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.
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 (totally true of my fettuccine bolognese).
But, just like my gyro pizza, this chicken pizza recipe uses shortcuts from the grocery store to achieve a gourmet pizzeria flavor in just about a 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 34 minutes.
- 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 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, and I use them for my crostini pizza bar, too).
- roasted garlic – There’s easy instructions in the recipe card below for roasting garlic. It’s easy and cheap. Roasted garlic lovers – don’t miss my roasted garlic dip!
- 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 what I keep on hand for fancy toasts and homemade pizza. Save the dryer deli slices for my lasagna recipe with cottage cheese, or my veggie lasagna recipe or vegetarian quiche recipe, and use the fresh stuff for this pizza.
- spinach – I had spinach on hand from salmon pasta, so I used that for some leafy freshness.
- seasoning – You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten a pizza sprinkled with everything bagel 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. It’s a great shortcut for my healthy buffalo chicken dip, too.
- 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 (could even use a buttermilk chicken marinade first), 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 for my Greek rice for another meal, and use the extra breast to put chicken on pizza. It’s not traditional, but you can even use leftovers from honey orange chicken or crusted almond chicken on this garlic chicken pizza!
Ingredient substitutions
- PIZZA SAUCE: If you’d prefer a homemade sauce, my culinary school tomato sauce would be great for this pizza.
- 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 basil is also lovely. If you’re not into leafy greens, I’ve also used leftover fajita veggies to add a little vegetable action to this pizza!
How to make garlic chicken pizza in the oven
The easiest way to make this pizza in the oven. I definitely recommend a pizza stone if you go this route.
- Put the pizza stone in the oven as it preheats.
- Lay the stretched dough down on the stone and let it bake for a few minutes to crisp up.
- Add most of the toppings, and bake it the rest of the way.
- Sprinkle with greens, slice and eat!
How to make grilled chicken pizza
Want to grill your pizza for a nice summer meal? You can!
Unlike my grilled sockeye salmon and salmon sandwich, where you use direct heat the entire time, grilled pizzas like this garlic chicken pizza recipe require both direct and indirect heat.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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 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 (and a cheeseburger pizza) without shelling out a few thousand dollars for an actual pizza oven.
- Do not worry if when you shape your pizza dough, it isn’t a perfect circle. The best pizzas are imperfect and rustic looking!
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 even my beet salad recipe.
The only other thing you need is a cocktail! I think that either a basil cocktail or a bourbon mule would be a perfect pairing.
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.
Ingredients
- 1 ball (1 pound) of homemade pizza dough, or store-bought
- Nonstick cooking spray (for oven directions)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided (for grill directions)
- 3/4 cup prepared pizza sauce
- 1 cup cooked and pulled/chopped chicken
- 1/2 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
- Place pizza stone in oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Toss and stretch pizza dough into a 14-inch circle. Once oven is preheated, carefully remove pizza stone from oven and spray with cooking spray. Carefully place dough on stone. Transfer to oven and bake 6 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 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.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 2 slicesAmount Per Serving: Calories: 605Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 89mgSodium: 1055mgCarbohydrates: 65gFiber: 4gSugar: 5gProtein: 39g
This website provides estimated nutrition information as a courtesy only. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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.