Pizza night is a weekly occasion at my house. Thankfully all of my children and my husband love pizza as much as I do, which gives me a good excuse to have it every week and take some of the guesswork out of meal prepping. Since we have started using sourdough pizza crust (with discard), we have never gone back to any other pizza crust and certainly don’t feel the need to buy takeout pizza anymore! We often have bacon and pepperoni pizza, but I also like to switch it up with this tasty chicken bacon Ranch pizza using fried chicken breast. Feel free to use whatever chicken you have on hand, but my recommendation is to use the fried chicken listed in the recipe card even if it takes a few extra steps of prep work.
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Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza with Sourdough Crust
Ingredients
For the sourdough discard crust:
- 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water 100-110 degrees (F.)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sourdough discard roughly 125 grams
- 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cups bread flour *see note
Fried chicken
- 1 medium sized chicken breast
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or as desired
- 1/4 teaspoon Season all
- 1/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning optional
- several dashes ground black pepper
Additional toppings:
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup prepared Ranch dressing can use more or less
- shredded mozzarella cheese roughly 2 cups
- 4 slices pre-cooked crumbled bacon *see note
- grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
Sourdough Pizza Crust:
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the yeast and warm water. Allow to rest for ten minutes. Once the yeast has activated and is bubbly, whisk in the olive oil, sourdough discard, salt and whole wheat flour.
- Add a cup of bread flour and mix on med-low speed. Keep adding flour slowly until the dough comes together and forms a soft ball that is just slightly sticky, but workable. Keep mixing for an additional 5-10 minutes until the dough is nice and soft. Shape the dough into a ball, then place onto a pizza pan or baking sheet greased with olive oil *see note. Cover and allow to rise for 2 hours in a warm area.
Fried Chicken (*see note):
- Cut chicken breast into thin strips. Mix flour, parmesan, breadcrumbs and seasonings in a separate bowl. Coat chicken strips in the flour mixture.
- Add an inch or two of oil to the bottom of a frying pan. Over medium heat, heat the oil to around 350 degrees (Fahrenheit) or until the chicken sizzles when added to the hot oil. fry the chicken for 5-10 minutes per side, until nicely browned and the internal temperature reaches 165-180 degrees. Set aside to cool, then chop into rough bite sized pieces.
Preheat oven to 475:
Assembly:
- Melt 2 tablespoons of butter, then whisk in garlic powder. Gently spread the pizza dough onto the pizza pan into a large circular or oval shape (do not use a rolling pin to avoid disturbing the gluten). Spread garlic butter over the pizza reserving a little for the crust after baked.
- Spread Ranch over the buttered pizza crust, then add shredded mozzarella, prepared chicken and crumbled bacon. Sprinkle grated parmesan over the pizza, then bake in the preheated oven for around 20 minutes until golden on the bottom of the pizza and the cheese is bubbly. Brush the last of the butter on the crust, then serve and enjoy.
Notes
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Step 1, Sourdough Crust: In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the yeast and warm water. Allow to rest for ten minutes. Once the yeast has activated and is bubbly, whisk in the olive oil, sourdough discard, salt and whole wheat flour.
Step 2: Add a cup of bread flour and mix on med-low speed. Keep adding flour slowly until the dough comes together and forms a soft ball that is just slightly sticky, but workable. Keep mixing the dough for an additional 5-10 minutes until it is soft. Shape the dough into a ball, then place onto a pizza pan or baking sheet greased with olive oil. Cover and allow to rise for 2 hours in a warm area.
Why use olive oil to grease the pan?
Using a generous amount of olive oil (around 2 tablespoons) to grease the bottom of a 13 by 18-inch baking sheet, combined with baking the pizza at high heat gives the pizza a beautifully crispy crust! However, you can also use butter or cooking spray to grease your baking sheet.
Step 3, Fried Chicken: Combine flour, bread crumbs, parmesan and seasoning in a small mixing bowl. Cut chicken into thin strips, then coat generously with the flour mixture. Add an inch or two of oil to the bottom of a frying pan. Over medium heat, heat the oil to around 350 degrees (Fahrenheit) or until the chicken sizzles when added to the hot oil. fry the chicken for 5-10 minutes per side, until nicely browned and the internal temperature reaches 165-180 degrees. Set aside to cool, then chop into rough bite sized pieces.
Step 4-5: Melt 2 tablespoons of butter, then whisk in garlic powder. Gently spread the pizza dough onto the pizza pan into a large circular or oval shape (do not use a rolling pin to avoid disturbing the gluten). Spread garlic butter over the pizza reserving a little for the crust after baked.
Spread Ranch dressing over the buttered pizza crust, then add shredded mozzarella, prepared chicken and crumbled bacon. Sprinkle grated parmesan over the pizza, then bake in the preheated oven for around 20 minutes until golden on the bottom of the pizza and the cheese is bubbly.
Help?! The pizza is browning too quickly before the crust is done.
If the toppings are browning too fast, you can reduce the heat by about 25 degrees and move the pizza to a lower oven rack. If I am baking two pizzas, I will rotate the pizzas at the 10-minute mark (or halfway through baking).
Last but not least, serve the pizza and enjoy! We like to eat this pizza with extra Ranch dressing (you can never have too much Ranch dressing in my opinion) and with a side of pickled jalapenos or habaneros. Pickles are also a great side to this chicken bacon Ranch pizza!
Storage: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week and reheated in a skillet or in the microwave.
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