originally wrote this, we had been road tripping up the east coast were parked in Connecticut at my Aunt Angie’s house.  I love spending time with family that we don’t get to see very often and getting to explore new places.

One night of our trip Aunt Angie did something fantastically amazing that basically never happens for us – watched the kids and let us have a grown-up night with our adult cousins!  But before that, the kids had a make-your-own pizza party!  Just like we do at home, they each got their own little blob of dough and were set free to create chaos.  Or pizza.  Whatevs.

Dinner was full of over-cheesed bacon and pepperoni pizzas, sprinkled with fresh peas.  Delicious, I’m sure – but if it were me creating a pie, I’d definitely go for my faaaaaavorite.  The Barbecue Chicken Pizza!  I’ve ordered it at pretty much every restaurant that serves pizza and while CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) was once my favorite, I’ve now moved on to Mellow Mushroom.

Mmmmmm… well, I had until realizing how incredibly easy it is to make these at home!

Tools we love

• Oil mister – This is the perfect gift for folks who want to make sure they know exactly what they’re spraying on their pans.  We like to put olive oil in ours, but you could use anything from vegetable oil, grapeseed oil, avocado oil, or whatever you like!  Just pump the top a few times and it sprays a fine mist of the oil you chose.
• End grain cutting board – This is my absolute favorite cutting board and the one that I get the most compliments on.  And p.s. I have a lot of cutting boards.  It really is absolutely stunning, and knows how to take a beating.  We use it every single day!

 

How to Make BBQ Chicken Pizza

Love BBQ? Try our BBQ Pulled Pork recipe or smoked chicken legs next!

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