Does your family have a weekly pizza night? Our designated night is Friday and it almost always comes along with a movie. So you’ve probably already figured out that I really look forward to Friday nights.
My kids are definitely not adventurous when it comes to pizza. It’s cheese all the way for them. But for me, anything goes. I love trying different flavor combinations and getting a chance to be creative. Then there’s my husband. He’s not as limited as the kids, but he’s not anxious to try the things I like. He will, however, eat anything that has been “Buffalo’d”. (For example, see Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti, Buffalo Chicken Tacos, and Buffalo Chicken Bites.) So to keep the peace and satisfy my need for something other than plain cheese I sometimes make this Buffalo Chicken Pizza. I let my husband think that I do it for him but just between you and me, this pizza is one of my favorites.
This is a very simple pizza to make. I always have a chicken dish on the weekly menu, so I just cook a few extra pieces and keep it in the refrigerator until Friday. The rest is even easier than that.
I have a homemade pizza crust recipe on this site already, but over time I’ve found a few ways to really streamline things. This is truly a no-fail recipe and method, so if you’ve never tried making a pizza crust from scratch now is the time. I love my homemade pizza crust – just a few basic ingredients go straight into the food processor and a few seconds later the dough is ready for rising. Just place it in a bowl and come back in one hour. Stretch it, top it, and bake it. This crust bakes up crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside with a great flavor. So with a very small effort you get a perfect crust without all of the chemicals that are in some of those other varieties.
Buffalo Chicken Pizza
makes 2 12″ pizzas, or 4 personal sized pizzas
For Crust:
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons instant yeast (not the “active dry” yeast)
1/2 teaspoon honey
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
For topping:
1 cup Blue Cheese Dressing (I like the Marzetti “Simply Dressed”)
2 cups cooked skinless chicken breast, shredded
1/4 cup Frank’s Buffalo Sauce
1 Tablespoon melted butter
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (optional)
Place all ingredients into the bowl of a large food processor. Secure lid and turn it on. Let the food processor run until a ball forms, about 30 seconds. Lightly coat the inside of a large bowl with olive oil. Remove pizza dough from the food processor and place into the bowl. Cover lightly with a damp towel and place bowl in a warm spot such as a windowsill and let rise for one hour.
Arrange oven racks to the top third and bottom third of the oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly coat two pizza pans or two baking sheets with olive oil. Divide dough into two (or four) equal parts. Place each section onto one of the baking sheets and stretch out to about 1/2″ thickness. (If making four smaller pizzas you should be able to fit two per pan.) You can make the pizza any shape you like – round, rectangle, square – it doesn’t matter at all.
Brush each pizza equally with the blue cheese dressing. Place shredded chicken in a bowl and add the buffalo sauce and melted butter. Stir well. Spread chicken mixture evenly over pizzas. Sprinkle pizzas evenly with mozzarella cheese, followed by the blue cheese if using.
Place pans in the oven on the upper and lower racks. Bake 10 minutes, or until cheese is just beginning to lightly brown around the edges.
Let cool for about 3-4 minutes, then cut into pieces and serve.
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I know this may sound strange, but I have never mastered basic tender cooked chicken breast, especially stove top. I use high quality chicken breast and have high quality cookware. Any suggestions? Low and slow in oven or something else?
I think a lot of people struggle with this. It usually helps to lower the cooking temperature – high heat can zap the juiciness right out of a piece of meat. It also helps to flatten then breasts a bit before cooking so that the thickness is about the same across the entire piece of chicken. That way you don’t over cook the thin areas while you wait for the thickest area to cook. Personally, when I cook chicken breast on the stove top I start with a medium high temperature to sear both sides (about 2 minutes per side) then cover with a lid and reduce heat to medium low, turning occasionally until chicken is cooked through.
Is there a way to substitute active dry yeast? I see you said, ‘not’… reason?
The instant yeast doesn’t need an activation period like active dry yeast does, so with instant you can add everything to the food processor in one step. You can certainly still use the active dry yeast, just use this recipe for the crust instead: http://www.ourfamilyeats.com/2011/09/homemade-pizza/