BBQ Chicken Pizzas

$8.13 recipe / $1.36 serving

This may be the quickest, most delicious BBQ chicken pizza that you'll ever make. I know it was for me. I don't usually buy pre-baked pizza crusts (it's pretty expensive compared to homemade) but I've got places to go and people to see this weekend so I took a HUGE short cut and bought the ready-made crusts. Don't worry, if you like to make your own crust or buy dough from your local pizzaria (like I usually do), you can still make this recipe. It will take a tad bit longer but be a lot less expensive! Later this summer I will be getting into some serious bread making and will surely make lots of pizza dough so stay tuned for that. Until then, it's the pre-made stuff... which is still delicious, by the way.

I had some frozen chicken breasts in my freezer (buying them in 5 lb. packs saves you at least $1 per pound) so I pulled one out to use for the pizzas. This chicken breast was pretty massive, weighing in at .75 lb. At first I didn't think that one would be enough for two pizzas (I was thinking more like .5 lb. per pizza) but It turned out to be quite a bit of meat. If you have smaller chicken breasts (.5 lb. each), you could probably still use just one.




Total Recipe cost: $8.13 (makes two 12" pizzas)
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Cost per serving: $1.36 (1/3 of a pizza / 2 slices)
Prep time: 15 min. Cook time: 15 min. (7 min. each pizza) Total: 30 min.

INGREDIENTS		COST
2	12 inch pizza crusts	$3.48
.75 lb.	chicken breast	$1.49
2 cups	shredded mozzarella and cheddar	$1.96
1/2 bottle (1 cup)	BBQ sauce	$0.78
1/2 small	red onion	$0.25
1/4 bunch	green onions	$0.12
to taste	salt and pepper	$0.05
TOTAL		$8.13

STEP 1: Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and turn on a counter top grill (George Foreman type) for 5 minutes to preheat. Sprinkle the chicken breast with a little salt and pepper and cook in the counter top grill until it is cooked through, brown and crispy on the outside (about 7 minutes).

STEP 2: While the chicken breast is cooking, thinly slice the red and green onion.

STEP 3: Once the chicken is finished cooking, transfer it to a cutting board and cut/shred it into small pieces. Use a fork and a knife for this because the chicken breast will still be steaming hot. Transfer the chicken pieces to a bowl and add about 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce. Stir to coat the chicken with the sauce.

STEP 4: Pour 1/3 of a cup of BBQ sauce on one of the crusts and spread it out from the center using the back of a large spoon. Top the sauce with 1 cup of shredded cheese. Next sprinkle half of the BBQ chicken mixture over the cheese. Finish with a few red and green onions.

STEP 5: Place the pizza in the preheated oven (425 degrees) and cook for 7-10 minutes. Because the crusts I used are thin and crispy style, I placed the pizzas directly on the oven rack with no pan. If you are using a different type of dough/crust, you may need a pan and may need to cook the pizzas longer. While the first pizza is cooking, top the second pizza. Bake the second pizza after the first one has finished (they cook more evenly one at a time).

Step By Step Photos


Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and your counter top grill for 5 minutes. Season the chicken with salt and pepper then cook on the counter top grill until cooked through and crispy on the outside.


While the chicken cooks, thinly slice the onions.


When the chicken is finished, cut and shred it into small pieces using a knife and fork.


Mix enough BBQ sauce into the chicken pieces until they are completely coated (about 1/4 cup).


This is the crust I used. It's pretty good... until I start making my own again anyway.


Spread about 1/3 cup of BBQ sauce over the crust. Cattleman's BBQ sauce (see top right of photo) is my favorite. It is so tangy and flavorful and only costs about $1.50 per bottle. NICE!


Sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella and cheddar blend over the sauce.


Follow the cheese up with half of the BBQ chicken mixture, some red onions and green onions. Bake for 7-10 minutes (until the cheese is all melted and the crust is to your desired brown-ness). Cut each pizza into 6 slices.



Now THAT is a delicious, visually stunning pizza... and for about the same price as the cheapest of cheap frozen pizzas! Serve this up with a nice green salad and you've got a quick, delicious weeknight dinner.

You're likely to have left over onions and BBQ sauce. You can use the onions in omelets and on salads. BBQ sauce stays good in the refrigerator for quite a while and is excellent on sandwiches so hang on to the other half of the bottle! Who knows, maybe you'll want to make more of this pizza next week :)

http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2010/04/bbq-chicken-pizzas-813-recipe-136.html