Chicken pesto pizza is an easy pizza recipe made with chicken, basil pesto, sliced cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella cheese. This is one of our favorite recipes. The fresh basil packs so much flavor making this pizza absolutely deliver on pizza night.

Fresh Basil Pesto

Homemade pesto is really easy to make and is so much better than store-bought. My basil pesto consists of fresh basil, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, garlic, salt, and pepper. Everything is blended together in a food processor to render a smooth, yet slightly granular sauce. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a standard blender or single-serve blender instead. Just don’t blend too aggressively or it will turn into a creamy paste.

Sometimes small grocery stores or local farmer’s markets will have fresher locally made pesto that is usually better than brand-name pesto sauce. You can tell how fresh pesto is by how green it is. Old pesto will take on a duller and deeper dark green color.

How to Make Chicken Pesto Pizza

Chicken pesto pizza is made without a red sauce. The basil pesto serves as the pizza’s only sauce. Paired with grilled or sauteed chicken, cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella, it’s a unique style pizza with lots of fresh ingredients for fresh flavor. A few tips:

• Always use fresh basil pesto if you can. Homemade pesto is easy to make and so much better than store-bought. Sometimes small grocery stores or local markets will have fresher locally made pesto that is usually better than the large brand name pesto sauce. You can tell how fresh pesto is by how green it is. Old pesto will take on a duller and deeper dark green.
• Fresh mozzarella is better than processed shredded mozzarella. You can use the 8-ounce ball of fresh mozzarella and slide it or use the little mozzarella pearls, which are small circular balls of mozzarella. Think of this pizza like a Caprese salad.
• Don’t go too heavy on toppings in general—lighter toppings yield crispier pizza.

How to Cook Better Pizza Using a Pizza Stone

Since we don’t have a 1000° F wood-fired pizza oven lying around, I opt for a pizza stone. I heat the stone up for one hour in the oven at 500° F before baking. Then I throw the pizza in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes for the perfect finish every time. The pizza stone allows for better crust due to the high temperatures generated by the stone while it sits in the oven.

One final and really important step. Once the crust is golden and the pizza is near complete, I like to switch the oven to broil and crisp the top of the pizza for about a minute. Carefully monitor the pizza during this stage as it can turn from delicately charred to burned very quickly.

Here are a few tips on cooking the perfect pizza at home.

More Pizza Recipes

• Butternut squash pizza
• Fig and proscuitto pizza
• Margherita pizza
• Buffalo chicken pizza
• Grilled pizza
• Skillet pizza

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