Chicken Pesto Pizza

Chicken and pesto is such a wonderful combination, so it’s no surprise that this chicken pesto pizza tastes absolutely delicious! It includes two varieties of cheese (mozzarella for that melty cheesy goodness and feta for that savoury saltiness) as well as other ingredients, such as sun-dried tomatoes and black olives. When that pizza craving hits, this flavour-packed pizza is easy to make and ready to be devoured in under 25 minutes.

Ingredients

• Prebaked store-bought pizza crust: I used a 8-inch pizza crust. These are typically found in the grocery store alongside tortillas, naan bread and the like.
• Pesto: I used classic green pesto that, again, was store-bought. You can totally use homemade pesto if you like.
• Cheese: Mozzarella and feta add lots of flavour to this pizza. Once melted, the mozzarella adds a creamy component, while the feta adds a lovely briny taste. Remember for optimal cheese meltiness, shred your own mozzarella cheese rather than buying cheese that’s already shredded.
• Cooked chicken: Prepare some chicken at home or use a store-bought rotisserie chicken for convenience. Chop the meat into bite-sized pieces or shred it before adding to the pizza.
• Sun-dried tomatoes: I used sun-dried tomatoes in oil. Just make sure you remove them from the oil and pat them dry of excess grease before adding them to your pizza.
• Black olives: I used sliced Kalamata olives. You can buy jars of sliced olives, usually in the grocery store where you would get pickles and similar items. You can also use whole Kalamata olives and pit them yourself. After removing the pit, they just need to be sliced. I find that the latter are more flavourful, but the former are much more convenient. Either way, black olives pair wonderfully with the other ingredients in this chicken pizza.
• Oregano: A little dried oregano adds a tasty herbaceous flavour to the pizza.
• Balsamic reduction: Balsamic reduction is basically reduced/thicken balsamic vinegar. You can typically buy bottles of balsamic reduction in the grocery store right alongside other varieties of vinegar.

How To Make Chicken Pesto Pizza

Here is an overview of how to make this chicken pesto pizza (full details are in the recipe card below):

1. Place the pizza crust onto a sheet pan and spread the pesto over top, leaving a little border around the edge of the crust.
2. Top the pesto with mozzarella cheese, feta, cooked chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and oregano.
3. Bake the pizza until it’s heated through and the mozzarella cheese is nice and melty.
4. Drizzle the pizza with balsamic reduction, allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then slice into four slices. Now it’s time to devour!

What To Serve With It

Some of my favourite sides to serve with this chicken pesto pizza are:

• Simple spinach salad
• Greek pasta salad
• Homemade baked fries
• Creamy tomato basil soup

Leftovers

I don’t often find myself with leftover pizza, especially when it comes to this personal size pizza. However, if you happen to have leftover pizza, properly store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3 days (assuming the chicken is freshly prepared).

Reheating

Leftover pizza can be reheated a bunch of different ways:

Microwave: Place the slices of pizza on a microwave-safe plate and reheat on 15-second intervals until heated through. Of course, this method of reheating won’t yield the most crispiest results, but will work when you want something to eat quickly.

Air Fryer: Place the slices of pizza on your Air Fryer rack/basket. Set the temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and heat the pizza for about 5 minutes or until it’s heated through.

Oven: This is the longest reheating method (because you have to wait for your oven to preheat, which is probably why the Air Fryer is my favourite reheating method). However, it is a great method to use. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the pizza slices on a sheet pan and bake for about 5 minutes or until heated through.

Tips and Variations

• Pizza crust: As mentioned, I used a prebaked store-bought pizza crust. Those are super convenient because they’re ready for the toppings to be added and then you just bake the pizza. Depending on the brand or variety of pizza crust you are using, you may have to prebake the crust before adding the toppings (just follow the package instructions).
• Mix up the crust: For a slight twist, try making this pizza with naan or flatbread instead of the pizza crust. Just try to use something around the same size.
• Other toppings: Marinated artichoke hearts or crushed red pepper flakes would be some great additions to this pizza.
• Pizza dipping sauce: No matter the flavour of pizza, I always love to serve it with a sauce or condiment of some sort for dipping. One of my favourites to serve with this chicken pesto pizza is lemon dill yogurt sauce.
• Make more: This recipe makes one 8-inch pizza. You can easily make extra pizzas if you are serving a bunch of people. Pizza party, anyone?

More Easy Pizza Recipes

• Prosciutto Pizza
• Dill Pickle Pizza
• Buffalo Chicken Pizza

If you try this chicken pesto pizza recipe, be sure to leave a comment below!