I personally know very few people who would pass up on a good pizza. It’s an indulgent food that can be simple or endlessly creative with a multitude of possible topping combinations.
A lot of the popular toppings like olives, pepperoni, peppers, or onions can be put directly on the pizza before it hits the oven because they either don’t need to be cooked or will cook well enough in the short time the pizza spends in the oven.
When it comes to raw meat like chicken, a little more prep might be required before you can top your pizza with it.
Raw chicken should never be put on pizza because the bake time of a pizza is nowhere near long enough for the chicken to become thoroughly cooked. Instead, you should use pulled or chopped pieces that have been cooked previously.
If you’re trying to make a tasty chicken pizza, I encourage you to keep reading. We will be exploring the best ways to prepare chicken for a pizza and learning some tips and tricks on how to do it well. I will also share some combinations of other toppings that taste great with chicken on a pizza.
Why Chicken Has to Be Thoroughly Cooked
Chicken, as well as all other meat, should not be consumed raw because it can carry many different types of bacteria that can cause illnesses.
Poultry is especially prone to bacteria because it is often packaged with its skin still on it which carries its own host of bacteria that can cause illnesses like salmonella or campylobacter.
The symptoms of these illnesses usually arrive in the form of nausea, cramps, vomiting, and fever but they can also lead to life-threatening circumstances.
Most of the bacteria present is killed under the heat of normal cooking temperatures, so simply avoiding undercooked chicken should keep you safe from any food-borne illnesses.
This is why chicken, unlike steak, needs to be cooked all the way through and can’t be left raw or partially cooked in the center.
How To Precook Chicken Before Putting It On a Pizza
Precooking chicken for a pizza doesn’t differ much from how you would prepare it to eat on its own or with sides. You can do it in so many different styles and using different methods and equipment.
You can grill your chicken if the weather is nice enough to use your barbecue. Or roast it in your oven in a marinade for extra flavor.
Cooking chicken on a stovetop is an easy and quick method for preparing chicken. If you have a slow cooker, you can cook your chicken in it with some barbeque sauce for an especially tender and flavorful pizza topping.
You can even use an air fryer to prepare chicken for a pizza. There are a lot of recipes you can find for air fryer chicken and it is an easy and efficient way to achieve crispy chicken without extra grease.
If you’ve purchased a whole rotisserie chicken and have leftovers in your fridge, you can take shredded pieces of the bone and put them onto your pizza.
The only rule to preparing chicken for pizza is that it is fully cooked, how you achieve that can be done according to your preference or any recipes you are using.
How Do You Prevent Chicken From Drying Out On a Pizza?
Just as there are many methods to prepare your chicken, there are many ways to prevent it from drying out. It depends on what kind of pizza you are making and what flavors you want to introduce to the recipe.
Preparing your chicken by poaching or sauteing it are two good ways to prevent it from drying out on a pizza. Roasted chicken might be more prone to drying out since it has already been in the oven once.
One of the tastiest ways to prevent your chicken from drying out is to cook it in pieces with barbeque or another type of sauce. This will result in very tender shredded chicken with enough moisture to keep it from drying during the short bake time or a pizza.
If you have leftover pieces of grilled chicken you can wait to add your chicken to your pizza 5 minutes before the end of its bake time. This way the chicken will have enough time to warm through and mix with the other ingredients but not enough to dry it out.
What Inner Temperature Should Chicken Have?
The safe cooking temperature of chicken is 165 degrees Fahrenheit in the breast and thigh areas. When your chicken has reached this temperature it is good to eat.
In order to be truly safe to consume, the chicken should remain at this temperature for at least 3 minutes even after it is away from the heat source.
When the chicken is able to retain heat and the temperature even rises, it is killing all harmful bacteria.
Can You Put Frozen Chicken On a Pizza?
If you have frozen raw chicken then you definitely can’t put it on a pizza. The same rules apply for thoroughly prepping your chicken beforehand to ensure that it is fully cooked through. You will most likely need to thaw it and then cook it.
If you are keeping leftover cooked chicken in your freezer and you want to use that on your pizza to save time then you can do so.
If you are using bigger pieces then you might want to thaw them a little before you put them on your pizza, just make sure that they heat fully through.
If your chicken is already cut into small pieces then you can put it directly on the pizza. Since it is already fully cooked it should have enough time to warm up with the other ingredients on your pizza.
What Toppings Go Well With Chicken On a Pizza?
Chicken pizza is great because of all the possibilities it contains. There are so many toppings that pair well with chicken and you can experiment with them according to your preferences.
There are many different sauces that pair well with chicken. Buffalo and barbeque sauce are two of the past popular options and you will encounter many recipes for chicken pizza that include them. Pesto also works well with chicken and makes an excellent substitute for marinara.
Chicken is often eaten with a variety of vegetables when not on a pizza and many of the vegetables it is usually paired with taste great on a pizza. Some of the most popular are mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, and garlic.
Adding cheeses like blue cheese, gorgonzola, or even cheddar to a basic mozzarella and chicken pizza can also elevate the flavor of your pizza. After all, who doesn’t love an extra cheesy pizza?