Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Here it is, the last meal from "those two chickens". This one may just be my favorite of the four meals those chickens produced. It certainly received my husband's seal of approval. His love of Buffalo Chicken Pizza actually inspired me to come up with this recipe. Pizza Hut makes his favorite Buffalo Chicken Pizza and he orders it whenever I am out of town and every once and a while in between. I think that the Pizza Hut version is okay. But it's all the same flavor and all the same texture, bite after bite. For me, it's a little bit boring, even with the heat of the Buffalo sauce. I need more from my pizza! So I set out to create a Buffalo chicken pizza that we could both enjoy. I thought back to those awesome Buffalo Chicken Hoagies that I first made back in June. We both agree that those are delicious. I'd be lying if I said that we haven't revisited that recipe since it first appeared on this blog in early summer. Those sandwiches are da bomb! (Did I just type "da bomb"? Hmmm. Weird. I'm fairly certain that I've never uttered that phrase in my life, yet these sandwiches are so good that I feel compelled to use it here.) So that was it. I just needed to make the pizza version of Buffalo Chicken Hoagies.

This was the perfect opportunity to use up the chicken that I gleaned from broth making. I had about 2-3 cups worth of chicken here. The hoagie recipe called for ready to use Southwestern chicken strips, so I tossed this chicken with a little cumin and garlic powder to season it a bit.



Then I heated 1/4 cup of butter, a couple of tablespoons of hot sauce, a tablespoon of barbecue sauce, and chili powder in a skillet. I tossed in the chicken and let it simmer a little.



While the chicken warmed up, I melted another 1/4 cup of butter with 6 minced garlic cloves and a couple tablespoons of fresh parsley. I oiled a baking sheet and dusted it with cornmeal. Then I spread a roll of refrigerated pizza crust onto the sheet. I didn't want to stretch my crust too thin, so I didn't use the whole sheet. This pizza was more of a square than a rectangle. I poured the garlic butter mixture over the crust and then brushed it evenly across with a pastry brush.



Then I baked the crust at 450 degrees for 6-8 minutes. It turned gorgeously golden brown and filled the house with that yummy garlic butter scent that had me answering, "Is dinner ready?" more than once.



Now I was ready to spread on the chicken, followed by a healthy drizzle of ranch dressing and then some more drops of Frank's Red Hot sauce, shaken evenly over the pizza.



Now for some texture, I diced one stalk of celery and sliced some red onion. Oh yeah! Are you feelin' this yet?!



I topped it all off with some shredded cheese. Mozzarella or provolone or a mixture of both work very nicely. Bake for an additional 6-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and just getting bubbly.



If it makes you happy, serve with some more ranch on the side, a few celery sticks, and even a couple more drops of Red Hot sauce. This is one excellent Buffalo Chicken Pizza! It'll make your nose run and your mouth smile and it's perfect for a Saturday college football marathon.




Krista's Buffalo Chicken Pizza

1 tube refrigerated pizza crust
cooking oil
cornmeal
1 stick butter softened, divided
6 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup Louisiana-style hot sauce, divided
1 tablespoon barbecue sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
ranch dressing (we prefer Hidden Valley)
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 red onion, sliced
8 oz. shredded mozzarella or provolone cheese

For the crust:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Rub baking sheet with oil (I use a paper towel) and dust with cornmeal. Unroll pizza dough from tube and press into prepared baking sheet. Melt 1/2 stick of butter and combine with garlic and parsley. Brush over the pizza crust. Put crust in the oven and bake for 6-8 minutes until golden brown.

Chicken topping:

Toss shredded chicken with cumin and garlic powder. While the crust bakes, combine remaining butter, 2 tablespoons hot sauce, 1 tablespoon of barbecue sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder. Heat in a skillet. Add chicken. Stir until the sauce is soaked up and the chicken is heated through.

Putting it together:

Spread the heated chicken mixture over the crust. Squeeze on ranch dressing in a zig-zag pattern. Sprinkle with additional hot sauce. Top with diced celery, onions, and cheese. Bake for an additional 6-10 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.


Take some Prilosec and enjoy!