Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza

Pizza is one of those foods that I never grow tired of having, especially when it’s homemade pizza that’s piping hot and fresh from my oven.

Over the years I’ve combined lots of flavor combinations to make our at home pizza night special. This Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza has quickly become one of my family’s favorites.

By mixing creamy Ranch dressing and sour cream along with a few extra seasonings, I’ve created the perfect base for the chicken, crispy bacon, and cheese to sit atop.

This Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza is a great way to use up leftover shredded or diced chicken that you made for a previous meal. I often prep Shredded Chicken in my pressure cooker or slow cooker or bake it on a pan in the oven and split it up for recipes like this.

Although I use half of a recipe for homemade pizza dough as the base of this pizza, you can always use a store bought pizza dough. Our local Publix grocery store sells delicious fresh pizza dough in the Deli in a small refrigerator. If you use a canned pizza dough from the refrigerated/dairy section, such as Pillsbury, follow the manufacturers cooking instructions.

Whether you’re looking for a new meal plan item or your family loves pizza, this Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza is sure to be a hit. This pizza recipe is for a medium size pizza, but is easily adjusted to serve more, just make sure to adjust the toppings accordingly to the size of the pizza.

I hope that you’ll try this recipe today and leave a comment below. Also, for daily updates follow @lifeabovethecafe on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest using the social media icons found on this page.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 of a Pizza Dough ball (homemade or store bought)
• 1 – 1 & 1/2 cups of diced cooked chicken
• 2 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• Shredded Cheese – I used a Pizza blend and Italian blend
• 1/4 cup of Ranch Dressing (I used Hidden Valley)
• 1/4 cup of Sour Cream
• 1/2 tsp. of parsley flakes
• 1/4 tsp. of garlic powder
• 1/4 cup of thinly sliced purple onion
• cornmeal and flour for dusting
• parchment paper

Directions:

Note the prep time includes making the pizza dough, cooking the bacon, and chopping/spreading the toppings.  You can make the dough ahead of time, refrigerate it, and set it out on the counter for 30 minutes to come up to room temperature in order for it to stretch well.  I use a regular rise yeast, and let my dough rise for about 3 hours, but a rapid rise yeast that takes 30 minutes is delicious too.  I only use half of my dough since I’m feeding two adults, but if I have 4 to feed I use the entire dough ball and increase my toppings to cover the larger pizza.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line a large baking sheet or pizza pan with parchment paper and dust the surface with a little cornmeal.  It adds a delicious textured bite to the pizza, but if you don’t have it you can leave it off.

Mix the ranch dressing and sour cream together with the parsley flakes and garlic powder in a small bowl.  Cook and dice the bacon and slice the purple onion into thin pieces.  I used the bagged shredded cheese from Walmart in their Great Value brand because it has so many different types of cheese in the two types that I buy.  If you prefer, grate a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella.

Dust the pizza dough with a little flour on both sides and then stretch it out to a thin dough consistency for faster cooking.  I stretch my pizza out to about the size of a large dinner plate for a medium size pizza.  Use the whole dough for a large, thick crust pizza or two smaller pizzas to feed four people (adjust the toppings if making a larger pizza).  With a fork, poke holes over the entire surface of the dough to prevent it from bubbling up while it bakes.

Spread a layer of the ranch dressing mixture over the surface leaving a ring around the exterior for the crust.  Don’t spread the sauce too thin or the pizza will seem dry, but don’t drench it since too much sauce will cause the toppings to slide off.  Sprinkle the diced chicken and 1/3 of the chopped bacon and purple onion, reserving most for the top.  Spread a thick layer of both types of cheese across the surface of the pizza and then sprinkle the remaining bacon and purple onion on top.

Bake in the center of the oven for 8 minutes.  I then remove my pizza and place it on the lower rack, close to the gas flame, to cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.  The pizza is ready when the bottom of the crust is a light golden brown color and crispy.   Remove the pizza from the oven to cool for about 3 minutes before cutting it into pieces.

If you have an electric oven everything should be the same but you may not have a heating element in the lower part of your oven so you won’t need to lower the pan towards the end of the baking time.  If you prefer a crispy top you can broil the pizza for a minute or two, but keep an eye on it to avoid burning.

This feeds two adults but if made for lighter eaters or young children, it would definitely feed 3 or 4.

 

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