Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza

One of the 4-H online programs being offered this spring is a 4-H Pizza Club. Each week, youth and parents prepare a pizza together online on Zoom. The first week, the pizza was Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza. 

Normally, we like pizza with a tomato-based sauce. So, this recipe was a departure from what we normally eat. It ended up that we all really liked this pizza and would have it again. 

Ingredients for Dough (this makes enough for two 16" pizzas so I used half and froze the other half)

1 ½ cup warm water - should be warm not hot 

2 Tbsp sugar 

1 Tbsp rapid rise yeast or “instant yeast” 

3 ½ cups flour 

½ tsp salt 

½ tsp garlic powder 

Instructions for Dough 

Mix water, yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl and let sit for 5 minutes 

Add salt, flour, and spices into a stand mixer with a dough hook and knead until combined - about 3 minutes. If you don't have a mixer you can mix by hand. (I mixed it by hand.) 

Once kneaded, divide dough into two or three equal parts depending on how thick you like your crust. (I divided into two parts - using one part for the pizza and then freezing the other half.)

Flour a cutting board and using a rolling pin, roll out dough into a circle. Brush edges with olive oil. 

Build your pizza. 

Ingredients for Pizza 

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided (I used 2 cups mozzarella and 1 cup Monterey jack/cheddar mix) 

8 oz cream cheese - softened 

1 oz ranch dip mix 

8 strips bacon cooked and crumbled 

1 lb cooked and cubed chicken 

Instructions for Pizza 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Prepare pizza crust according to package or make your favorite homemade pizza crust. In a small bowl, cream together ranch mix and cream cheese. Spread over pizza crust.

Top cream cheese mixture with 2 cups mozzarella cheese. Top with chicken, bacon, and the rest of the cheese. 

Bake at 425 for 20 - 25 minutes or until the pizza is golden brown.

I made the pizza - along with a S'more Pizza - to celebrate Sophia coming back home from college. She just completed her sophomore year of college!