If you love pizzas, you will love this buffalo chicken pizza. Homemade buffalo rub, spiced up sauce on a ranch slathered thin crust pizza.
Update April 2020: The original recipe went live in September 2012. I updated the post with some more recent pictures and a printable recipe. The post now has the old photos and the new ones both.
This is the first time I am posting with Group B for the Secret Recipe Club.
I had to change my SRC group from A to B since Group A’s posting day clashes with the Recipe Swap’s posting day, ever since the Recipe Swap started posting the first Monday of the month. I loved Group A and the bloggers I had got to know, but I am sure Group B will be as much fun. Atleast, the first month has been. 🙂
For my first Group B assignment I got Ashley’s Kitchen Meets Girl.
When I read this in her “about me” section I could so relate to her:
Interestingly enough, I didn’t grow up with an interest in cooking […] I don’t know how or when, but somewhere along the line, that changed. Look at me—I’m writing a food blog. Craziness.
Since I was traveling for the last two weeks and also because the mail with my assignment probably went to my spam folder, I only got to know my Group B assignment a week before the reveal date. But one look at Ashley’s blog and I knew I wouldn’t pass up this opportunity of cooking through her recipes.
Â
I bookmarked quite a few of her recipes but finally chose her buffalo chicken pizza to try.
Someone who reads this space regularly would probably know our little town hardly has any options of eating out. There is a motel which serves american and mexican food. There is another restaurant where we hardly go to because it doesn’t have any vegetarian options. There is the chinese place from where I have eaten twice and have got food poisoning both times. There is the bowling alley that serves food, but besides their grilled chicken sandwich I am not a fan of the food (and believe me I am not a picky eater when it’s someone else who has cooked the food). There is a new place that has opened and though the food is good, the service is horrible- with mixed up orders, a long wait and servers not aware of their whole menu.
And well, don’t get me started on the Pizza. It’s not bad and generally the only option we have when we (actually I) don’t feel like cooking, but it’s not the best either. There is no thin crust! Just the the thick crust variety of pizza, which I am not a fan of.
So when I saw Ashley’s buffalo chicken pizza recipe it was a great push for me to take off my lazy pants and make my favorite Pizza dough recipe from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice
Since I could not find Frank’s red hot in our grocery store, I replaced it with Sriracha sauce which is also made of sundried red chiles, with more or less the same ingredients as Frank’s red hot sauce. Also, I made my own dry buffalo rub using the recipes I found here and here.
Update on April 29th, 2020: Instead of sriracha, a better substitute would be this recipe, along with some butter.
I also tripled the recipe since the pizza dough recipe I have makes about 6 6-ounce pizzas, and since I knew from the sound of the recipe it would be great, I knew tripling the recipe would be a smart move. And of course, it was.
- 4½ cups (20.25 ounces/ 574 grams) unbleached high-gluten, bread, or all-purpose flour, chilled
- 1¾ teaspoons teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- ¼ cup (2 ounces/57 grams) olive oil (optional)
- 1¾ cups (14 ounces/400 grams) water, ice cold (40°F)
- Semolina flour OR cornmeal for dusting
- 3 boneless chicken breasts (I used boneless breast strips, total weighing 852gms)
- buffalo rub (recipe follows)
- 14 ounce jar (1½ cups) pizza sauce (you can use homemade - I have a recipe for roasted tomato pizza sauce on the blog- that works great)
- 5 tbsp butter
- 6-8 tbsp Frank's Red Hot, buffalo-style ( you can make your own with some cayenne pepper, vinegar, garlic, salt and butter, and while sriracha is not the prefect substitute if thats what you have you can use that)
- Ranch or blue cheese dressing to spread on pizza (for each pizza I used about 4 tbsp ranch dressing)
- Mozzarella cheese, you can put as much or as little as you want
- green onions, thinly sliced (you can also used red onions- I like to use a mix of both)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp roasted ground cumin
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground mustard powder ( I used 1 tsp yellow mustard as I didn't have ground mustard powder)
- 2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp sage
- ¼ tsp parsley
- ¼ tsp thyme
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp fresh garlic clives, minced
- 1 tbsp habanero peppers, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp oil
- Stir together the flour with the water. Mix it well till combined and leave covered for 30 minutes. This is called an autolyse, and helps in kneading later.
- Add in the yeast and knead the dough to get it well incorporated. Add in the yeast and again knead to get it well incorporated.
- Stir in the oil until it is all absorbed (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment, switching to the dough hook once ingredients are evenly distributed). Knead for 5 to 7 minutes, or as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet and doesn't come off the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in some more flour just until it clears the sides. If it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a tea- spoon or two of cold water. The finished dough will be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50 to 55F.
- Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Prepare a sheet pan by lining it with baking parchment and misting the parchment with spray oil (or lightly oil the parchment). Using a metal dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces of about 6 ounce (150 grams) each or larger if you are comfortable shaping large pizzas. You can dip the scraper into the water between cuts to keep the dough from sticking to it. Sprinkle flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Lift each piece and gently round it into a ball. If the dough sticks to your hands, dip your hands into the flour again. Transfer the dough balls to the sheet pan. Mist the dough generously with spray oil and slip the pan into a food-grade plastic bag.
- Put the pan into the refrigerator overnight to rest the dough, or keep for up to 3 days. (Note: If you want to save some of the dough for future baking, you can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag. Dip each dough ball into a bowl that has a few tablespoons of oil in it, rolling the dough in the oil, and then put each ball into a separate bag. You can place the bags into the freezer for up to 3 months. Transfer them to the refrigerator the day before you plan to make pizza.)
- On the day you plan to make the pizza, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before making the pizza. Before letting the dough rest at room temperature for 2 hours, dust the counter with flour, and then mist the counter with spray oil. Place the dough balls on top of the floured counter and sprinkle them with flour; dust your hands with flour. Gently press the dough into flat disks about ½ inch thick and 5 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil, and cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag. Now let rest for 2 hours. Marinate the chicken while the dough is resting.
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the buffalo rub. Add in the chicken strips and coat all over. Let sit in the refrigerator for and hour. You can do this when you take the pizza dough out of the refrigerator and let sit on the counter for 2 hours.
- Grill chicken over medium heat for 4 to 7 minutes, or until temperature reaches 170 degrees. I broiled the chicken for 4-6 minutes on each side. Allow to cool slightly and chop into cubes.
- In a small saucepan, combine pizza sauce, butter and Frank's Red Hot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for approximately 15 minutes, or until sauce thickens slightly. Add in 1 tsp each onion and garlic powder. Add chicken and heat through.
- At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone either on the floor of the oven (for gas ovens), or on a rack in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven as hot as possible, up to 800F (most home ovens will go only to 500 to 550F/ 250 C, but some will go higher). If you do not have a baking stone, you can use the back of a sheet pan, and preheat the pan.
- Generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal. Make the pizzas one at a time. Dip your hands, including the backs of your hands and knuckles, and very gently lay the dough across your fists and carefully stretch it by bouncing the dough in a circular motion on your hands, carefully giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Or if you don't feel confident enough to do that, just lay it down on the floured counter and stretch it outwards with your hands. If the dough keeps springing back, let it rest for 5 to 20 minutes so the gluten can relax, and try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, though this isn't as effective as the toss method.
- When the dough is stretched out to your satisfaction (about 9 to 12 inches in diameter for a 6-ounce piece of dough), lay it on the peel or pan, making sure there is enough semolina flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide. I find putting it on a parchment paper makes it easier to transfer the pizza and remove it from the oven when ready.
- Spread Ranch/blue cheese dressing over the shaped pizza crust and top with chicken mixture, cheese and onions, remembering that the best pizzas are topped with a less-is-more philosophy.
- Slide the topped pizza onto the stone (or bake directly on the sheet pan) and close the door. Wait 2 minutes, then take a peek. If it needs to be rotated 180 degrees for even baking, do so. The pizza should take about 5 to 8 minutes to bake (mine took about 8-10 minutes to bake in a 550F preheated oven). If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone to a lower shelf before the next round. If the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone for subsequent bakes.
- Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Sprinkle with some dried parsley on top. Wait 3 to 5 minutes before slicing and serving, to allow the cheese to set slightly.
Â
Â
Â
You mentioned: “There is another restaurant where we hardly go to because it doesn’t have any vegetarian options.”… so are you or V. vegetarian? But some of your recipes involve meat, right, like this one?
Well, V is a vegetarian on Tuesdays and Saturdays- and saturdays are the days we generally go out to eat. And that place does have a chicken sandwich but since we find the bowling alley’s chicken sandwich better, we generally go there. But besides that rest everything has either bacon or beef or turkey (which V doesn’t eat- he is a really picky eater!)
Forget cooking, I was not even a foodie few years back 🙂 I love thin crust pizza and the photos are gorgeous! Will give the dough recipe a try.
Kankana recently posted..Shrimp Pulav – Guest Post at Healthful Pursuit
Oh this looks good! I made your Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies for my entry…but Toasted Coconut Ice Cream is up NEXT! Thanks for the fabulous recipes.
Min
The Bad Girl’s Kitchen
Min recently posted..Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
I love buffalo chicken ANYTHING! This just looks amazing and your photos are gorgeous! Welcome to Group B!
Camille @ Growing Up Gabel recently posted..English Muffin Bread
WOW! I’m SO glad you were assigned my blog this month so I could discover yours–your photos are just phenomenal! I’ll definitely be poking around here at your site–it’s just fabulous. So nice to “meet” you and I’m looking forward to sharing more with you in the future. Happy Monday!
Your photos are making me wish this was on our plate for dinner. Sounds fabulous! Pinned
Your photographs are outstanding – so appetizing! This buffalo chicken pizza looks amazing. Great choice!!
Shelley C recently posted..Apple Kugel
I am drooling over these photos. Beautiful!! AND YUMMY!
Jess @ Flying on Jess Fuel recently posted..Crock Pot Thai Pork with Peanut Sauce
The thin crust absolutely perfect. Hats off to you.
indugetscooking recently posted..Kozhi Nirachathu – Kerala Style Stuffed Chicken
This sounds so tasty and your pictures are great!
danielle recently posted..Secret Recipe Club – PB & J Bars
Buffalo chicken is my fave dish and to top it on a pizza – awesome squared. Oh, I’m hungry for it now, will miss it while I’m digging into my veggie meal tonight.
Vinita recently posted..Say Hello to the Bombay Duck and the Pomfret
I love Buffalo Chicken Pizza and love that you made you’re own crust. Pinning for football nights!
colleen @ Secrets from the Cookie Princess recently posted..Cookie Butter Cream Bars
I just pinned your awesome recipe! Thanks for sharing and have a great day.
Miz Helen
Miz Helen recently posted..Welsh Skillet Cakes
Okay when are you making pizza? I’m coming over and I want exactly 2 slices of this pizza. This looks SO GOOD!!
Awesome pictures too. I felt like I was looking at a professional food magazine.
Fallon recently posted..The Secret Recipe Club: Almond Butter Pretzel Truffles
Pinned. Your photos are incredible – I’m so incredibly hungry right now.
Dan recently posted..Rickard’s Cardigan: Get it While it Lasts
Thanks everyone for stopping by and for appreciating the recipe and the pics! If you do plan to make it, let me know since there is a problem with the recipe plugin I have installed and the entire recipe is not showing on the site (though it’s complete in my drafts). I will mail you the recipe while the problem is getting fixed.
Shumaila recently posted..Cherry Tomato Gratin
Hey shalu, looked up your site right now – can’t see the buffalo chicken recipe! could you email me the ingredients? Want to make this tomorrow.
Aha, i see now that you have picked up the not-displaying issue 🙂
thanks!
Hey radhika di, have updated the recipe here. Sorry there is no print it option. Still working on the problem. But the recipe is complete on the site now.
Shumaila recently posted..Cherry Tomato Gratin
Hi! Could you please tell me the brand of the pizza stone you use?
I actually don’t own a pizza stone. I used the back of my sheet pan for the pizza. I would love a pizza stone though!
WOW! This is absolutely stunning and I’m so happy to have wandered over here from foodgawker 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Kelly Senyei (Just a Taste) recently posted..Espresso Chocolate Chip Brownie Cookies
Pingback: Tuesday Temptation ~ Buffalo Chicken Edition
Pingback: Buffalo Chicken Meatball Subs | Chocolate Moosey
Pingback: Focaccia and another attempt at making a Video Tutorial | The Novice Housewife
Pingback: Buffalo Chicken Pizza | Easy Chicken Recipes
Pingback: Quick Whole Wheat Pizza Dough - The Novice Housewife
Pingback: Top 5 Leftover Rotisserie Chicken Meals Recipe - ChichiLicious.com