This BBQ chicken pizza has no business being this good.
I made it on a whim one night, leftover chicken sausage, some Primal Kitchen BBQ sauce, a ball of our 72-Hour Pizza Dough, and whatever cheese I had in the fridge. Ten minutes later I pulled one of the best pizzas I've made all year off the Baking Steel. Smoky, sweet, crispy, with blue cheese crumbles that hit you right at the end. My family destroyed it.
This is now in our regular rotation. If you've never made a homemade BBQ chicken pizza, you're missing out. And if you have, I promise this version, on a Baking Steel with a 72-hour fermented crust, is better than anything you've had before.
Why BBQ Chicken Pizza Works on the Baking Steel
BBQ sauce is sugary. Sugar burns fast. That's why most homemade BBQ chicken pizzas end up either undercooked in the middle or burnt on top. The Baking Steel solves this because it transfers heat so efficiently from below that your crust gets crispy and charred in minutes, before the sugars in the BBQ sauce have a chance to burn.
The broiler technique seals the deal. You get that bubbly, caramelized top while the bottom stays perfectly crisp. It's the same two-steel setup I use for our Neapolitan-style margherita — just with BBQ sauce instead of crushed tomatoes.
The Dough
I used our 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix for this pizza. The long ferment gives the crust a depth of flavor that stands up to bold toppings like BBQ sauce and blue cheese. A boring, same-day dough would get lost under all that flavor. This one holds its own.
The 72-hour cold ferment also makes the dough incredibly easy to stretch, it moves like yoga. No fighting, no tearing, no stress. Just smooth, relaxed dough that does what you want it to do.
BBQ Chicken Pizza Recipe
Yield: 1 pizza | Prep: 10 minutes | Bake: 5-6 minutes | Oven preheat: 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 dough ball (250g) — from our 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix or your favorite recipe
- ¼ cup BBQ sauce (I use Primal Kitchen Golden BBQ — no sugar, clean ingredients)
- ⅓ lb chicken sausage, sliced or crumbled
- 2 oz shredded fontina cheese
- 1 oz shredded low moisture mozzarella
- 1 oz blue cheese crumbles
- Semolina flour or cornmeal for the peel
Setup
- Position your steel. Place your Baking Steel on the top rack, about 6-7 inches under the broiler. If you have two steels, place the second on the bottom rack.
- Preheat at 450°F for 45 minutes. You want that steel fully saturated with heat.
- Switch to broiler on high. About 10 minutes before you're ready to launch, turn the broiler to high. Wait until the coils are glowing red.
Build the Pizza
- Stretch the dough. On a lightly floured surface, press and stretch your dough ball to about 12 inches. Leave the outer edge a little thicker for the crust.
- Transfer to a peel. Dust your pizza peel with semolina flour. Lay the dough on the peel and give it a shake to make sure it slides.
- Sauce it. Spoon a thin layer of BBQ sauce from edge to edge. Thin is the key word here — BBQ sauce is strong and you don't want it to overpower the cheese and chicken.
- Add the cheese. Distribute the fontina and mozzarella evenly over the sauce. The fontina gives you that creamy, nutty melt. The mozzarella gives you the stretch.
- Add the chicken. Scatter the chicken sausage on top. Pro tip — I lightly marinate the chicken in BBQ sauce before adding it. Gives every bite an extra layer of smoky flavor.
The Bake
- Launch onto the steel. Slide the pizza onto the Baking Steel, directly under the red-hot broiler. Close the door.
- Broiler bake — 1 minute. Watch it through the oven window. The cheese will start to bubble and the edges will puff.
- Rotate and switch to convection bake. After 1 minute, open the oven and rotate the pizza 180°. Switch the oven from broiler to convection bake at 450°F.
- Finish — 4-5 more minutes. Bake until the crust is golden and crispy, the cheese is bubbly, and the BBQ sauce is caramelized.
- Pull and finish. Slide onto a cutting board. Add the blue cheese crumbles on top — they'll soften slightly from the heat of the pizza. Slice and serve immediately.
Why This Pizza Works
The combination of BBQ sauce, fontina, and blue cheese is ridiculous. The BBQ sauce brings smoky sweetness. The fontina melts into a creamy, nutty layer. And the blue cheese crumbles at the end cut through everything with a sharp, tangy bite. It's salty, sweet, smoky, and tangy all in one slice.
The chicken sausage keeps it easy — no need to cook and shred chicken breast. Just slice it up and scatter it on raw. It cooks perfectly in the 5-6 minute bake.
Tips for the Best BBQ Chicken Pizza
Use a clean BBQ sauce. I use Primal Kitchen Golden BBQ because it's unsweetened and organic. Most BBQ sauces are loaded with sugar, which burns fast under a broiler. A cleaner sauce gives you that smoky flavor without the char.
Go thin on the sauce. BBQ sauce is intense. A thin layer is all you need. If you load it up, the pizza gets soggy and the sauce overpowers everything else.
Add the blue cheese after the bake. Blue cheese crumbles go on after the pizza comes out of the oven. They'll soften from the residual heat but won't melt into nothing. You want those pockets of tangy blue cheese in every bite.
Don't skip the fontina. Most BBQ chicken pizza recipes just use mozzarella. The fontina is what makes this version different — it melts beautifully and adds a richness that mozzarella alone can't match.
Serve with ranch or celery. Want the full buffalo wing experience? Serve with a side of ranch and some celery sticks. Game day perfection.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is BBQ chicken pizza?
BBQ chicken pizza is a pizza topped with BBQ sauce instead of traditional tomato sauce, combined with chicken, cheese, and often red onion or cilantro. It was popularized by California Pizza Kitchen in the late 1980s and has become one of the most popular pizza varieties in America. Our version uses chicken sausage, fontina, mozzarella, and blue cheese crumbles for a bolder, more complex flavor.
What's the best cheese for BBQ chicken pizza?
A blend of fontina and mozzarella gives you the best of both worlds — fontina melts into a creamy, nutty layer while mozzarella adds the classic stretch. Blue cheese crumbles added after baking give each bite a tangy punch that cuts through the sweetness of the BBQ sauce.
Can you make BBQ chicken pizza in a home oven?
Yes — and it comes out incredible on a Baking Steel. The steel transfers heat efficiently from below, crisping the crust in minutes before the sugary BBQ sauce has a chance to burn. Combined with the broiler technique, you get a pizza that rivals any pizzeria.
What temperature do you bake BBQ chicken pizza?
Preheat your oven to 450°F with the Baking Steel inside for 45 minutes. Switch to broiler on high just before launching the pizza. After 1 minute under the broiler, switch back to convection bake at 450°F for 4-5 more minutes. Total bake time is about 5-6 minutes.
What dough works best for BBQ chicken pizza?
A long-fermented dough with developed flavor stands up best to bold toppings like BBQ sauce and blue cheese. Our 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix is perfect the 72-hour cold ferment creates a complex, flavorful crust that doesn't get lost under the toppings. Just add water and wait.
About the Author
Andris Lagsdin is the inventor of the Baking Steel and founder of bakingsteel.com. He's been making pizza on steel since 2012 and has taught thousands of home cooks through his free weekly pizza classes. His 72-Hour Pizza Dough Mix puts his exact recipe in a bag — just add water. He lives in Massachusetts with his family and makes pizza almost every day.
Looking for more? Try our Neapolitan-style margherita pizza, our ultimate pepperoni pizza, or join our free weekly pizza class.
