Jalapeno Ranch BBQ Chicken Pizza

This is another recipe made with my husband in mind. What can I say… the man loves ranch dressing and barbeque sauce; toss in some jalapeno, chicken, pizza dough, and cheese, and John’s a happy guy!

This playful pizza is a conglomerate adaptation from two of my fellow bloggers, so thank you to Annie and Des for the inspiration! I slightly lightened Des’ recipe for Jalapeno Ranch Dressing by subbing in Greek yogurt for sour cream, and Annie’s recipe for Chicken Ranch Pizza by using reduced-fat shredded cheese. I tossed my own spin into the mix by coating the chicken with barbeque sauce, and Jalapeno Ranch BBQ Pizza was born.

*Disclaimer: we much prefer to roll out pizza dough and bake the crust, but what we had on hand for this meal was a pre-baked thin crust Boboli.  These pizza “shells” suffice, but I recommend buying unbaked dough (or, better yet, making your own), whenever you make homemade pizza.*

Jalapeno Ranch BBQ Chicken Pizza

adapted from Annie’s Chicken Ranch Pizza (originally from Allrecipes) & Des’ Jalapeno Ranch Dressing

serves 4

Ingredients for the pizza:

• 1 pizza dough, homemade or store bought, rolled out to desired thickness
• 1/4 cup jalapeno ranch dressing* (recipe follows)
• canola oil cooking spray
• 3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup barbeque sauce of your choice
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 3/4 cup shredded 2% part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 3/4 cup shredded 50% reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450*F.
2. Heat a cooking spray-coated skillet over medium/medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and add to hot skillet. Cook until just done, about 3-4 minutes per side (depending on thickness), and remove to a cutting board. When cool enough to handle, chop chicken into bite-sized pieces. Toss chicken pieces with barbeque sauce until evenly coated. Set aside.
3. Spread 1/4 cup of the jalapeno ranch dressing on the rolled-out pizza dough. Top with an even sprinkling of the mozzarella cheese, the barbeque-coated chicken pieces, the cheddar cheese, and the green onions.
4. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the pizza crust is lightly browned.

*Ingredients for the jalapeno ranch dressing:

(yields 1/2 cup… you only need 1/4 cup for the pizza)

• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup canola oil mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Combine the jalapeno and garlic in a food processor and pulse until minced.
2. Remove the food processor lid and add in the mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, vinegar, ground coriander, and garlic powder. Process until well combined.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.