Chicken Taco Pizza

Today I share with you a favorite in our household, Chicken Taco Pizza! 

This can be made baked or grilled, but grilled is our favorite. 

This is a light and simple pizza, but surprisingly flavorful!

The toppings;
Taco Chicken (recipe below)
Black beans, rinsed and drained
Corn, rinsed and drained
Mozzarella
Chopped Avocado
Cilantro Ranch (recipe below)


First the dough is oh so important. In 2012 I hunted for the perfect thin crust recipe and I think this one is it! And the beauty of it is it needs only very minimal raise time! This recipe can be a little tricky to get the proper airiness to it - but once you get the hang of it this will be your favorite quick thin crust recipe!

Here's all you need;

For the crust;
1/2 cup warm water - about room temp
1 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/3 cup flour 
1 tablespoon olive oil 

Combine yeast and warm water - whisk with a fork until yeast is dissolved. 
Next add 1 cup flour and salt. Mix with fork until combined. Knead in remaining flour until you have a nice ball of dough that you can touch without it sticking to your hands. Be careful not to over-knead, it should feel fairly light and airy. Coat dough with olive oil, cover with a dry towel and allow to rise 20-30 minutes. 

Taco Chicken
1 cup (about 2 breasts) Shredded Chicken
1/3 cup ranch dressing
2 tablespoons Taco seasoning

Mix above ingredients together in a bowl. This is how much chicken I make for 2-3 pizzas.  

That's it. 
Easy, right? We make this all the time for other meals, it is so easy and yummy! And don't tell me you are buying canned chicken. Stop! You know the easy trick for shredded chicken, right? Just boil the chicken, throw it in your Kitchen Aid mixer with the paddle attachment and "mix" until desired shredded-ness! It's almost too simple! 

Cilantro Ranch
3 tablespoons ranch dressing mix (pictured below)
1 cup mayo
1 cup milk
1 bunch fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno (optional)

Toss everything into a blender and blend till combined and cilantro and jalapeno is well chopped. I make this recipe all the time so I bought this big thing of dressing mix from Walmart rather than the little packets. I keep left overs in the fridge for about 7-10 days.

To make the pizza;

Baked
When you are ready to make your pizza, if you are baking, I like to roll it out super, super thin on a pizza stone. Top with everything but the avocado and cilantro ranch, bake at 500 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Once baked, top with avocado and drizzle with cilantro ranch.

Grilled 
If you are grilling it I just use my hands to spread it out, as rolling it tends to make it too thin and it will fall through the grill rack. Dave usually starts grilling the dough once the grill reaches 350 degrees, and it takes about 7-10 minutes per side. Obviously the longer he cooks, the hotter the grill gets and the less time is needed. We use a charcoal grill - so you may need to adjust the time depending on your grill. 
Once one side is done, add your toppings, everything but the avocado and cilantro ranch and leave it until the cheese is melted. Grilling it can be tricky! But once you get the hang of it, you will never want to go back! 

Enjoy!