The Best Chicken Pizza Recipe
This Chicken Pizza comes together in about 30 minutes, and is made with a bunch of grocery store shortcuts, but it still has big gourmet pizzeria flavor. Recipe includes instructions to make it either on the grill or in the oven.
“Had some friends over and they all thought this was delicious. I took the shortcut with the chicken and bought one from the shop. I will definitely make this one again.”
—Robert
This Chicken Pizza Recipe has Layers of Flavor!
A recipe with this much flavor is usually one that involves hours and hours to develop that flavor. But this chicken pizza recipe uses shortcuts from the grocery store to achieve a gourmet pizzeria flavor in just about half an hour.
With unique, chef-inspired ingredients like roasted garlic, fresh mozzarella cheese and everything bagel seasoning, this will be the best chicken breast pizza you’ve ever made at home.
The recipe card includes instructions for cooking it in the oven OR on the grill (a perfect summer meal).
Why You Will Love This Pizza with Chicken
- Shortcut ideas for just about every ingredient. Sure, you COULD make your own pizza dough, roast your own garlic, and cook your own chicken, but you don’t HAVE to, and I’ll show you how.
- Done in about 30 minutes. Using recommended shortcuts, this pizza should be ready in just over a half hour.
- Great for meal prep. Many of the elements can be made in advance, like cooking the chicken and roasting the garlic. So it’s super easy to put together after work.
Chicken Pizza Ingredients
- pizza dough – you can make my recipe for homemade pizza dough, or buy a refrigerated version. You will need 1 pound of dough for this pizza with chicken.
- pizza sauce – There’s some really good pre-made pizza sauces at the grocery store these days (I like San Marzano and Rao’s brands).
- roasted garlic – There’s easy instructions in the recipe card below for roasting garlic. It’s simple and cheap.
- chicken – you will need 1-1/2 cups chopped or pulled cooked chicken for this grilled chicken pizza recipe. More on this below!
- mozzarella – with a fresh, milky flavor and super creamy texture, fresh mozzarella cheese is exceptional here.
- spinach – for some leafy freshness.
- seasoning – You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten a pizza sprinkled with everything seasoning. I make my own, but it can be purchased at most stores these days.
How to precook chicken for pizza
You MUST precook chicken before you put chicken on pizza. The pizza won’t cook long enough for raw chicken to cook all the way through on top of the pizza. You have options for this!
- ROTISSERIE CHICKEN: This is the easiest option, and what I normally use.
- ROAST OR GRILL CHICKEN BREASTS: If I want to cook chicken at home for this pizza with chicken, I follow a classic recipe for grilled or baked chicken breasts, allow it to cool, and then pull or chop it.
- LEFTOVERS/MEAL PREP: If I’ve done a really good job of meal planning, I’ll cook an extra chicken breast as I’m prepping another chicken meal, and use the extra breast to put chicken on pizza.
Ingredient Substitutions & Additions
- PIZZA SAUCE: If you’d prefer a homemade sauce, my culinary school tomato sauce would be great for this pizza. For a white pizza, try alfredo sauce. Or, make it a bbq chicken pizza by using barbecue sauce.
- MOZZARELLA: Provolone, Gouda and Monterey Jack cheeses are all good substitutes for mozzarella on this grilled chicken pizza.
- SPINACH: Arugula or kale would be great on this pizza with chicken. A handful of fresh basil is also lovely.
- ADD MORE: Feel free to add any of your favorite pizza toppings, including roasted red peppers, pepperoni, red onion, black olives, roasted broccoli, or anything else you can dream up.
How to Make Garlic Chicken Pizza in the Oven
1. ROAST GARLIC. If you’re roasting your own garlic, trim the tops off of 3 whole heads of garlic, wrap them in foil and place on a baking pan. Roast until the garlic is dark golden brown and very soft. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes or until cool enough to touch. Squeeze garlic cloves from their skin.
2. PARBAKE. Toss and stretch the pizza dough into a large circle. Spray pizza pan with cooking spray and place dough on pan. Transfer to oven, and bake 10 minutes.
3. SPREAD. Remove the pizza crust from the oven and spread it with pizza sauce. Top it with the chicken, roasted garlic cloves, cheese and everything bagel seasoning.
4. FINISH. Return the pizza to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and the dough is cooked through. Sprinkle the spinach over the pizza and return to the oven for 2 more minutes. Cut and serve right away.
How to Make Grilled Chicken Pizza
Want to grill your pizza for a nice summer meal? You can! Grilled pizzas require both direct and indirect heat.
- PREP. Preheat your grill for two-zone grilling, which means half of the grill should be set to medium-high (this is your direct heat side), and the other half should be off (this is your indirect heat side).
- PARCOOK. Shape your dough and brush it with oil, then throw it onto the grill over direct heat. Cook for a few minutes on each side until it’s firm and grill-marked.
- TOPPINGS. Top the dough with sauce and most of your toppings, then return it to the indirect heat side of the grill to cook for 8 to 10 minutes longer or until it’s fully cooked.
- FINISH. Sprinkle with greens, slice and eat!
The cheater’s way to make a grilled chicken breast pizza
If you want a grilled pizza, but you’re not confident about your dough grilling skills, take an easy shortcut and use naan bread, like I did for my smoked salmon pizza! This is also the FASTEST way to make this grilled chicken pizza recipe.
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Home Chef Tips
- Don’t have time to roast your own garlic? You may be able to take a shortcut and buy roasted garlic cloves from the olive bar at an upscale grocery store.
- If using store-bought or otherwise refrigerated dough, let it come to room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before stretching to make it easier to work with.
- If baking your chicken breast pizza in the oven, I highly recommend a pizza stone. Pizza stones are a wonderful tool to have if you’re a pizza lover because they help to achieve a crispy crust on this garlic chicken pizza without shelling out a few thousand dollars for an actual pizza oven. If using a pizza stone, your pizza may cook a few minutes faster than if you were using a regular pan.
How to Serve Chicken Pizza
My favorite side dish for this grilled chicken pizza recipe is a nice fresh salad, like mixed greens with feta dressing or citrus salad dressing, or even a beet salad.
The only other thing you need is a cocktail! I think that either a basil cocktail or a Kentucky mule would be a perfect pairing.
How to Store Chicken Pizza
If you have leftovers, transfer them to a storage container and place them in the fridge uncovered for a few hours until they are fully chilled, then cover them with the lid and keep in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
You can reheat leftover chicken pizza in the microwave, or in a 350 degree F oven until it is warmed through.
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The Best Chicken Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray for oven directions
- 1 ball homemade pizza dough or store-bought (1 pound)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided (for grill directions)
- ¾ cup prepared pizza sauce
- 1 cup cooked and pulled/chopped chicken
- ½ cup roasted garlic cloves from 3 heads; see Notes below
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese sliced
- 1 tablespoon everything bagel seasoning
- 1 cup baby spinach torn
Instructions
OVEN DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray large pizza pan with cooking spray. Toss and stretch pizza dough into 14-inch circle and place on prepared pan. Transfer to oven and bake 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Spread crust evenly with pizza sauce. Top with chicken, roasted garlic cloves, cheese and everything bagel seasoning.
- Return pizza to oven and bake for an additional 6 to 8 minutes or until cheese is melted, chicken and garlic are warmed, and dough is cooked through. Sprinkle spinach over pizza; return pizza to oven and bake 2 minutes. Cut and serve immediately.
GRILL DIRECTIONS
- Preheat grill for two-zone grilling: half of grill should be set to medium-high (this is the direct grilling zone); other half should be off (this is the indirect heat zone).
- Stretch and shape dough into 14-inch circle and place on pizza pan or large tray. Brush one side of dough with 1 tablespoon oil (a silicone basting brush works well for this). Use hands to carefully transfer dough to direct heat side of grill, oiled side down. Do not worry if dough becomes a little misshapen during the transfer, it will still be delicious. Cook 2 minutes, or until the dough releases itself from the grates (do not disturb dough before it releases).
- Brush top side of dough with remaining 1 tablespoon oil, then use tongs to flip dough. Cook 2 minutes or until dough releases from grates. Continue cooking dough 3 to 4 minutes longer or until dough is firm and grill-marked in all areas, flipping and rotating frequently but keeping grill closed when not flipping.
- Remove dough from grill and spread with pizza sauce. Top with chicken, roasted garlic cloves, cheese and everything bagel seasoning.
- Transfer pizza back to grill on indirect heat side. Close grill and cook 8 to 10 minutes or until toppings are warmed through and crust is fully cooked.
- Remove pizza from grill and top with spinach. Cut and serve immediately.
Notes
- The EASIEST way to get roasted garlic cloves is buy a scoop from the olive bar at an upscale grocery store.
- To roast garlic at home: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Trim off the tops of 3 whole heads of garlic until the tops of the cloves are exposed. Wrap garlic heads in foil and place on small rimmed baking pan. Transfer to oven and cook 50 to 70 minutes or until garlic is dark golden brown and very soft. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes or until cool enough to touch. Squeeze garlic cloves from their skin into a small bowl.
- Garlic can be roasted up to 3 days in advance. Keep in covered container in refrigerator until ready to use.
Had some friends over and they all thought it was delicious. I took the shortcut with the chicken and bought a BBQ one from the shop. I will definitely make that one again.
I’m so glad to hear this was a hit for you and your friends, Robert!
Thanks for sharing, nice post
Sounds delicious! I’m always looking for new pizza ideas to make for dinner.
This pizza sounds intriguing, just like all your pizza recipes do. I like the idea of getting my husband to make pizza, since he’s the grill master (I don’t really know how to use the thing). I’d have to make the dough, but that’s not a big deal. This pizza would be a good way to expand his repertoire and at the same time to get me to eat chicken.