Pizza Fridays - BBQ Chicken (and Bacon)

Earlier this year we started doing pizza Fridays at our house (when we're home). We throw the dough ingredients into the bread machine for mixing, then we roll them out, add sauce and toppings (purchased in bulk at Sam's Club) and stick them in the oven. We've tried several variations including adding herbs to the dough, treating the outer crust to butter, garlic, parmesan cheese, and herbs. After our vacation we decided to branch out and try something other than our typical pepperoni and ham/pineapple toppings. Heather came across a BBQ Chicken pizza recipe in a local recipe book that we tried (and modified) which turned out pretty tasty.

The original recipe included a dough recipe, as well as the topping. I'll only be including the topping - I think any favorite dough recipe or store-bought pizza dough would do fine.

2-3 chicken breasts, diced

1/2 green pepper, diced

1/2 red pepper, diced

1 3/4 c. bottled barbeque sauce

3 - 4 c. mozzarella or pizza cheese

Cook chicken in frying pan (sprinkle with garlic salt while cooking). Set aside. Sauté peppers until crisp-tender. Add chicken and barbeque sauce to peppers and heat through. Spread chicken topping over partially cooked pizza dough and top with cheese. Cook until cheese is melted and beginning to brown. Makes one pizza.

Original recipe credits to Kara Knapp, Mapleton, UT

Most of my family and friends know that I enjoy playing around with recipes and inventing a little - I just couldn't leave this one alone because I felt it needed more that just a BBQ sauce with bell pepper flavor added. For those that are interested, here's my interpretation of the recipe above...

Caleb's BBQ Chicken Pizza Topping

2-3 chicken breasts

1/2 green bell pepper, sliced

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced

1/2 sweet onion, sliced

1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce (we currently prefer Sweet Baby Ray's)

about 1 cup water

1/2 lb. package bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 - 3 c. pizza cheese

Step 1 - Chicken

Grill option:  Prepare chicken breasts with pepper and garlic salt to taste. Grill on medium heat until done. Slice against the grain into 1/8 to 1/4 inch pieces. Large pieces may need to be cut in half.

Pan option:  Slice uncooked chicken into 1/8 to 1/4 inch pieces. Large pieces may need to be cut in half. Season chicken with pepper, and garlic salt to taste. Preheat 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil in pan and cook over medium heat. Remove from pan and set aside.

Step 2 - Peppers

Preheat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in pan. Over med-high heat, sauté peppers until crisp-tender (about 5 minutes).

Step 3 - Sauce

Combine chicken, peppers in pan over med heat. Add BBQ sauce. Slowly mix in water until the BBQ sauce is about the consistency of tomato sauce or slightly more runny.

(Due to the varied consistency of BBQ sauce, add more or less BBQ sauce or water depending on the sauce you use. If you add too much water, just boil the sauce a little longer.)

Step 4 - Top the Pizza

Makes 2 pizzas for the amount of sauce/topping we like - do more if you prefer. Add the BBQ chicken mixture to the pizza crust. Add onions and bacon for texture and flavors. Top with cheese. Cook until cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

If you try it out, let me know what you think or changes you try. I think I'd try this without sautéed peppers and just put them on the top raw (like the onions).


Our next Pizza Friday adventure will likely be along the lines of chicken or spinach alfredo or something similar. If that one turns out we'll be sure to share it as well.