Barbecue pizza. A big piece of Italian bread with barbecue jackfruit or barbeque chicken (if you eat meat )and lots of cheese topped with some fresh herbs. This right here is such an easy throw-together meal that the whole family will enjoy.
We had lots of pizza when we were younger in many different forms. Pizza made with English muffins, pizza made with French bread, traditional pizza, I think even cauliflower crust came in later on. Big pizza fans. And this version is definitely one to add to the list of super delicious yet easy pizza recipes. And made with very minimal ingredients. Weeknight dinner dream.
So this is either a barbecue jackfruit pizza if you want to keep it vegetarian or you can use chicken. I actually do half of the pizza loaf with chicken for my husband and son and a half with jackfruit for myself. For this reason, the recipe is half. This is also great if you are just making it for one or two people and don’t want leftovers. So if you are doing a whole loaf, double the ingredients.
And speaking of the whole loaf, I use a French or Italian loaf. Something longer, wider, and more on the flat side. Not a baguette. And if there is a lot of bread inside once cut open, feel free to scoop a little out.
Ok so let’s get to the pizza. This pizza is:
- Simple
- Uses minimal ingredients
- flavor loaded
- vegetarian and vegan friendly
You will need
- 1 loaf of french or Italian bread. I don’t recommend a baguette. You’ll want something more like this
- Jackfruit or chicken. For jackfruit, I buy the BBQ jackfruit. One less ingredient to use (bbq sauce). For chicken, I buy a rotisserie chicken and just pick off what I need from that. It’s already cooked and just needs sauce. Super easy
- BBQ sauce. If you are using chicken you’re going to need this. I also like to spoon a little mixed with marinara sauce on the bread before baking. I choose one with not too much spice so my son can eat it too.
- Mozarella, or a vegan alternative, for sprinkling on top
- Red onion. Slightly caramelized red onion really adds a nice touch to the whole recipe.
- Fresh cilantro for sprinkling on top after it’s cooked.
- Marinara. It’s optional because the pizza has a lot of flavor as is. But I like to mix a little BBQ sauce with some marinara and spread a thin layer on the bread before adding all the toppings
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat the oven to 450. Toast bread with a light drizzle of olive oil for 5 minutes .
- While the oven is preheating, start to cook the onion. Cook over medium heat in a little oil. When the oil dries up and onions brown a little, add a splash of water to scrape off brown bits. Keep repeating this for about 10 minutes. We are lightly carmelizing the onion.
- Now for the filling. If you are using just jackfruit, you are already done and ready to top the pizza. If you are using chicken, mix 1 loosely packed cup per loaf slice with (2 cups total if only using chicken) with 1 cup BBQ sauce per half. Again 2 cups total if only using chicken. Stir in onion.
- Now to assemble. I like to spread a very thin layer of marinara sauce over each loaf, about 1/4 cup total for both slices. Then top each half with whichever topping your using. Then top with mozzarella. I use a little over a cup total.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Top with fresh cilantro optional
Notes
