A thick and chewy, homemade crust turned into a sweet and tangy BBQ chicken pizza! This pizza is so easy to make at home and tastes just like California Pizza Kitchen’s, only better! 

BBQ Chicken Pizza - made with grilled chicken, sliced jalapenos and red onions, and cilantro, So good you'll never go to CPK again!#bbqchickenpizza #chickenpizza #bbqpizza | Littlespicejar.com @littlespicejarYes. Pizza. Twice in one month!

I’m on a pizza roll. I can’t stop popping out all sorts of pizzas outta my oven. If you recall, last week was that amazingly caramelized onion pizza topped with sautéed mushrooms and spinach with a little feta. Totally my kind of pizza – one that’s meatless and loaded with gourmet toppings.

This one. This BBQ chicken pizza has my hubbies name written all over it. He is such a big fan of chicken tossed in tangy and sweet barbecue sauce with lots of smokey mozzarella cheese, pickled jalapenos and onions. LOTS of onions.

I’m not a fan of having meat on my pizza, but this BBQ chicken pizza is definitely one worth breaking that rule for.

BBQ-Chicken-Pizza-2(2BBQ Chicken Pizza - made with grilled chicken, sliced jalapenos and red onions, and cilantro, So good you'll never go to CPK again!#bbqchickenpizza #chickenpizza #bbqpizza | Littlespicejar.com @littlespicejarAs always, I used my homemade pizza dough to make this pizza. What makes my pizza dough extra chewy and and golden brown is the addition of honey right into the dough mix. I love making a double batch of the dough and popping half of it in freezer safe bags so I always have homemade dough on hand when I want to pop out homemade barbecue chicken pizzas on the fly.

This recipe makes barbecue chicken pizza that tastes just like California Pizza Kitchen’s recipe. There are just a couple of things that I did differently:

  1. I used smoked mozzarella cheese instead of gouda cheese. CPK uses gouda cheese instead of the smoked mozzarella. Gouda doesn’t melt as easily as mozzarella, so I did a quick swap. I find that the smoked mozzarella cheese provides great flavor that pairs so well with bbq sauce.
  2. I used sliced pickled jalapeños because this is LSJ and ‘spice’ is literally this blogs middle name. If you’re not a fan, just leave them out.

BBQ Chicken Pizza - made with grilled chicken, sliced jalapenos and red onions, and cilantro, So good you'll never go to CPK again!#bbqchickenpizza #chickenpizza #bbqpizza | Littlespicejar.com @littlespicejarIf you’ve got my homemade pizza dough in the freezer, this bbq chicken pizza is a cinch to whip up.

I used a chicken breast that I grilled up and cubed for this pizza. If you’ve got cooked chicken in the freezer, you can easily just shred it and toss it in the bbq sauce. I used about 10 ounces of chicken that I diced into large pieces. I love having larger pieces so when i’ve had my fill of bbq chicken, I pull off the extras and hand them over to the hubby.

To make sure the chicken has LOTS of barbecue flavor, I toss it in 1/2 a cup of barbecue sauce before spreading it on the pizza dough. This also keeps the chicken from drying out.

In addition to the smoked mozzarella, I used regular mozzarella for some good old traditional pizza flair! If you don’t care for the smokey flavor (gasp), just replace it with additional mozzarella cheese.

Once the chicken and the cheese are covered we need some sliced onions and  handful of sliced jalapeños for good measure.

Just a quick 12-15 minutes in the oven and you’ve got this bbq chicken pizza on the table. I finish off the pizza with a sprinkle of cilantro. You can leave that off if you don’t care for it.

BBQ Chicken Pizza - made with grilled chicken, sliced jalapenos and red onions, and cilantro, So good you'll never go to CPK again!#bbqchickenpizza #chickenpizza #bbqpizza | Littlespicejar.com @littlespicejarThis bbq chicken pizza is the perfect little treat of Friday nights. A sweet, tangy treat topped with chunks of barbecued chicken, smoky mozzarella cheese, cilantro, lots of red onions, and chewy and crispy pizza crust.

No need for take out, this barbecue chicken pizza is just minutes away!

Yield: 1-12 inch pizza

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
A thick and chewy, homemade crust turned into a sweet and tangy BBQ chicken pizza! This pizza is so easy to make at home and tastes just like California Pizza Kitchen's, only better!
BBQ Chicken Pizza

Ingredients

  • 1/2 recipe pizza dough (homemade or store bought)
  • 10 ounces cooked grilled chicken, diced (see note)
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoon bbq sauce
  • 1 1/4 cup smoked mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • 1/4 cup sliced red onion
  • 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 10-12 sliced pickled jalapeños
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Instructions

  1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 475ºF. Flatten the pizza dough into a 12-inch circle. Create a lip or rim by thickening the dough around the crust portion. This keeps the sauce from running over the sides. Transfer dough carefully to a parchment lined baking sheet. Let dough rest for 10-15 minutes.
  2. Combine the diced chicken and 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce in a small bowl, set aside.
  3. Spread the remaining 2 tablespoons of bbq sauce on the pizza dough and spread the smoked mozzarella cheese on top. Top with the diced chicken, followed by the red onions, jalapeños, and the mozzarella cheese.
  4. Allow the pizza to bake for 10-15 minutes. You can turn the broiler on for the last minute of cooking if you'd like your edges and cheese to be a little more brown. Top with cilantro before serving.

Notes

  • You can use cooked shredded chicken or even rotisserie chicken that's been shredded for this recipe.
  • I use Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue Sauce for this recipe, you can use any of your favorite barbecue sauces!

Have you made this recipe?

If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below. You can also share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #LITTLESPICEJAR, I'd love to see what you made!

BBQ Chicken Pizza - made with grilled chicken, sliced jalapenos and red onions, and cilantro, So good you'll never go to CPK again!#bbqchickenpizza #chickenpizza #bbqpizza | Littlespicejar.com @littlespicejar

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