Cowboy BBQ Chicken Pizza
My easy Cowboy Pizza recipe includes a homemade barbecue sauce base on a homemade stuffed pizza crust that’s topped with tender chicken, green onion, and lots of melted mozzarella cheese.
Today I’m going to show you how to make a barbecue chicken pizza that will make your taste buds yodel. We like to call this Cowboy Pizza in my household but no, it has no similarity to the Cowboy Pizza at Papa Murphy’s. Instead, it includes a homemade pizza crust topped with homemade barbecue sauce, tender cooked chicken pieces tossed in more bbq sauce, green onion, and lots of melted mozzarella cheese.
Let this Cowboy Pizza recipe work for you. Don’t want to use a homemade pizza crust? Use a store-bought one instead or my stuffed pizza crust (SO good). Don’t want to use homemade barbecue sauce on the base? Substitute it for my quick homemade pizza sauce. Want to add more toppings? Go right ahead! The choice is yours.
This is a very easy barbecue chicken pizza recipe and the steps are as simple as can be. Just add the base, then the toppings, and bake your pizza. It’ll be ready in no time. So when you’re looking for a healthy takeout alternative on pizza night, I hope you give my Cowboy Pizza recipe a go. You won’t regret it!
Recipe Ingredients
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Green onions
- Barbecue sauce (I’m using my homemade recipe but you can use your favorite store-bought bbq sauce).
- Cooked chicken (I’m using rotisserie chicken)
- Pizza crust
How to Make Cowboy Pizza
This is my homemade stuffed crust pizza recipe that you can put together in a little over five minutes and is easy as can be.
Click here for the recipe with step-by-step photos.
Remove the skin and chop up about a cup or two of chicken.
You don’t need this much but I was hungry when I made this.
Add in 3-4 tablespoons of bbq sauce of your choice.
Stir that up to coat.
Spread some bbq sauce over your crust.
How much you use is up to you. Personally, I like to use about double what is shown here but I toned it down a bit for this post.
Sprinkle sauce with just a little bit of dried oregano.
And a little bit of cheese.
Add chicken.
Top with sliced green onions and more cheese.
Bake this at 400 for 20-25 minutes. Serve hot.
God Bless the Cowboys and Cowboy Pizza. Yeehaw!
Storage
Store leftover pizza in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. I recommend reheating either in the oven or air fryer as the microwave will make it quite soggy.
Recipe FAQs
What toppings are on a Papa Murphy’s Cowboy Pizza?
These are the ingredients: pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, black olives, shredded cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, and traditional red sauce.
What are some good additional pizza toppings?
Oh, the list is truly endless when it comes to pizza toppings, but here are some suggestions:
- Protein: substitute the chicken for cooked ground beef, cooked bacon bits, pepperoni, salami, pulled pork, pulled chicken, or Italian sausage.
- Veggies: add chopped red or green bell pepper, black olives, sliced , sliced mushrooms, or chopped tomato.
- Cheese: use one or a variety of different kinds of cheese, like cheddar cheese, Colby cheese, or Monterey Jack cheese.
- Herbs: use Italian seasoning instead of or serve with chopped as a garnish.
Check out these other pizza-inspired recipes:
BBQ Chicken French Bread Pizza
Barbecue Chicken Pizza, Southern-Style
Air Fryer Pizza Rolls Made From Scratch
Ingredients
- 1 pizza crust
- 1 16-ounce bottle barbecue sauce
- 1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1-2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
Instructions
- Toss chopped chicken with 4 tablespoons of barbecue sauce to lightly coat. Set aside.1 16-ounce bottle barbecue sauce, 1-2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
- Spread the remaining barbecue sauce over the pizza crust (less if you like). Sprinkle with oregano and then add half of the cheese.1 pizza crust, 1 16-ounce bottle barbecue sauce, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- Add chicken to the top of the pizza and sprinkle with the remaining cheese, followed by onions.2 green onions, chopped
- Bake in a 400-degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is lightly brown and the cheese is bubbly. If you are using a store-bought crust, follow the baking directions on the package.
- Serve warm.
Nutrition
“Not everything that counts can be counted;
and not everything that can be counted, counts.”
~ Albert Einstein, Submitted by Wayne Walker
For several years, I’ve been using Harris Teeter rotisserie chicken for the base for bbq chicken quesadillas, chicken salad, chicken casseroles, and soups. It’s a $4.99 Sunday Special, so I pick up one after church most every Sunday. Shred it up and then it’s ready for week night meals. Looking forward to trying your quick and easy cowboy pizza recipe! My hubby loves anything with BBQ sauce! I plan to grab a package of the pizza dough from the deli (frequently on sale for 99 cents, & reg price $1.99), instead of the premade. OH, YUM. Enjoying your blog, and looking forward to Becoming Conference at Ridgecrest! THANKS!
good artical for me. thank you.
BBQ Chicken Pizza!!!
Awesome- we make this once a month 🙂
We like to mix out BBQ sauce with a small can of tomato paste to make it a little thicker.
To be honest, we could call this “Leftover Pizza” because so often we use a little of this and that- leftover BBQ chicken, leftover cooked veggies like:
cooked onions, zuchinni, cooked or raw chopped peppers, fresh spinach leaves and mushrooms are the BOMB.
(You’ll find your pizza is less watery if you use pre-cooked veggies- we love lots of veg on our pies)
And one piece of this pizza is SO filling and delicious 🙂 and healthy too~
Christy there is a great lazy river her in Texas in the town of San Marcus. Talk about relaxing you sure can do it. by the way I won one of the breakfast sandwich makers and you would not believe the things I have come up to use it for. I even made whoopie pies with it by lining it with the Reynolds non stick foil. I couldn’t survive without the non stick foil especially on my lazy days when I don’t want to scrub a sticky casserole dish. One day I took sliced bread, buttered side down spread it with mashed potatoes lightly and then on the next layer put a thin slice of leftover meatloaf topped with more bread and left it to get all toasty and talk about yummy. Lucky for me the sandwich maker is so easy to clean as I am being creative with it. Gosh all mighty I love that thing!!! I bought your magazine and read it from cover to cover. Loved it!!!! I feel so blessed to have run across your site. I am so enjoying it and the recipes. Thank you Christy for a GREAT CLEAN SITE!!!! Too many now days have to get raunchy and that is a shame they forget about GOD!
WOW, you have been busy Marsha!! I love all the things you are doing with the sandwich make, thank you so much for sharing!!!
I haven’t written before but I think that the talents you have also include being able to put people at ease, patience, being a loving daughter and keeper of the family stories (love this), the list could go on and on. I am so happy for you that you have been so blessed and now to come out with your own magazine… that is awesome. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and giving people encouragement to be the best that they can be.
You can’t possibly answer that many emails. Your fans know that. Will keep you in my prayers. Hugs.
Thank you so much Rosie, your encouragement means the world to me!!
Thank you Christy! I am so grateful to you and your insight. My family is currently eating grilled chicken and the mac and cheese from your magazine! Yummy! We love it. I got your magazine (signed by the way) last Friday and have cooked from it everyday since! I can’t wait for your cookbook. Thank you for your honesty, its so nice to know that you really do read what your fans say and respond. It just makes me feel special. That sounds corny but I know you get it.
xoxox
Oh my goodness, I am so honored to hear you have been using the recipes Amanda!! Thank you so much and I am glad to hear you are enjoying the magazine!!
Thank You Christy, I love your recipes and found your magazine today on the newstand, I will subscribe to it today also. My husband was born and raised in SC and he dearly loves southern cooking, and I do try real hard to fix it for him.
I want to tell you I am learning to do hair bows too, and yours was so simple to follow, now I need for you to do more of them ……Bless you and yours, Gail