Possibly my favorite foodie day of the year — the Super Bowl — is upon us. That means it’s time to eat all things buffalo with reckless abandon. Ten-hut!

During my grad school days, this rendition of buffalo chicken pizza became one of my go-to recipes for procrastinating and avoiding studying cooking a relatively easy dinner. Getting in the kitchen and using my hands is like zen meditation for me. So I actually made time on the regular to stop studying and cook — even something quick —  just to maintain my sanity.

In Phoenix, there’s a divey BBQ joint called Honey Bear’s BBQ that makes amazing, tangy barbecue sauce and meats. I would often pick up a container of shredded meat and an equally large container of the sauce and bring it home to make this easy peasy pizza — sometimes a couple of times a week (or I’d just make two and eat it daily for breakfast, lunch AND dinner all week long… no joke). But you can use any leftover meat you have or pull apart a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store for this just as easily!

To make this twist on the original, I mix tangy BBQ sauce with spicy buffalo sauce (typically, Frank’s) and chopped jalapeños for a fiery, semi-sweet, goes-a-little-up-your-nose sauce, that meets my red-hot standards. Yeah, I can’t eat anything unless it’s some degree of spicy. I know I’ve got fellow pepper-chasers out there, and this one’s for you.

Two of my little tips on this bad boy: par-bake the dough before adding the sauce and toppings so it doesn’t get soggy, and it’s better reheated in the oven the next day…or eaten cold standing over your kitchen sink in your jammies.

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Tangy Buffalo BBQ Chicken Pizza

By Jenni

September 12, 2016

• Categorized: Appetizers, Dinner

• Prep Time: 15m
• Cook Time: 15m
• Total Time: 30m
• Yield: 8 slices

Ingredients

• 1 pizza dough
• 3 tsp. flour
• 1/2 c bbq sauce of your choice
• 1/2 c buffalo sauce
• 2 tbsp. jalapeños, diced
• 3/4 c shredded chicken
• 1 c shredded mozzarella or favorite cheese blend
• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp. cilantro, chopped

Instructions

1. Allow your refrigerated pizza dough to come to room temperature for 10-15 minutes. Preheat oven to 450° F. While the oven is preheating, prepare your sauce and toppings.
2. To make the sauce: Combine BBQ sauce of your choice and buffalo sauce together with diced jalapeños. Prepare your shredded chicken in a bowl and toss it with a few spoonfuls of the sauce to moisten it and make it more flavorful. Thinly slice your red onion and tear or roughly chop your cilantro.
3. Slowly and patiently work your pizza dough out onto a baking sheet (one with edges works great), using a few teaspoons of flour to keep the dough from sticking to you and the pan. Once stretched into the pan, poke it with a fork a few times to help prevent bubbles while baking, and parbake it for 5 minutes in the preheated oven. This helps the final pizza from being too doughy.
4. Take the dough out of the oven and layer your pizza ingredients: spoon as much sauce over the dough as you like, layer with a little bit of the cheese, evenly distribute the shredded chicken, then layer with remaining cheese and onion slices. Leave cilantro aside until the end. Bake the pizza for 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese completely melts and the dough looks golden.
5. Remove pizza from oven, sprinkle with cilantro, and let sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Nutrition

• Servings 2

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