BBQ Chicken Pizza

Since it's summer, and we have a wonderful cooking area with a BBQ, stove, fridge, sink, and lots of space, we've decided to have a family pizza night once every week on either Saturday or Sunday night, and I'm always in charge of making the pizza and salad!  This is also ideal, since making pizza inside is very messy and pizza is better cooked on a BBQ than in an oven.

This week I decided to make BBQ Chicken Pizza!  Now when you order BBQ Chicken Pizza at a restaurant, it's all crust, chicken, and cheese, but I like putting lots of veggies on with my chicken.  It makes the pizza so much better!


Here's what you will need for this delicious pizza:
1 recipe pizza dough (recipe will be in my next entry)

5 raw chicken breasts

½ cup corn

2 cans olives, drained and rinsed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 red onion, sliced

2 large bell peppers, sliced, or 2 cups sliced mini peppers

12 ounces mushrooms, finely sliced

Shredded Gouda and Mozzarella cheese, mixed together

2 cups baby spinach, minced

1 bunch cilantro, minced

1 16 oz. bottle pizza sauce from Trader Joe's

1 ½ bottles Carolina BBQ Sauce from Trader Joe’s

Pour ½ bottle of Carolina BBQ Sauce over the chicken.  Cover and marinate for at least 3 hours.

About 1 ½ hours before you want to eat, BBQ the chicken, making sure to keep it moist.

After 7 minutes, flip the chicken and cook for another 7 minutes.

To help keep the chicken moist while cooking, brush with leftover marinade during the cooking process.


Make 1 recipe of your favorite pizza dough (there will be a recipe for my favorite dough in my next post) and let rise about 3 hours before you want to eat.

1 hour before you want to eat, preheat oven or barbecue as hot as possible, with 1 or 2 pizza stones.  Most ovens only heat up to 500*, which is why a barbecue is ideal.

In a medium bowl, mix the bottle of pizza sauce and remaining 1 bottle of Carolina BBQ Sauce.

Once you have all your ingredients prepped, lay them out in your work space in the order that you're going to put them on your pizza.  I usually put the cheese on last, that way it melts onto everything.

Once your cooking area is all clean and organized, it's time to start rolling out the dough.  When it comes to rolling out pizza dough, there are three golden rules:
1. Use a LOT of flour.
2. Make sure there aren't any cracks on the outside of your ball before you start rolling it out.
3. Roll from the inside out.
I roll my dough pretty thin, so that it's more toppings that crust, but everybody has their own preference.

You can leave the edges of your pizza flat if you want to, but I usually fold mine over and brush them with olive oil.

Use a ladle to swirl a thin layer of the BBQ/pizza sauce mixture around the pizza.
 
Make sure you spread the sauce all the way to the edges so they are flavorful.

Add the mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, olives, corn, black beans, and chicken that you prepared earlier, and sprinkle with a thin layer of cheese.  Don't be afraid to use a lot of toppings!

Put the pizza in your oven or barbecue and cook until it is sizzling and slightly crispy.

Sprinkle on a light layer of the spinach and cilantro you sliced earlier, then finish cooking the pizza.  This way, the spinach and cilantro aren't raw, but they're not burnt either.

Once your pizza is cooked just the way you like it, take it out of the oven or BBQ with a pizza peal.

Transfer your pizza to a cutting board or platter to cool, then slice into eighths!  Repeat this process with all of your ingredients, or until you run out of pizza dough.

 This delicious pizza is best served with a Chopped BBQ Salad over a bed of lettuce.  The recipe for the Chopped Salad and BBQ Dressing will be in my next post!

And if you're as lucky as me you'll get to enjoy this wonderful meal outside watching a beautiful summer sunset!

To see more of my pictures you can find me on Instagram at @audreygracephotography.