If you have some buffalo sauce, leftover shredded chicken, and some pizza dough, then you have to try this Buffalo Chicken Pizza recipe, which will change how you make pizzas.

I didn’t have any buffalo sauce on hand, so I even tried to make it at home, which is SO EASY, especially if you have hot sauce in your pantry.

Making buffalo sauce was easy, and once I did that, all I had to do was cook some chicken breast pieces, or you could even shred some leftover rotisserie chicken and some mozzarella cheese.

This recipe is very easy and comes together in a few minutes. I love to make this on a lazy weeknight when I do not have time to cook anything that takes a long time to prepare.

Just cook some chicken breasts, shred it and then take out your leftover pizza dough and make this scrumptious buffalo chicken pizza recipe.

Ingredients and Variations

1. Pizza Dough- You can use leftover pizza dough or buy pizza dough balls separately. You can also make homemade pizza dough, check out this Bobby Flay’s pizza dough recipe.
I love Bobby’s recipe because it is an easy, quick pizza dough recipe that gets ready within a few minutes.
If you want it to make it rise faster, then add a bit more instant yeast to the pizza dough(by a bit more, I mean 1-2 grams more than recommended in the recipe).
Within an hour, the Bobby Flay’s Pizza dough would be ready. You can also use crescent rolls, Pillsbury pizza dough, or any other canned pizza dough for the recipe.

2. Buffalo Sauce- I have made buffalo sauce at home for this recipe, which is quick and easy to make.
I have used honey in the buffalo sauce recipe I share, but you can skip it if you want a hot buffalo sauce. You can use the same buffalo sauce on chicken wings or as an appetizer dip.
I’m using Buffalo sauce instead of pizza sauce for this recipe, so the honey really adds a nice touch to the pizza.
If you want, you can use pizza sauce and then toss the shredded chicken in buffalo sauce and use it as a topping; the choice is yours.

3. Shredded Chicken—I used shredded chicken for this recipe as it is easy to spread it on a pizza, so that you get a bit of the juicy chicken in every bite.
Shredded chicken absorbs all the sauce flavors, giving you the best bite. Another possibility is- cut the chicken into cubes, cook it in buffalo sauce, and then top it up on the pizza.
Then, use regular pizza sauce and add chicken sauteed in buffalo sauce as a topping.
There are different ways to incorporate buffalo sauce, and the choice is yours. I spread the buffalo sauce on the pizza and added plain shredded chicken and cheese.

4. Onions and other toppings(Optional)- This is an optional step, but since I was extremely tired while making this Buffalo Chicken Pizza Recipe, I just couldn’t waste any more time and hence skipped adding other toppings.
However, feel free to add thinly sliced onions, olives, and jalapenos(I never add this as I do not like it) and make the pizza even better.
I would add onions and corn, maybe as a topping, or onions and olives the next time I make this recipe; let me know in the comments other variations that might go well with this pizza.
The most popular toppings are blue cheese dressing and ranch, which go well with this pizza. I skipped them while making this recipe, but you can add them if you like them.

5. Mozzarella Cheese—Classic Mozzarella cheese is another essential ingredient. Top the pizza with it.
If you want, add a cheese blend or dollops of cream cheese here and there on the pizza and then top it with mozzarella to get a nice cheesy surprise in every bite.
You can make different variations with cheese on top of your pizza, but I have limited myself to mozzarella cheese in this recipe.
The most popular cheese toppings are blue cheese dressing and ranch, which go well with this pizza. I skipped them while making this recipe, but you can add them if you like them.

How to work with the Pizza Dough?

Since you can use leftover pizza dough, there are different ways to use refrigerated or frozen pizza dough.

Refrigerated Pizza Dough- If you have refrigerated pizza dough, take it out and ensure it returns to room temperature. After it reaches room temperature, let it rise for an hour, and then you can stretch it.
I usually let it get to room temperature and then wait an additional hour or two so the yeast can get activated and create more gases inside the dough making the crust more airy.

Frozen Pizza Dough- Frozen pizza dough needs to be thawed in the fridge for about a few hours let’s say 8 hours to overnight.
Then you take out the pizza dough and make sure that it reaches room temperature and let it rise for an additional hour after it reaches room temperature and start stretching.

Room-temperature Pizza Dough—If you are using pizza dough that is already at room temperature, you can start by stretching it and then layering it with buffalo sauce, toppings, and cheese.

Tips on how to get it right!

1. For this recipe, use regular pizza sauce made with tomatoes or buffalo sauce can be the pizza sauce substitute. Do not mix both, as that would not taste good. Also, do not spread too much pizza sauce; depending on the pizza size, you should not use more than 2-3 tbsps of pizza sauce for an 8-inch pizza.

2. Do not overload the pizza with excessive toppings; just make sure you spread out a thin, even layer of the toppings on the pizza, and if the toppings get too heavy, it can make the pizza soggy, so be careful about it.

3. When cooking the pizza, make sure you preheat the oven. This makes a huge difference when you are cooking a pizza. Preheating helps cook the pizza at a higher temperature much faster and you are not going to wait for the oven to get to the desired temperature and then cooking the pizza.

How to make the Shredded Chicken?

I had to make shredded chicken for this recipe as I had no leftover chicken. So, I thawed 3-4 small pieces of chicken breasts(I diced them up and stored them in the fridge), seasoned them with some salt and pepper, and cooked them in a pan.

I cooked them on the pan, added one tbsp of water, and cooked both sides for 10-12 minutes. I added the water so the chicken remains juicy and wont be stiff and rubbery while being cooked.

At what temperature and for how long do you cook the pizza?

I cooked the pizza on a cast iron pan first to crisp the bottom before preheating the oven to 200°C.

This time really depends on the stove you use, so you need to test this out to find the exact amount. However, it should not take you more than ten minutes.

Next, you take the pan and cook it inside the oven using the Broiler method. In this method, you place the pizza extremely close to the heating element so that the top of the pizza cooks faster.

I preheat my oven to 200°C for 20 minutes and then cook the pizza inside it for 10-15 minutes using the broiler method.

Cooking with Pizza Stone

If you have a pizza stone you can place that in the oven and preheat the oven with the pizza stone.

This way the pizza stone gets extremely hot, and you can then cook your pizza on top of it and use a baking sheet or pizza peel to transfer the pizza onto the pizza stone.

Bake it then using the same broiler method for 10-15 minutes at the highest temperature your oven can reach.

Can you freeze Buffalo Chicken Pizza?

If you have leftover Buffalo chicken pizza, then make sure that you store the slices in the freezer. I usually wrap individual pizza slices in aluminum foil and store them in the freezer.

If you have air-tight containers, then you can store pizza slices inside these air-tight containers as well. Use parchment paper between each slice so they do not freeze together, making it easier to remove these slices.

When I want to reheat the slices, I pop them in the air fryer at 200°C for 4-6 minutes. You can reheat the slices in the oven as well at 200°C; it just takes longer, like 10-15 minutes.