Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza

The cat’s been out of the bag for a long time – we are a pizza family. We love homemade pizza, and we have no shame in our game. Pizza easily makes it’s way into our weekly dinner rotation, and some weeks we’ve even been known to have pizza more than once. Yep, we love us some homemade pizza. And part of the fun of it, is all of the different flavor combinations that we do – Garbage, 50th State, Tuna and Red Onion, Meatball, Truffle and Calabrese just to name a few. Ryan would most likely choose cheese every single time if it were left up to him, but I’m a variety kind of girl, and I think that he enjoys that too!

We’ve had our BBQ Chicken Pizza in the rotation for years now, and it’s definitely here to stay. This pizza is all about flavors – the juicy chicken, the sweet and spicy pizza sauce, the sweet onions, the ooey gooey cheese, and then the bright contrast of the fresh cilantro. For us, this pizza hits all of the right notes, and always feels like the perfect Summer pizza.

Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 Ball of Store-Bought or Homemade Pizza Dough

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

7 Ounces of Crushed Tomatoes or Pizza Sauce

Your Favorite Barbecue Sauce

8 Ounces Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

1/2 -3/4 Cup Leftover Chicken, finely shredded

1 Small Red Onion, very thinly sliced

Fresh Cilantro Leaves

1. Preheat your grill on high or medium-high heat, depending on what kind of grill that you use. We have an electric grill, so we preheat our grill on high. But our grill does not get nearly as hot as a gas or charcoal grill would, so please keep that in mind.
2. Roll out your pizza dough with a bit of flour on a clean counter.
3. Fold your dough in half, and then gently and carefully carry it out to your grill, and unfold it directly onto the grill. (You will have a few seconds before your dough sets up to lay it out smoothly.) Grill this first side of your pizza dough for about 60 seconds – just long enough so that your dough can start to set up.
4. Very carefully flip your dough. Let this second side cook on the grill for a couple of minutes, until completely cooked, because this will be the top of your pizza.
5. Once cooked, carefully remove and flip your dough (so that your top side faces up) onto a sheet pan or a pizza peel lined with parchment paper.
6. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil around the outer crust of your pizza, and evenly spread it around using a pastry brush or the back of a spoon.
7. Take your crushed tomatoes or pizza sauce, and mix in as much or as little barbecue sauce as you like. More barbecue sauce = more spicy flavor.
8. Spread your barbecued pizza sauce all over your crust, leaving a one inch border.
9. Evenly sprinkle your mozzarella cheese over the sauced area.
10. Take your shredded chicken and mix that with some barbecue sauce, and then place little clusters of it all over your pizza.
11. Now take your sliced red onion and generously lay it all over the pizza. (And don’t worry, the onions are really going to melt down while the pizza cooks.)
12. Carry your pizza back out to your grill, and carefully slide the pizza with the parchment paper onto the grill. Once the pizza is in place, gently hold the backside of the crust while you pull out the parchment paper.
13. Cook you pizza on high heat for just a couple of minutes, and then turn your heat down to medium or medium low (again, depending on how hot your grill gets). Then leave the grill covered and cook your pizza until all of the cheese has melted, and the onions have softened. For us, we cook our pizza on medium heat for about 15 minutes, but please keep in mind that our grill does not get very hot.
14. Once your pizza is cooked, use a pair of tongs to help guide your pizza back onto your pizza platter or sheet pan. Drizzle the top with a little bit of olive oil, and then sprinkle with your fresh cilantro leaves.
15. Slice it up, and enjoy!

Notes

/ Although we do love to make pizza in the oven, grilling pizza adds a whole new flavor profile that is just so tasty. We personally feel like it gives it a little more of that authentic “wood burning oven” flavor that you get in Italy.

/ Make sure to use the parchment paper when transferring your pizza to the grill, because it makes the whole process significantly easier. Sometimes the moisture from the dough can cause the pizza to stick to your pan a little bit, and so if you don’t have a layer of parchment paper down, it can be a real mess trying to get your loaded up pizza back onto the grill.

/ When you are cooking your pizza, especially if it is your first time grilling a pizza, monitor how quickly or slowly it is cooking. If you feel like your bottom crust is starting to cook too quickly or darken too much, immediately adjust your heat.