It's a perfect pairing: pizza topped with buffalo chicken! Need I say more? This is one of my absolute favorite pizzas. This version is super easy and quick to make using pre-cooked chicken and make-ahead pizza dough (the best kind!) or store bought if you're in a pinch!
Popular any time of year, but a must try pizza during football season! I've been making this pizzas for many years! Always a hit!
Ingredients
One of the reasons that I absolutely love this recipe is that the ingredients are so simple, it's so flavorful, and everything comes together so quickly!
- Pizza dough: I love my NY style pizza dough which is a make ahead dough but feel free to use store bought dough if you want to make this pizza today!
- Ranch dressing: I think ranch provides the perfect base for buffalo chicken pizza as it adds a mild flavor without over powering the chicken or adding crazy amounts of fat.
- Chicken: I like using chicken breast, and I either simply grill some chicken breast or I use rotisserie chicken from the store.
- Hot sauce: We use Frank's red hot sauce for our buffalo chicken pizza. It's perfect! No need to buy the wing sauce, which has added fat (there is enough in the cheese!).
- Shredded cheese: Use mozzarella or mild cheddar (or a combination of the two). Perfect!
- Blue cheese dressing: Optional, much like it is for chicken wings - I like to drizzle just a bit on the pizza (too much can be overpowering unless you are a huge blue cheese lover)
- Green onions: A perfect garnish but optional. Nice to have if you're entertaining but otherwise, not necessary in my opinion.
See recipe card for detailed quantities.
Instructions
- Position your oven rack within 6 to 8 inches of the top of the oven, and preheat your pizza stone for about 1 hour, using the highest setting possible (I use 550 degrees)
- In the meantime, take your dough out of the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature on a well floured surface for 30 minutes to 1 hour. If you bake your pizza when the dough is too cold, the crust will bubble a lot more and the dough will be harder to work.
- If not using leftover or rotisserie chicken, grill chicken to cook through and then let cool. Then, dice and toss in bowl with hot sauce (we use Frank's hot sauce) so the chicken is well coated (see photo) but not overly saturated.
- Flour your dough ball well on both sides and stretch until it is 12 to 14 inches (14 inches will give you a very thin crust NY style pizza).
- After stretching the dough, place your pizza on a lightly floured pizza peel and top with ranch dressing (as you would normally do with pizza sauce) (see photo)
- Spread the hot sauce/chicken mixture on top of the ranch dressing and then top with shredded cheese.
- Bake the pizza for 4 to 6 minutes on a pizza stone or steel, until the bottom is lightly browned.
- Top with blue cheese dressing if desired and green onions.
Variations
A few ideas for variations can be:
- Spicy - Add a touch more hot sauce but not too too much or your crust may become soggy from all the moisture.
- Deluxe - Add more chicken and more cheese!
- Kid friendly - Cut back on the hot sauce to provide less heat on the pizza.
Equipment
A pizza stone or steel is a great small investment that will pay off. It will last years (especially a steel) and will take your pizza making skills to a whole new level.
Of course, if you are considering purchasing a pizza oven, your pizza will cook much more quickly. I have used a BlackStone pizza for years but they are no longer manufactored.
If I were in the market today, I'd purchase an Ooni pizza oven that uses propane gas for outdoor pizza making.
Top tip
Make sure the pizza is cooked well - check the underside of the pizza before removing from the oven. Under-baked pizza will be soggy.
Experiment with different cheeses to vary the flavor on your pizza.
If you haven't ever tried making homemade dough, I highly suggest you try it! It's simple to make ahead and is so much better than store bought.
Test the spice level of the chicken (ie, try a piece) before using it as a topping on the pizza.
More on Pizza.....
📖 Recipe
Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Ingredients
- 16 ounces pizza dough (homemade or store bought)
- 8 ounces chicken breast shredded (use rotisserie or grill a medium breast, size of your palm) (see NOTE)
- ¼ cup Frank's red hot sauce more or less to taste
- ⅓ cup ranch dressing
- 1.5 cups mozzarella cheese can use a mixture of mozzarella/cheddar if desired
- 2 tablespoon blue cheese dressing or crumbles optional for topping
- 1 tablespoon sliced green onions or chives optional for garnish
Instructions
- Position your oven rack within 6 to 8 inches of the top of the oven, and preheat your pizza stone for about 1 hour, using the highest setting possible (I use 550 degrees)
- In the meantime, take your dough out of the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature on a well floured surface for 30 min to 1 hour.
- Toss chicken in bowl with hot sauce so the chicken is well coated but not overly saturated.
- Sprinkle a generous amount of flour on both sides of your dough and stretch until it is 14 inches in diameter.
- After stretching the dough, place your pizza on a lightly floured pizza peel or a piece of parchment paper, and top with ranch dressing (as you would normally do with pizza sauce)
- Sprinkle ½ of the hot sauce/chicken mixture on top of the ranch dressing and then top with shredded cheese
- Bake the pizza for 4 to 6 minutes on a pizza stone or steel, until the bottom is lightly browned and then top with additional chicken.
- Top with blue cheese dressing if desired and green onions and serve immediately.
JJ Bloom says
Simple yet spot on!
sierrasutton says
i love buffalo pizza it is so good and hot nd spicy
Paula @ Vintage Kitchen says
Sounds heavenly!
Marie says
Thanks, Paula! It's one of my favorites:)
Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious says
Amazing! I will most definitely have to make this - I love anything buffalo!
Marie says
Thanks, Chung! By the way, I love your site:)
Agos says
That pizza looks insanely good... I have a feeling I'll be making it soon 🙂 I even have some ranch dressing that needs to be used.
Marie says
It won't disappoint! Enjoy:)