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 a 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.

First off, the BBQ Sauce, this 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.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

¼ Onion, diced

¼ cup Worcestershire Sauce

¼ cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1 ½ Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp Red Hot Sauce

½ Tbsp Yellow Mustard

1 (6 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 Tbsp garlic, minced

¼ cup water

Blend all the ingredients in food processor or blender until smooth.

 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 according to the directions on your pizza recipe.

Homemade Pizza Dough

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 tablespoon honey

1 cup warm (105-115 degrees) water

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour or half all-purpose and half whole wheat

Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl, cover and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. Mix the oil, honey, salt, and yeast mixture in a large mixing bowl. If using a food processor, add 1 cup of flour at a time, up to 3 cups, mixing well after each addition. You may have to stir in the third cup of flour by hand, depending on your machine. Or mix in all 3 cups of flour by hand with a wooden spoon. If the dough seems too wet, mix in more flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough is soft. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead in more flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough is moderately stiff and somewhat firm to the touch, about 6 minutes. Lightly grease pizza pan(s) or a cookie sheet(s) with oil. If you are making two or more thin-crust pizzas, divide the dough. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a floured surface. Gently stretch the dough to fill the pan(s). Let the dough rise (it will not rise vey much) while you make sauce and continue with the pizza recipe of your choice

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.

 – Candi