California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Pizza

California Pizza Kitchen was one of the first places to make really unique pizzas. This BBQ chicken pizza features chicken, barbecue sauce, mozzarella, Gouda cheese, and red onion.

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Pizza may be originally from Italy, but it truly came into its own in the US. While they have been making pizzas in Naples the same way for hundreds of years, Americans created almost dozens of varieties of pizzas with almost endless toppings. California Pizza Kitchen is known for its innovative and unique pies like Barbeque Chicken Pizza. The next time you are craving a slice, skip delivery and trying making this homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza recipe!

This is NOT Your Everyday Pizza Pie!

When it comes to pizza, everyone knows the basic formula: Dough, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and toppings. But you can forget all that when making this BBQ Chicken Pizza recipe!

While this pizza may start with the same dough base as a regular pie, things quickly get much more interesting. California Pizza Kitchen instantly increases the sweet and savory level by substituting BBQ sauce for tomato sauce. You can use your favorite BBQ sauce for this recipe, but if you are buying something new, choose a basic, tomato-based sauce for the best results.

Two types of cheeses are used

Sure, this homemade BBQ chicken pizza recipe has the mozzarella cheese you are used to, but it also has something else, a bit of smoked Gouda. Smoked Gouda (“GOO·duh” in English) is originally from Holland. It is a creamy, white cheese that the cheesemaker exposes to smoldering wood chips, giving the Gouda a rich smokiness that reminds many people of the smell and taste of bacon.

Although this recipe only calls for a very light sprinkling of smoked Gouda, you can feel free to replace up to half of the mozzarella cheese with it if you like the taste.

Let’s talk about the toppings

The toppings start with pre-cooked chicken. When cooking the chicken beforehand, make sure to slightly under-cook it to avoid the chicken pieces from drying out in the oven. Next, use a mandolin to cut the red onions as thinly as possible.

If you don’t have a mandolin, use a sharp knife and do the best you can. After the pizza comes out of the oven, sprinkle some rough-cut cilantro on top right before serving.

Some people think cilantro tastes like soap, and if you are one of those people, of course, you don’t have to use it. But if you have never had cilantro before, this is an excellent recipe to try it out. Cilantro is the leaves of the coriander plant, so if you like coriander seeds, you will also probably like cilantro. Cilantro’s unique flavor goes lovely with the sweetness of the sauce, the smokiness of the Gouda, and the acidity of the red onions.

Tips for Making a Better California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Pizza

• Make your own pizza dough. Don’t overpay for frozen pizza dough at the store when making your own is easy. Yes, even you can make a great dough with this CopyKat recipe!
• Don’t over-sauce your pizza. BBQ sauce is tasty, but using too much turns your pizza into a mushy mess that is impossible to eat. Avoid over-saucing by making an asterisk (*) with the sauce on the dough and then spreading it out with the back of a serving spoon.
• Use a pizza stone. Remember to pre-heat your oven with the pizza stone inside to get the pizzeria-quality crust you want.

Let us show you how easy it is to make homemade pizza on YouTube!

Ingredients

Here’s a list of what you need:

• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Olive oil
• Barbecue sauce – recommend Kraft Barbeque Sauce – original flavor
• Pizza dough
• Semolina or cornmeal
• Shredded Gouda cheese
• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• Red onion
• Fresh cilantro

How to Make BBQ Chicken Pizza

1. In a large frying pan, cook the chicken in olive oil over medium-high heat until done.
2. Refrigerate cooked chicken until chilled through.
3. Once chilled, coat the chicken with BBQ sauce and place it back in the refrigerator.
4. Place a pizza stone in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
5. Cut the chicken into thin strips or small bite-sized pieces.
6. Sprinkle semolina on a work surface.
7. Place the pizza dough on the semolina and roll out the dough.
8. Spread BBQ sauce evenly over the surface of the dough within the edge.
9. Sprinkle Gouda cheese over the sauce.
10. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top.
    
11. Distribute chicken pieces evenly over the cheese.
12. Distribute red onion slices evenly over the pizza.
13. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top.
    
14. Transfer the pizza to the pizza stone in the oven.
15. Bake until the crust is crisp and golden and the cheese in the center is bubbly.
16. Remove the pizza from the oven and sprinkle cilantro on top.
17. Slice and serve.

Did you know California Pizza Kitchen has a great cookbook? They sure do! And you can get it on Amazon: The California Pizza Kitchen Cookbook.

Love California Pizza Kitchen? Try these copycat recipes!

• Chicken Tequila Fettuccine
• CPK Thai Chicken Pizza
• CPK Tortilla Soup

More Pizzas to Make

• Chocolate Pizza
• Crescent Veggie Pizza
• Margherita Pizza
• Pizza Bowl
• Pizza Monkey Bread
• Taco Bell Mexican Pizza Recipe
• Unos Pizza

Favorite Barbecue Recipes

• BBQ Baked Beans
• BBQ Chicken Tenders
• Bourbon BBQ Sauce

Check out more of my easy chicken recipes and the best copycat recipes for casual dining restaurants here on CopyKat!