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BBQ Chicken Pizza, with tender grilled chicken, lots of cheese and a homemade sauce, is better than any restaurant variety!
Featured with this Recipe
This Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza with cilantro reminds me of a pizza we used to order at a local place when we lived in California. When we moved we had to make a version of our own at home and let me tell you, this recipe blows that restaurant pizza out of the water! Soft, homemade pizza crust, tender grilled chicken, two kinds of cheese and a tangy sauce pair beautifully with sweet pineapple and cilantro on top. I love making pizza at home; the kids get involved and it’s just a fun activity for the whole family. We opt for making our own pizza for Friday pizza night way more than ordering delivery. Try this recipe for your next pizza night!
Ingredients in BBQ Chicken Pizza
- Pizza Dough – use a store-bought pizza dough, or use our Homemade Pizza Dough recipe. See below for more details on the crust.
Sauce
- Garlic
- Olive Oil
- Tomato Sauce
- Tomato Paste
- Tomato
- Cilantro
- Basil
- Oregano
- Kosher Salt and Black Pepper
- BBQ Sauce
Toppings
- Cheddar Cheese
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Pineapple Tidbits
- Grilled and Sliced Chicken Breast – this bbq chicken pizza recipe is also a great way to use rotisserie chicken or any leftover cooked chicken
- Fresh Cilantro
Best Pizza Crust
I love using our Homemade Pizza Dough recipe for this and any other pizzas that we make. It’s really simple to make and you can double or triple the recipe easily to accommodate all those hungry eaters in your family. It tastes delicious as a thin crust or thicker crust too, so everyone is happy. Of course if homemade crust just isn’t your jam, there are so many varieties of frozen pizza dough or pre-made crusts at your local grocery store. Some pizza places even sell their dough so you can buy it from your favorite pizzeria.
Additional Toppings for BBQ Chicken Pizza
We love some sweet pineapple and the citrus flavor of cilantro on top of our pizza, but try a few of these other toppings too:
- diced red or purple onions
- red peppers
- bacon
- blue cheese
- gouda cheese
- chopped spinach
Semi-Homemade Sauce
This sauce is to die for! Start with some fresh garlic, then add a tomato base of tomato paste, sauce and finely chopped fresh tomato. If you have fresh oregano and basil on hand, use it! Otherwise, dried spices work great too. Don’t forget your cilantro! The final touch is a cup or so of your favorite barbecue sauce. I love Sweet Baby Rays but any bottled barbecue sauce will do. If you’re feeling super fancy you can make homemade bbq sauce. Mix it all together, following the directions in the recipe card below, and you won’t believe the unique and outstanding flavor!
Frequently Asked Questions
The classic barbecue chicken pizza recipe has crust, bbq sauce, cheese, and chicken. Everything else is up to you! See our list above of optional toppings.
Yes, make sure the chicken is fully cooked before putting it on the pizza. The pizza does not cook long enough to cook raw chicken.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
Read Next:35+ Quick and Easy To Follow Dinner Ideas Your Family Will Surely Love
More Perfect Pizza Recipes
We adore homemade pizza around here! Try a few of our favorite recipes or create your own for super fun pizza nights with your family.
- California Pizza Kitchen Thai Chicken Pizza (Copycat)
- Butternut Squash Flatbread Pizza
- Lemon Chicken Pizza
- Grilled Pesto Pizzas
- Mediterranean Flatbread Pizza
- Turkey Bacon Avocado Pizza
How to Make BBQ Chicken Pizza
BBQ Cilantro Chicken Pizza
Equipment
- Outdoor Barbecue Grill
Ingredients
- prepared pizza dough uncooked
Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1 tomato finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 2 teaspoons basil
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup BBQ sauce
Toppings:
- 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 8 ounces pineapple tidbits drained
- 2 chicken breasts grilled and sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
Instructions
Prepare the Sauce
- Brown garlic in olive oil in the bottom of a sauce pan. Add everything else, except the BBQ sauce. Simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in BBQ sauce.
Make the Pizza
- Roll pizza dough onto a pizza pan or pizza stone.
- Spread the sauce evenly over the pizza dough.
- Top with cheese and pineapple.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Add grilled chicken slices and sprinkle with cilantro.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- diced red or purple onions
- red peppers
- bacon
- blue cheese
- gouda cheese
- chopped spinach
Oh, yes! We love BBQ pizza & we love making it ourselves. This is on the menu for Friday night, pizza night!
I was skeptical at first about putting cilantro on pizza but this was amazing. The BBQ, the pineapples and the cilantro just all magically compliment each other.
My family doesn’t like a lot of sauce, so I only used about 1/2 of it on the pizza, and saved the rest for dipping breadsticks. It is one of the tastiest pizza sauce recipes we’ve ever tried! And the pizza is also amazing!
I love BBQ pizza, but hadn’t thought to add cilantro. Great flavor balance and delicious. Will make again!
An absolute family favorite for sure!
This sounds great & it reminded me of one of my Pizza Recipes & I wanted to share it with you. BBQ Steak & Cajun Chicken Pizza w/Stuffed Cheese Crust or not- whatever you feel up to. I had this at a place in Norton, MA. & they do not make it anymore-so I make it myself now. It was just too good to let go & it’s easy enough to make. Just buy Flat Steak ( for breakfast) & cut it up yourself into strips or square chunks & it’s a lot more inexpensive than other cuts of beef steaks. Use Chicken Breasts or Strips cut into chunks. Pick your own BBQ Sauce-I use Honey & Cajun Sauce in a bottle. Mix the meats with the sauce in separate bowls, & top the pizza crust- I use Plain Cheese Freshetta or that other self rising brand. Or make my own crust-& stuff it. Hope you try it once & enjoy it. Great for Football Fans too!
That sounds so good, I will have to try it!
This pizza was amazing! I like my food to always have a little kick to it so I added jalapeños! Thank you for this post:)
your pizza look good to bad i kant print it out
Hi. I had extra sauce. Do you think it would freeze? Also. I just bought your cookbook. So great!
Thank you!! I haven’t tried freezing the sauce before… if you do it, let me know how it turns out!
your homemade pizza looks wonderful i like making my own but the base never turns out right so i will try your bread twist recipe for it
Looks delectable! Do you deliver?
I love making homemade pizza. Might have to make that tonight. Looks crust looks wonderful!
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I love BBQ Chicken Pizza! I will have to remember to add cilantro the next time I make it 🙂
Have a great weekend!
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Cool – thanks Emily!
That looks really good. I love different pizza variations and I love cilantro. I just posted a chicken alfredo pizza. Its so fun to come up with new pizza recipes.
Oooo, such big chunks of chicken! That looks awesome. I'm so used to chicken pizza recipes using shredded chicken that this is refreshing to know I'd be biting down into big meaty chunks, yum.
Yeah, I actually used to cook it on a cookie tray before I got a pizza pan.
This looks great! Could you cook it on a cookie tray?