Chicken and Bacon Ranch Pizza
Bacon,  Chicken,  Game Day,  Nueske's,  Pizza

Chicken and Bacon Ranch Pizza

Lately I have been tinkering with mastering my pizza dough. I’m sure you have all seen my postings, with all sorts of pizza creations. I think I am getting pretty darn close not only with the pizza dough, which is probably the most important, but also with the temperature, cook time, and well, the toppings.

A recent gift from Nueske’s yielded a package of peppered bacon. I was stoked to say the least, and as I quickly thought of making BLT’s, I decided to do something a bit different, and that was to make a chicken and bacon ranch pizza.

Chicken and Bacon Ranch Pizza

I had some leftover chicken that I wanted to use, and hence why this pizza came to what it was, not only that but I could not shake the package of bacon out of my mind. I used my KettlePizza on this one, but you can definitely use your oven as well.

Let’s get started.

  • Your favorite pizza dough,  about 16″ in diameter
  • Fine cornmeal for dusting
  • 1 cup of your favorite pizza sauce
  • 3 tbsp pesto
  • 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 2 cups of cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
  • 5 slices of bacon, partially cooked
  • Ranch dressing, to your liking

Start by lightly coating your pizza peel with light cornmeal. This will help slide the pizza onto your pre-heated pizza stone.

Preheat your oven to the highest temp, along with the pizza stone. I’ve found that around 575o-600 degrees is a perfect temperature to cook the pizza.

Next, lightly flour a wooden board, or clean counter, and shape your dough. I’ve learned to stretch the dough ever so lightly, but keeping the edges a bit thicker. Once stretched to about 16 inches or so, lay the dough onto the pizza peel.

bacon-chicken-ranch-pizza-ingredients

Next, ladle on the pizza sauce, ensuring the the pizza is covered, then drizzle on the pesto. Top with the mozzarella cheese, then top with the chicken, and then lay the slices of partially cooked bacon over the top.

Chicken and Bacon Ranch Pizza

Slide the pizza off of the pizza peel onto the pizza stone, and cook for about 7 minutes or until the dough has risen, is partially darkened on the bottom, and the bacon is fully cooked.

Remove, and slice. Drizzle your slice(s) with as much ranch dressing as you desire.

The result is nothing short of amazing. The crust is killer. It’s ‘airy’, slightly crisp, and the first thing you get is this whiff of awesome smokey bacon. Biting into it yields that great sourness from the ranch, the smokiness from the bacon, and the chicken, cheese, and pesto. It’s a knockout pizza for sure.

Give this one a try if you are looking for new pizza ideas. Hope you enjoy!

2 Comments

  • Angela

    Looks great, especially the crust! Which pizza dough recipe did you use? Love receiving your emails. Always something good and different.

    • Dax Phillips

      Hi Angela – I actually have been tinkering with my own for some time to get that artisinal dough. I used about 5 1/2 cups of flour, about a 1/2 tsp active yeast, 2 cups of water, and about 2 tbsp salt. The goal is to get a nice ferment on it, which ultimately from start to finish takes about 3 days. Then it’s pizza time!

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