Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Buffalo Chicken Pizza is my fun and tasty take on Buffalo wings but in pizza form. It may seem a little odd at first, but I promise you'll love it!

*Disclaimer - This recipe was originally published in 2014. I'm working hard to update all my older recipes with recipe cards, new photos, and additional recipe information. But, getting to all of them will take time. Please bear with me. In the meantime let me assure you that this recipe is still a winner and one I'm sure you'll be well pleased with when you make it at home.

Celery? On a PIZZA??? That was the question I'd heard loud and clear from my husband a few nights ago when I told him I was making a Buffalo Chicken Pizza for dinner, and when I told him the list of the ingredients I was using. I'm pretty sure he suspected that I'd finally lost what is left of my mind, and I must admit, I wasn't actually all that sure that I hadn't!

But seriously folks...if you're going to eat Buffalo chicken, then you just HAVE to eat the accompanying celery sticks and blue cheese dip that always comes along with it, otherwise, you're missing out on the full Buffalo chicken experience, in my honest opinion...but maybe that's just me (I love my veggies)!

I seem to be utilizing a lot of store-bought rotisserie chickens a lot lately to come up with quick and easy recipes that I hope you appreciate and will try in your own kitchen for those busy weeknight dinners.

This Buffalo Chicken Pizza uses ½ a rotisserie chicken, taken off the bone and broken into bite-sized pieces (reserve the other ½ of chicken for another use), Frank's Red Hot sauce (my favorite and a Buffalo chicken staple), butter, red onion (not typical for Buffalo chicken but I adore red onion), celery (which I spoke of earlier), mozzarella cheese (again not typical, but I like my pizza's to be cheesy), and blue cheese to top it all off.

All this sits atop either homemade or store-bought pizza dough. *Note - to make this even Buffalo chicken pizza even faster to make, why not use a pre-baked pizza crust like Boboli or one of the other delicious ones on the market? If you do this, dinner will be on the table in no time at all, and everyone (including the cook) will be happy, happy!

*Note - I baked this pizza on our outdoor gas grill, but it can be easily cooked indoors in the oven. If you do decide to bake this on an outdoor grill, cover two bricks with aluminum foil and place the pizza stone or baking sheet on top of the bricks for an indirect cooking method. This way your grill is turned into more of an outdoor oven, and the bottom of the crust won't burn before the cheese has a chance to melt.

BUFFALO CHICKEN PIZZA   {PRINT THIS RECIPE}
Yield: 1 large pizza

1 pound pizza dough (homemade, store-bought, or pre-baked, like Boboli)
½ rotisserie chicken, meat removed from bones and broken into bite-sized pieces
4 tablespoons Frank's Red Hot sauce, divided
3 tablespoons butter, melted
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, peeled and sliced thinly
2 ribs of celery, sliced diagonally into bite-sized pieces
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon cornmeal

-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees or preheat the grill to medium/high.
-Place the pizza dough on a baking sheet or pizza stone that's been lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Use your fingers to press the dough out into a 12" circular shape (don't worry about it being perfectly round, it's not necessary).
*Note - if using a prepared pre-baked pizza crust, just place it on the sheet with/or without the cornmeal.
-In a medium-sized bowl, toss the chicken with 3 tablespoons of hot sauce and the melted butter.
-Drizzle the pizza crust with olive oil and place the chicken evenly on the crust.
-Sprinkle the chicken with the black pepper and then place the onion and celery evenly on top of the chicken.
-Spread the mozzarella cheese over top of the chicken and veggies and dot the top with the crumbled blue cheese.
-Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon of hot sauce over top of the pizza.
-If using unbaked crust, bake for approximately 20-25 minutes until the crust is cooked through, and the cheese is nicely melted. *Note - if using a pre-baked crust, bake for approximately 12-15 minutes until the cheese is nicely melted.
-Allow cooling slightly on a wire rack before cutting into slices.
-Serve warm!