BBQ Chicken and Bacon Pizza with Easy Whole Wheat Crust
BBQ Chicken and Bacon Pizza with Easy Whole Wheat Crust
There’s somethin’ pertty dang tasty about a good ol’ BBQ chicken pizza and makin’ it at home is downright fun! (with my best Texas twang!). Really now, I love this recipe mostly because you can have delicious perfectly personalized homemade pizza in less than 30 minutes. No kidding! It might take a little practice with this easy-peasy pizza crust, but once you’ve got that down, you’re in the quick-serving business.
Most BBQ pizzas I’ve eaten away from home are amazing. What makes them so amazing? The sauce. It’s all in the sauce baby! This pizza is no exception. I’ve been making this sauce, really it’s a marinade, for a long time now. It’s great with grilled chicken, brushing it on right at the end of grilling. It would be super tasty with pulled pork too! It’s similar to the sauce I use with my Easy Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Tangy BBQ Sauce and the Amazing Italian Meatballs except this one adds mustard, garlic and a little butter.
The pizza is topped with grilled or cooked chicken, chopped green peppers, red onion and plenty of mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. After cooking I add some cooked bacon and chopped fresh tomatoes. Perfection!
Ok, now what about the crust? You can use so many different types of breads as makeshift crusts, like flatbread (Grilled Chicken Artichoke Pizza), or Naan bread, pita bread (Easy Pepperoni Pita Pizzas) or Boboli pizza crusts (Sun Valley Veggie Pizza). I even used ground chicken in the Chicken-Crusted Asian Veggie Pizza for a real low carb alternative. For this recipe I used a simple homemade yeast-raised whole wheat pizza dough that will change your world. It’s super simple, requires no raising time (unless you count the 10 minutes of rest before shaping) and tastes super authentic! You’ll be using this more than you know because once you taste this you might not need to buy pizza again. The dough is soft and pliable, but if you add too much flour it can be tough and difficult to manage. So just a tip to err on the side of less flour than too much.
I use a pizza stone to bake it. Amazing! A heated pizza stone helps your pizza bake more evenly. You can buy inexpensive pizza stones at your local Fred Meyer or Target for about $15, so go and get one because it will change your pizza production for the rest of your life.
Pizza is a dietitian’s dream come true, because it is a magical way to include all the food groups in one delicious wedge of nutritional variety that pleases even your pickiest eater. Boom! Whole grains, high quality protein from cheeses and meats, fresh nutrient-dense vegetables and sometimes fruit along with tomato-based sauces combine for completeness in one neat package. I’m fully aware that all pizza toppings are not created equal and if you’re more likely to indulge in high fat meats and cheeses instead of healthier toppings, I totally understand, but this recipe might just change your mind. Give it a try!
- BBQ Chicken and Bacon Pizza with Easy Whole Wheat Crust
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp butter, melted
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup plus 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, divided
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp or package rapid-rise yeast
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp honey
- Cooking Spray
- 1 cup Mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup cooked and diced chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup chopped red onion
- 1/4 cup chopped green peppers
- 1/4 cup cooked and crumbled bacon
- 1/4 cup quartered grape tomatoes
- Heat oven to 475 degrees and place pizza stone on lowest rack level, if using in oven to heat.
- For the BBQ Sauce: Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl; whisk to combine. Set aside.
- For the whole wheat crust: Combine 1 cup of each flours, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl of a standing mixer, fitted with dough hook. Add water, oil and honey; mix for 3-4 minutes, scraping down sides, if needed, until a soft dough forms. It will be somewhat sticky. Remove dough hook and cover with a moist cloth and place in a warm spot for 10 minutes to rise.
- Place a large (20-inch square) piece of parchment paper on a pizza paddle or rimless baking sheet and coat lightly with cooking spray.
- Punch dough down. Cover your work area with the remaining 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour and turn out the dough onto the flour. Knead a few times to incorporate the flour so it is not sticky. (More flour may be added, but avoid too much to avoid a stiff dough.) Form into small round using your hands or a rolling pin. Transfer to parchment paper and finish rolling out to about a 14 to 16-inch round.
- Spread about a cup of sauce onto pizza dough. (Any leftover BBQ sauce stores for several weeks in a covered container in the refrigerator.) Evenly arrange cheeses, chicken, red onion and green peppers over sauce.
- Open the oven and carefully slide parchment paper off of paddle or baking sheet onto hot pizza stone, if using or place the baking sheet in oven on middle rack. (The heated pizza stone will bake your pizza more evenly.)
- Bake at 475 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and top with bacon and quartered tomatoes. Let sit a few minutes before slicing.