The Chicken That Makes BBQ Pizza Taste 10x Better

BBQ chicken pizza is one of those hybrid meals that almost works better than the originals. It combines the best of both worlds with crispy chunks of saucy, smoky chicken on a crust with a few veggies, plenty of cheese, and your favorite barbecue sauce (here's our barbecue sauce ranking). Even if you get a little adventurous with a few unexpected pizza toppings, there's not much that can go wrong with BBQ chicken pizza — except that the chicken can get very dry.

Dry chicken on a BBQ pizza isn't a deal-breaker, it's just lacks flavor and makes the whole pizza feel a bit more like cardboard than a gourmet twist on two classic dishes. There's an easy fix for dry chicken chunks on a BBQ pizza, though. Choose chicken thighs for pizza for juicier meat that keeps its flavor and texture during the cooking process.

The secret to moist chicken dishes is known by chefs everywhere: choose bone-in thighs, or the whole bird, for the juiciest results. That fact was echoed by Daniel Holzman, chef/owner of Danny Boy's Famous Original Pizza in Los Angeles, who answered a few questions for us about how to build the best BBQ chicken pizza. "Most chicken toppings on pizza are double cooked; you cook it once to prepare and then you cook it again on the pizza, and thighs retain their moisture and never get mushy or mealy," Holzman said.

Holzman smokes his chicken thighs before loading up his pizza and then cooking it again. Others like to pan fry diced chicken thighs or oven cook whole thighs and shred them before putting them on their pizza. You can also throw chicken thighs on the grill before putting them on a pizza for extra flavor and texture. Daniel Holzman seasons the thighs with salt, sugar, and black pepper. "Smoke them, dice them, and toss them with barbecue sauce," he said.

The great thing about making your own BBQ chicken pizza is you can load it up with whatever toppings you want — even pineapple. Add a few other seasonings like dried herbs or one of the blends from the highly rated Smokehouse spice set to give your chicken more flavor. Then smother those chicken thighs in barbecue sauce and add them to your pizza along with red onions and scallions. You could also add bacon, corn, green bell peppers, jalapenos, and fresh garnishes like avocado. Plus, you can experiment with different cheese combinations, like mozzarella and smoked gouda, Parmesan, or even some ricotta for texture. Holzman also tops BBQ chicken pizza with cilantro. "Fried shallots are another great topping for an unexpected crispy crunch and salty finish," he added.