Chicken Pesto Pizza
Homemade chicken pesto pizza starts with your favorite pizza crust and is topped with tender chunks of chicken, prepared pesto, and fresh veggies.
Pesto pizza is one of our favorite things to order at pizza places and we've tried countless variations of it over the years.
This absolutely incredible chicken pesto pizza is based on our all-time favorite discovered during our college tour of Virginia Tech of all places!
Tender chunks of chicken on top of a delicious pesto-base pizza with crispy red bell peppers and spicy red onions on top. YUM!! We couldn't stop thinking about it until we made it at home.
Why This is the Best Recipe
We love making homemade pizzas of all kinds, I'm pretty sure this is the best chicken pesto pizza recipe because:
- Perfect Crust: Use my homemade bread maker pizza dough for perfect results. In a time crunch?? No problem. Check out my easy substitutions.
- Prepared Pesto: You could make your own pesto from scratch but the Kirkland-brand basil pesto from Costco is ah-maz-ing and is the perfect shortcut.
- Fresh Veggies: The final touch is the crispy veggies we added to the top of the pizza. They add a fun pop of color and so much flavor.
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Ingredients
Making this easy homemade pizza involves several simple short cuts:
- Pizza Dough: I encourage you to try my bread maker pizza dough. It's easy and bakes up so well. However, you could use a store bought ball of pizza dough, a can of pizza dough from the refrigerated section of the store, or a prepared pizza crust or naan bread.
- Pesto Sauce: As I mentioned, I always have a Costco jar of pesto in our fridge. YUM. This pesto tortellini is the perfect dinner for shopping day.
- Sliced Provolone Cheese and Shredded Mozzarella: I use both of these cheeses for the perfect melty topping.
- Cooked Chicken: There are several options for the chicken. See my notes below.
- Red Bell Pepper
- Red Onion
- Olive Oil
Best Chicken for Pizza
There are several great options for the cooked chicken on top of the pizza:
- Cooked Chicken Breasts: Make a batch of my air fryer chicken breasts seasoned with Italian herb or Mediterranean seasoning. You could also bake chicken breasts in the oven if you prefer. I keep bags of it in my freezer for pizza night!
- Cooked Chicken Tenderloins: My air fryer chicken tenderloins recipe works the same way.
- Shredded Chicken: You could use homemade Instant Pot shredded chicken or grab a rotisserie chicken from the store.
Assemble the Pizza
You can read my really detailed instructions on how to roll pizza dough and bake a pizza crust in the oven here.
But for the quick explanation, start by rolling out your crust and transfering it to a piece of parchment paper.
Brush olive oil around the edge of the crust and then spread the pesto all over the center of the dough.
Tear the provolone into large chunks and scatter it over the top.
Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella over the top. Then add the chunks of cooked chicken, diced red pepper, and diced red onion to the top.
It helps to sprinkle a little more mozzarella over the top as the last step. When it melts, it holds the toppings in place.
Bake the Pizza
Place a pizza stone in the center of your oven and then preheat the oven to 450°F for at least 30 minutes.
Use the parchment paper to slide the pizza onto the baking stone.
Bake the pizza for 10 - 12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the toppings are nice and bubbly hot.
Serving Suggestions
To round out your pizza night menu, you could serve this delicious chicken pesto pizza with a simple garden salad on the side.
Use my same pizza dough to make homemade cheese sticks like my copycat Pokey sticks. Or pull a loaf of homemade garlic bread from the freezer and pop it in the oven.
More Pizza Recipes
Once you know how to make a homemade pizza or flatbread using naan breads, you'll want to try other delicious flavors. Here are a few of my family's favorites:
📖 Recipe
Chicken Pesto Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 ball of pizza dough homemade or store bought, see notes for alternatives
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup prepared pesto
- 2 slices provolone cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 1/2 cup chopped cooked chicken from a cooked chicken breast or rotisserie chicken
Instructions
- Place a pizza stone on the center rack of your oven and preheat it to 450°F for at least 30 min.
- Meanwhile, prepare the pizza. Roll your pizza dough out to a 12-inch circle and transfer it to a piece of parchment paper.
- Brush a tablespoon of olive oil around the center edge of the dough to help the crust brown.
- Spread the pesto sauce over the middle of the pizza.
- Rip the provolone cheese into small portions and scatter them over the top of the pizza.
- Sprinkle half the shredded cheese over the top and sprinkle the red bell peppers and red onions evenly over the top.
- Scatter the chicken chunks over the top and then cover with the remaining shredded cheese.
- Slide the pizza on the parchment onto a metal baking pan. Use the pan to transfer the pizza to the hot stone in the oven. Carefully slide the parchment onto the stone directly and remove the metal pan.
- Bake the pizza for 10 - 12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown, the cheese has melted and the pizza is nice and bubbling.
- Carefully tug on the parchment paper to slide the pizza off the stone and onto the metal pan for bringing the pizza out of the oven. Let cool briefly, slice and serve warm.
Recipe Notes
Substitutions for Pizza Dough:
If you don't want to use a ball of pizza dough, you could substitute:- a can of roll-out pizza dough, like Pillsbury (just follow the package directions for baking)
- a prepared pizza crust, like Boboli
- a package of naan breads and make two smaller flatbreads
- a frozen French bread split open for French bread pizzas
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