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Chicken Pesto Pizza

One of the crowd favorites as my daughter’s birthday party was my Chicken Pesto Pizza, something I threw together assuming it would be delish, and I was oh so happy that it was so well received. Ready for the recipe?

In my opinion, the key to great pizza is the dough. We buy our dough from Papa Murphys. It comes already rolled out, it is the 14″ size, and is only $3! Compare this to pre-baked dough, which can run upwards of $6, and dough from a can, which is just gross. 

When you get your dough, it may need to be ‘proofed’, which just means it may need to rise. The longer you allow your dough to sit out and proof, the thicker the crust will be. I make my pizzas within a half hour to an hour of buying them, and I think the dough is just perfect. Not too thin, not too thick, just right.

  • You can find more detailed baking instructions here.

I made things even easier by buying a roaster chicken from Costco, which is much larger than the grocery store roaster chickens. One chicken was enough for two large pizzas. I’m guessing that I used 2 cups of chicken pieces for each pizza, coming to 4 cups total. Costco also makes a delicious basil, pine nut, Parmesan pesto. I bought a jar of that, mixed a bit of it with the 2 cups of chicken, and viola! Super quick and it is SO good.

Chicken Pesto Pizza
Makes 4-6 servings

  • 1 large pizza dough, rolled out
  • 2 cups chicken, shredded or cut into chunks
  • 1/3-1/2 cup pesto
  • 1/8-1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
  • 1 cup 5-Italian blend shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 450-f degrees. Place dough on pizza pan.

2. Mix chicken and pesto. Add chicken to pizza, leaving 1 inch border around pizza.

3. Sprinkle sun dried tomatoes over pizza. Sprinkle cheese over pizza.

4. With your fingers or a basting brush, apply light layer of olive oil to 1 inch border around pizza.

5. Cook for 18-22 minutes, until crust is browned and dough is cooked through. (All ovens vary, use your best judgement) Let sit 5 minutes then cut.

Source: Jamhands.net

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18 Comments

  1. The party looked amazing! Love this pizza idea. Glad you found some good dough because you're right — every time I try one from the can it's gross!

    Happy belated Birthday Violet!

  2. Hi Ali,
    Left you a message on the BD Ning, begging, err, asking if I can contrib once and a while…

    love your site by the way…adding it to my roster…

    Have you considered being a foodbuzz publisher? Go to my site http://www.portlandfoodie.com and see how the set up looks. Let me know if you are interested…

  3. Thanks for the suggestion. I hadn't thought of starting with pre-mixed dough (The pizza dough is the main thing keeping me from making homemade pizza more often.

  4. This is even ok with a premade (Boboli) crust in a pinch. This recipes was what got my husband's attention and pointed me towards your sight. Thanks for all the great recipes!

  5. Here from Melt in your Mouth monday.. this looks fantastic! I'll def. have to try it 🙂

  6. Oh my, that looks absolutely delicious! I will have to try it! Too bad I'm the only one in my family that will eat pesto! 🙁

  7. Yum! This looks good. I have a party tomorrow "Cast Party Wednesday" and would love it if you came over and shared your recipe with us.
    Thanks,
    I hope to see you there!

  8. This looks yummy! I just bookmarked it to try it later this week.

    I found your post through Sugar Bee's Take-a-Look Tuesday.

  9. OOOHHH I think I might actually be able to tackle this one. I'm totally craving pizza now- thanks SO much for sharing this recipe! Visiting from TT&J wrap-up party.

  10. Visiting from TT&J Weekend Wrap-Up. That pizza looks delicious! I may have to try this one grilled!

  11. Hi Ali,
    What a great Chicken Pizza, it looks awesome. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope to see you next week. Have a great week end!
    Miz Helen

  12. I love the chicken/pesto combo and your tip about buying the pre-rolled crust is fantastic! Thanks for another fabulous recipe Ali!

    Jenn