Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza with Sourdough Crust
This homemade chicken bacon Ranch pizza with an artisan style, sourdough pizza crust, crispy bacon and tender fried chicken is so much better than any takeout pizza!
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
You may need more or less bread flour for the sourdough crust.
Do not overcook the bacon or chicken for the pizza topping, the meats will continue to cook in the oven with the pizza.
I like to grease my pizza pans with olive oil for a bit of crispiness on the bottom of the crust.
Although I highly recommend the fried chicken, you can skip this extra step and use premade chicken breast strips or shredded chicken.
Additional notes and step by step photos below.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!