Super Easy BBQ Chicken Pizza

I was watching Studio 5 the other day and they interviewed one of the big wigs from Pier 49 Pizza. She gave away some of the secrets for their famous BBQ Chicken Pizza and I had to give it a shot. I always wondered how they got their pizza to taste so good without having the BBQ flavor overpower the pizza. It seemed to me that if you coated a pizza crust with BBQ sauce it would be overpowering. Well, now I know. They don't put sauce on the pizza at all. They just put cheese right on top of the crust and then drop BBQ marinated chicken pieces right on top of the cheese. It looked so easy! Here's how mine turned out.


And my husband's first comment was, "This is SOOO good!" He kept telling me how much he liked it and he proved it by having seconds and thirds.

So here's what you do:

About 4-5 hours before you want to eat dinner, boil 2 small chicken breasts (about 3/4 lb.). When they are fully cooked through, remove them from the pan and put them into a bowl to shred. I just used 2 forks to shred the chicken. Then coat the shredded chicken with your favorite BBQ sauce (I used Heinz Mesquite Smoke, but I think the honey versions would be really good as well!). Top with as much BBQ sauce as you need to make sure it is very well coated. I added some pepper and fresh basil as well, but I am not sure if they added anything to the flavor since BBQ sauce is quite strong already. Stir around to make sure your chicken is well marinated, cover, and refrigerate.

Now for the crust. Any kind of pizza crust will do. You can use a homemade one or purchase one. I used a Pillsbury crescent sheet (they're new). It tasted a lot like the refrigerated Pillsbury pizza dough though, so I'm sure that would work the exact same, if not better. Spray PAM on a cookie sheet before you unroll the dough. Bake the dough at 350° for about 10-11 minutes so it won't be soggy when you put your toppings on. Remove pizza crust. Top with mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup) and then top generously with your marinated chicken, chopped cilantro, and sliced purple onions. Sprinkle with some more cheese and bake for about 6-8 minutes longer. Remove from oven and enjoy.

And that's it. It really was that simple. And like I said, it was surprisingly very delicious!