Who says pizza can’t be healthy? When we make our own pizza at home it can be really easy to add lots of healthy toppings and save on those extra calories. Today I made a BBQ Chicken Pizza with homemade BBQ sauce and homemade pizza crust. When making homemade you get to decide what ingredients to add. You are able to leave out the unhealthy stuff and pile it high with delicious, nutritious toppings. If ever you are in a time crunch you can substitute store bought ingredients in place of the homemade BBQ sauce and pizza crust.

The BBQ sauce is a really easy recipe, and great to home-make so you don’t get all the yucky preservatives and extra additives they put in the store bought stuff. This is also great for when you’re in a pinch and may not have a bottle of BBQ Sauce on hand.

Assemble all the ingredients and place them into a food processor. I used Tapatio for the “red hot sauce”. You can also use Tabasco for a slightly different flavor. This recipe will make about 2 cups of BBQ Sauce.

Next comes the Homemade Pizza Crust. This is a really easy recipe but, again, if you’re in a time crunch you can buy a pre-made pizza crust from the store.

Combine the yeast and warm water until it’s foamy, it takes about 5 minutes.

Add in the oil, honey and salt to the yeast bowl.

Start adding flour 1 cup at a time. You can either mix it by hand or with a food processor. Mix all 3 cups of flour then add 1/4 C at a time until the dough feels soft and not wet. Knead on a floured surface for about 6 minutes, or until it’s firm to the touch.

Grease your cookie sheet or pizza pan and start rolling out the dough. Let the dough sit for about 10 minutes while you assemble all the toppings.

Cook the chicken in bbq sauce and set aside.

Spread olive oil on the crust then bbq sauce and garlic. Top with the rest of the ingredients (more or less, depending on your preference). Bake at 500 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until the crust is starting to brown.

Enjoy!

Candi Merritt

Certified Nutrition Education Ambassador