My BBQ Chicken Pizza recipe is simple to make and so tasty! With tangy BBQ sauce, chicken, onions, cilantro and two kinds of cheese, it’s one of our favorite homemade pizzas!
We make homemade pizza almost every Friday for dinner, and we have a few favorite pizza recipes that we rotate between: our Margherita Pizza, Veggie Pizza and this BBQ Chicken Pizza! No matter which we’re choosing, we always start with my homemade Pizza Dough Recipe.
To make this BBQ chicken pizza, we swap our traditional tomato-based Pizza Sauce for sweet, tangy BBQ sauce. Together with the chicken, red onion, melty cheese and fresh cilantro, it’s a combination that’s sure to win you over!
This BBQ chicken pizza is a great way to use up leftover chicken, especially Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken or Instant Pot BBQ Chicken. This pizza comes together super quick, and it’s more budget-friendly than ordering takeout. I can’t wait for you to try it!
BBQ Chicken Pizza Ingredients
You can make this BBQ chicken pizza completely from scratch, or take a few shortcuts from the store. Let’s go over the options:
- Pizza Dough: Making your own pizza dough is quick and easy, but if you prefer to use store-bought that works, too.
- BBQ Sauce: Use my homemade BBQ sauce recipe or store-bought sauce. Got leftover BBQ sauce? Use it to make my BBQ Chicken Salad or BBQ Chicken Sliders.
- Cheese: I like to use a combination of mozzarella cheese and smoked Gouda cheese on this pizza. The Gouda goes well with the barbecue flavors. You can use all mozzarella if that’s what you have, or do a combination of mozzarella and cheddar.
- Shredded Chicken: This pizza is a great way to use up leftover cooked chicken. If you need to cook chicken quickly, try my Instant Pot shredded chicken recipe. Or, grab a rotisserie chicken from the store.
- Red Onion & Green Onions: These two types of onions bring both sweet and savory onion flavor to complement the other ingredients.
- Fresh Cilantro: Chopped fresh cilantro is the best garnish for this BBQ chicken pizza. Be sure to add the cilantro after baking the pizza.
Find the printable recipe with ingredient amounts below.
How to Make BBQ Chicken Pizza
Prepare the pizza pan. You can bake homemade pizza on a pizza pan, a flat baking sheet, or a baking stone. To prevent the pizza from sticking to the pan, either grease the pan well or sprinkle the pan with cornmeal. For more tips about making pizza with crispy crust, see my Whole Wheat Pizza Dough recipe.
Prepare the pizza crust. Roll/stretch the pizza dough out into a 12 to 14-inch circle.
Add toppings. Spread a thin layer of BBQ sauce over the pizza dough, leaving a small border around the edge. Then sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly over the sauce. Before we add the shredded cooked chicken to the pizza, we mix it with some BBQ sauce. This keeps the chicken from drying out as the pizza bakes. Scatter the red and green onions over the top.
Bake pizza. Bake the pizza at 500° F for about 10 minutes, until the crust and cheese begin to lightly brown. Let the pizza rest for a few minutes when it comes out of the oven. Then sprinkle on some chopped fresh cilantro for extra flavor, slice and enjoy!
More Homemade Pizza Recipes
Try one of these pizza recipes next!
Made this recipe? I’d truly appreciate if you leave a comment and star rating below! Your review will help others who want to try this recipe. Thank you! 💛
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 ball homemade pizza dough, or 1 pound store-bought pizza dough
- ½ cup BBQ sauce, divided
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, (4 ounces)
- ½ cup shredded smoked Gouda cheese, (2 ounces, can substitute mozzarella)
- 1 cup cooked shredded chicken
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion
- 3 tablespoons chopped green onions
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500° F and place an oven rack one space above the bottom rack position. Oil a pizza steel or baking sheet with a high temperature cooking spray or vegetable oil.
- Roll/stretch out the pizza dough to a 12 to 14-inch round and place it on the prepared pizza pan.
- Spread a thin layer of BBQ sauce over the pizza dough, reserving the remaining BBQ sauce to toss with the chicken. Sprinkle the mozzarella and smoked gouda cheeses evenly over the sauce.
- Put the chicken in a small bowl and toss it with the remaining BBQ sauce. Evenly distribute the chicken, sliced red onion and chopped green onions over the pizza.
- Bake the pizza for 10-12 minutes, until the cheese and crust begin to lightly brown. Remove the pizza from the oven and let it rest for 3-5 minutes. Then sprinkle on the chopped cilantro, slice, and serve.
Notes
- My pizza dough recipe makes two balls of pizza dough, enough for two pizzas. You can freeze the second ball of dough for later.
- Recipe can be doubled to make two pizzas.
I originally shared this recipe in June 2013. Post updated April 2020 and May 2025 with new photos, a retested and improved recipe, and more helpful information.
I have been wanting to make a BBQ chicken pizza! I will have to try your whole wheat crust when I do.
BBQ Chicken Pizza sounds like a really good idea right now. And even though it seems like common sense now…I never thought of using BBQ sauce instead of tomato sauce! Great idea:) Must try soon!