Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza
Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza Recipe: Easy to make & a real crowd-pleaser! Tender chicken, smoky bacon, & tangy ranch all on a chewy crust!
I have two teenage boys, and they both love junk food!
I try to make it homemade for them whenever possible, and pizza is an easy one to do!
My younger guy likes good ol’ pepperoni pizza, but my older one is a chicken bacon ranch pizza fiend!
So I always make 2 at a time. One traditional with tomato sauce and pep, and one chicken bacon ranch pizza recipe for the older one.
It’s one of the quickest dinner recipes I make, especially if the dough is already made. You just shape it, top it, and bake it, and you have a hot meal on the table in just a few minutes.
This is important when you have a busy family life! My kids are always going off in different directions for school activities, sports, jobs, and their social lives, so I always like to have meals that prep and keep easily.
Check out my poutine, homemade chicken cheesesteaks, and coconut shrimp recipes for more quick and easy meals that the kiddos will love!
Table of Contents
- What is chicken bacon ranch pizza?
- Why this is the best chicken bacon ranch pizza recipe
- What does bacon chicken ranch pizza taste like?
- Ingredients
- Special equipment
- How to make chicken bacon ranch pizza
- How to serve Cali chicken bacon ranch pizza
- Expert tips
- Frequently asked questions
- A few more of my best chicken recipes
What is chicken bacon ranch pizza?
This recipe is for a white pizza, so instead of tomato sauce there is just ranch dressing and mozzarella cheese.
There’s also meaty chunks of chicken and smoky, salty bacon.
Why this is the best chicken bacon ranch pizza recipe
- Tastes amazing: You get the perfect balance of chicken, bacon, ranch dressing, cheese, and chewy crust.
- Few ingredients: It only takes 5 ingredients to make this recipe.
- Easy to make: With only a few minutes of prep and no more than 10 minutes in the oven, you’ll have dinner on the table in no-time flat!
- Kids love it: It tastes like junk food but it’s homemade so you know it’s better for them!
What does bacon chicken ranch pizza taste like?
This easy meal has a mild taste from the milky mozzarella and roasted chicken, but it’s spiked with moments of crispy, smoky bacon and tangy ranch dressing. The ranch has loads of different herbs and spices in a creamy, buttermilk base, so it adds a lot of interesting complexity!
Ingredients
Dough: For what you see here, I’ve used my best pizza dough recipe. It makes enough for 2 large pizzas, and I just added 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder for an added boost of savory flavor. The recipe is made in just a few minutes, but if you don’t have time store-bought pizza dough will work great too.
Ranch: A few good squirts of ranch salad dressing add a unique creamy yet tangy flavor to this pizza recipe.
Chicken: I’ve used picked rotisserie chicken from my supermarket’s deli section, but you could also just season a boneless, skinless breast with about 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, and a pinch of ground black pepper, and roast it in the oven at 425 degrees F until it registers an internal temperature of 165 degrees F (approx. 25 minutes). Allow it to rest until cool enough to handle, then shred it into bite-sized bits with your hands or two forks.
Cheese: I like shredded, part-skim mozzarella cheese, but you can sub in whatever kind you prefer.
Bacon: Cooked bacon gets crumbled over the pizza for an intense hit of savory flavor and a nice crunchy bite.
Special equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons: Follow my guide on how to measure ingredients.
- Extra flour: To keep the dough from sticking to your hands
- Pizza pan: Really you can use any kind and any size! It’s just a matter of how thick or thin you’ll shape the dough. But for reference, I’ve used a 16-inch nonstick perforated pizza pan.
How to make chicken bacon ranch pizza
This homemade chicken bacon ranch pizza comes together in 3 easy steps.
Step 1: Stretch the dough
Flour the dough and your hands, and stretch the dough to an even thickness over the pan.
You can make your pizza as thin or as thick as you like! We like it on the thinner side, unless we’re making Detroit-style pizza.
Step 2: Add toppings
I like to start with a thin layer of ranch. Use the back of the spoon to spread it all over, leaving about a 1-inch margin around the edges.
Then, add on the cooked chicken.
And a heaping handful of mozzarella.
Next, crumble on the bacon.
And then I like to add another handful of cheese. As it melts down, it keeps the chicken and bacon in place.
Step 3: Bake
This will go into a very hot oven to bake. I like to set mine as high as it will go, which is 500-degrees F.
If yours can go even hotter, then do it! The pizza ovens in shops are sometimes as much as 800-degrees F!
Just flip the light on and watch it as it bakes. I like to take mine out just as soon as the cheese is starting to go golden-brown in spots.
How to serve Cali chicken bacon ranch pizza
Once it’s to the doneness you prefer, take the pizza out of the oven and move it to a cutting board for slicing.
Use a sharp kitchen knife or pizza cutter to slice it into individual portions.
Then, if you like, drizzle another good squirt of ranch on top, and garnish with fresh sliced scallions. These will add a hit of creaminess and fresh flavor.
This chicken bacon ranch pizza is best enjoyed hot from the oven, and you can have it for lunch, dinner, or a snack.
To round out the meal, I’d suggest serving it alongside a nice salad, for added nutrition and fiber. My spinach salad, fall salad, or Cobb salad are all great choices!
For dessert, you can’t go wrong with ice cream!
Expert tips
Use a rolling pin: Not many of us have the skill to flip and spin pizza dough over our heads like a pizzaolo! If you struggle to stretch the dough, don’t be afraid to take a little help from the rolling pin. Just flour your clean worksurface well to avoid sticking, and roll the dough out into a wide circle before transferring it to the pizza pan.
Cover the ranch: Ranch dressing burns really quickly in the oven, so make sure you cover it well with toppings to protect it.
Undercook the bacon: It’s not a bad idea to slightly undercook the bacon before adding it to the pizza. This way you know it won’t burn when it goes into the oven.
Keep a close eye: Pizza cooks really fast! Many times it’s done in less than 10 minutes. If you walk away, it could burn. Flip the oven light on as it bakes so you can keep a close eye on it, and pull it out just as soon as it’s to your desired doneness. For me, that means the edges and bottom have browned but the cheese is still mostly pale but definitely melty!
Frequently asked questions
This recipe is not, but you can make gluten-free chicken bacon ranch pizza by using your favorite gluten-free pizza dough, or a homemade pizza dough made with a gluten-free flour blend.
You can also make vegan chicken bacon ranch pizza with vegan ranch, vegan chicken, vegan bacon, and vegan cheese.
Absolutely! Pizza dough will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for 2 weeks.
You can make overnight chicken bacon ranch pizza by stretching and topping the dough, then covering it lightly with plastic wrap and chilling it in the fridge for up to 48 hours.
When you’re ready to eat, remove it from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature before baking it off.
If you have any leftovers, slip them into a freezer bag and keep them in the fridge or freezer.
They should last for a few days in the fridge or a few months in the freezer.
Thaw in the fridge and reheat in the microwave for about 20 seconds on 100% power, or wrapped lightly in foil for about 15 minutes at 275 degrees F, or until warmed through.
This recipe makes a 14-inch, thin-crust pizza that easily cuts into 6 equal slices.
The nutritional info given in the recipe card below is for 1 slice, and it doesn’t count the extra squirt of ranch.
A few more of my best chicken recipes
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Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza
Ingredients
- 1/2 batch (195.5 g) pizza dough, or one ball of store-bought pizza dough
- 1/4 cup (60 g) ranch dressing, plus extra for garnish
- 1/2 cup (70 g) cooked chicken, shredded or chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) shredded mozzarella, divided
- 6 slices (48 g) cooked bacon
- 2 (24 g) scallions, thinly sliced (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Dust the dough and your hands with flour to prevent sticking, and stretch the dough to an even thinness over a pizza pan.
- Spread the ranch dressing over the unbaked crust in a thin layer, leaving about a 1-inch margin around the edges.
- Top with the cooked chicken.
- Sprinkle on about 2/3 of the mozzarella cheese.
- Crumble the bacon over the cheese, then top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake to desired doneness (I like the edges and cheese browned in some spots. In my oven this takes around 8 to 12 minutes.)
- Transfer to a cutting board, slice, and garnish with more ranch and scallions, if desired.
