Want to make your own Chicken, Bacon, and Ranch pizza at home? The recipe is simple—and the results are tastier than take-out.
The Ingredients
Here's what you need, and why each ingredient earned its place in the recipe.
- Chicken—I use chicken thighs because they have a deeper flavor and can withstand high-heat cooking without drying out.
- Bacon—Regular, thin-cut bacon is perfect here. Though I usually opt for thick-cut, it might crowd out the chicken and won't crisp up as well. Plus, I like the mix of different textures: chewy chicken cubes, thin bacon strips, juicy tomato slivers, and creamy ranch and cheese.
- Ranch dressing—Use the version you like the most, whether that's store-bought or homemade. My top-three favorites are Ken's, Hidden Valley, and Briannas.
- Cheese—Low-moisture mozzarella is the best choice because it won't add extra liquid to the pizza as it bakes . . . and there's plenty of that already in the dressing and tomatoes. Also, its mild flavor serves as a bridge between all the different ingredients.
- Tomatoes—In any dish as rich as this one, you need some acid for balance! Cherry tomatoes are perfect for this function, brightening up the finished pizza, both in taste and in appearance.
- Garnish—A mix of scallion and fresh dill sprinkled on after baking bring contrasting texture and a pop of color—and amplify the herbaceousness of ranch dressing.
Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Pizza Method
- Cook your proteins. Chop up the bacon and cook until it's fully opaque and just beginning to brown in little spots; pour the grease into a small ramekin. Season and grill the chicken thighs for 3 to 4 minutes per side, then chop them into bite-size pieces.
- Prep the other ingredients. Shred the cheese. Slice the scallions. Chop the tomatoes and dill.
- Top. Stretch or roll out a ball of pizza dough. Brush it with a little bacon grease, spoon on the ranch dressing, and spread it out evenly. Add half of the cheese, then the chicken, bacon, tomatoes, and the remaining cheese.
- Bake. Bake until the cheese is browned in spots, the crust is golden, and the underside is browned all the way across.
- Garnish, slice, and serve. Take the pizza out of the oven. Sprinkle it with the scallion and dill, cut it into slices, and serve with a bottle of your favorite hot sauce.
Variation Tip
Feel free to leave out tomatoes if you're not a fan, but make sure you swap in something acidic in their place. Between the ranch dressing, cheese, and bacon, there's a lot of richness here! Pickled jalapeño slices or a drizzle of hot sauce after baking should do the trick.
Chicken, Bacon, and Ranch Pizza
Grilled chicken thighs, fresh tomato, and a scallion-dill garnish make this a brighter, more balanced version of the pizzeria favorite. I use bottled ranch dressing, but go ahead and use homemade if you have a favorite recipe!
Makes: 1 (12- to 14-inch) pizza
Cost: $15
Equipment
- Grill pan, grill, or cast-iron skillet
- Nonstick skillet
- Cutting board and knife
- Large rimmed baking sheet or baking stone/steel
- Pizza peel (optional)
- pastry brush
Ingredients
- 3 or 4 strips bacon, sliced ¼ to ½ inch thick
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (½ pound total), excess fat removed
- ½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ to ½ cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 small scallion
- Handful fresh dill
- 1 (14- to 16-ounce) ball pizza dough (at room temperature)
- ½ to ⅔ cup ranch dressing
- 1½ cups freshly shredded low-moisture mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500°F (if using a baking sheet) or as high as it will go (if using a baking stone/steel; place the stone in the middle or place the steel in the bottom third of the oven before you start preheating). Let the oven preheat for about 30 minutes. Then, if you’re using a baking stone or steel, switch the oven to Broil on high.
- Put a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Wait about 2 minutes, then add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat renders and the bacon is cooked through and just beginning to brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel–lined plate and pour the grease into a small ramekin.
- Place a grill pan or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat or fire up your outdoor grill. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, olive oil, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Smush everything together with your hands until both chicken thighs are evenly coated, then lay them on the grill pan or grill and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, just until the chicken is no longer pink in the middle. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and cut it into bite-size pieces.
- Put the tomatoes on a cutting board and chop them into little pieces, then transfer to a small ramekin, leaving their juices and seeds behind on the board.
- Discard the root end and thinly slice the scallion. Finely chop the dill (you’re going for about 1 tablespoon). Put both in a small bowl and mix them together.
- Stretch or roll out your dough to a 12- to 14-inch circle, then transfer it to a baking sheet / pizza pan or a lightly floured pizza peel (if using a baking stone/steel).
- Brush the stretched- or rolled-out dough with 1 teaspoon of the reserved bacon grease, making sure to get it all the way to the edges. Pour the ranch dressing onto the dough and spread it out with a rubber spatula or pastry brush. Next in this order, add half of the cheese, the chicken, bacon, and tomatoes. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over top.
- Transfer the pizza to the oven and bake until the crust is evenly browned across the bottom and the cheese and toppings have browned in spots—8 or 9 minutes on the baking sheet, 5 to 8 minutes on the baking stone/steel.
- Take the pizza out of the oven, let it cool down for 5 minutes or so, then sprinkle with the scallion-dill garnish. Slice and serve.
Love pizzeria classics? Add these to your list, too:
Leave a Reply