BBQ Chicken Pizza

I love everything BBQ!  I’m kind of like the “Bubba Gump” of BBQ in that I will pretty much make/eat anything coated in BBQ sauce.  I usually prep a pretty good sized batch of BBQ sauce to keep in the fridge because it lasts a long time, and goes great on almost any type of meat.  Also, it’s a little difficult to make a tiny batch of BBQ sauce.

 

BBQ Chicken Pizza is one of my easy, go-to weeknight dinners, and it is DELISH!  I mean, BBQ, Pizza, what could be better?

Now, I admittedly use store-bought pizza dough because yeast and I normally do not get along too well.  Besides, it takes forever to make dough, and as I mentioned, this is an easy, go-to weeknight meal.  Now, If you would like to make your own dough for the pizza, I will not criticize you, so please don’t judge me for taking this short-cut.

As I said, I usually have some BBQ sauce premade, but if I don’t, it really only takes a few minutes to make GREAT BBQ sauce.  This recipe makes a pretty spicy ketchup based BBQ, but you can control the heat by backing off of the spicy ingredients if you like a more mild sauce.

 

Ingredients & Instructions: 



For the BBQ Sauce:

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/3 C. Grated Onion (Red or Yellow is fine)
3 C. Ketchup
1/3 C. Apple Cider Vinegar (It must be Apple Cider Vinegar.  No other vinegar will do)
1/3 C. Molasses
1-2 tsp Liquid Smoke
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tbsp. Hot Sauce
1 tsp. Cumin
1/2 tsp. Cayenne
2 tsp. Chili Powder
1 Tbsp. Black Pepper
2 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

Add olive oil to a small saucepan and throw in the grated onion.  Sweat the onions for just a couple of minutes and add all other ingredients.  Cook on low for 20-30 minutes, and VOILA, BBQ Sauce!

 

For the Pizza:

1 Store Bought Pizza Dough
1-2 C. BBQ Sauce (depending on how much sauce you like and how big your dough is)
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil to coat chicken
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil for the onions
1 Tbsp. Butter for the onions
Pinch of Sugar
1 Chicken Breast
Pinch of Chili Powder
Pinch of Cumin
Salt and Pepper
1 Red Onion (very thinly sliced)
¾ C. Sun-Dried Tomatoes (drained of the oil and chopped)
Fresh Mozzarella (you can use grated mozzarella if you like (approximately 2 Cups should do it), but I like to use fresh mozzarella and just cut off small strips.
2 C. Arugula

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. 

Coat chicken breast with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, chili powder, cumin, and pepper.  Bake for 30-35 minutes and allow to cool.  After the chicken has cooled enough to handle, pull or shred the breast of chicken.

Meanwhile, in a small sauté pan, add the olive oil, butter, thinly sliced onions and a pinch of sugar, salt, and pepper.  Cook the onions for 20 minutes until they are starting to brown and are, well, caramelized.

 

Turn the oven up to 400 Degrees and pre-bake dough (usually calls for a pre-bake time of 8-10 minutes).  Once dough has been prebaked, spread a layer of the BBQ sauce and top with pulled chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, caramelized onions, and mozzarella.  Sprinkle the arugula liberally on top of the mozzarella and bake the pizza for about 8-10 more minutes until the crust starts to turn golden brown.

ENJOY!!!