The Ultimate Jerk Chicken Pizza. This is hands down one of my favorite pizzas. Loaded with juicy chicken, a Jamaican jerk bbq sauce, shredded blend of cheese and loaded with veggies like crisp bell peppers, shallots, crispy turkey bacon. This Jerk Chicken Pizza is everything you want in a pizza, it’s sweet, spicy and bursting with flavor. If you loved Caribbean flavors, this Jerk chicken Pizza will be one of your favorites.
I love any excuse to have a pizza night. This Jerk Chicken Pizza was inspired by California Pizza Kitchen’s Jamaican Jerk Pizza. When they took it off their menu, I was heartbroken. So out of my sadness this recipe was born. It combines what I remember the CPK pizza to have with my own twist of course. This recipe is featured in my latest e-cookbook and I just knew I had to share this banger here!
If you know me, you know I don’t play when it comes to making pizza. And I recently got a homemade pizza oven so my pizza making skills have a serious upgrade.
Why you’ll love this Jerk Chicken Pizza?
- Perfect balance of flavor: Bold, sweet heat with layers of flavor in every single bite.
Totally customizable: Easily adjust the toppings and spice level to make it just how you like it.
The perfect homemade crust: Soft, chewy, and sturdy enough to hold all the toppings—everything complements each other to create the ultimate pie.
What you’ll need:
Here’s what you’ll need for this Jerk Chicken Pizza
- Chicken: either chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins.
- Jerk Marinade: you can make this from scratch or buy in the store. I love using Walkerswood.
- Olive oil: use a good quality olive oil.
- Seasonings: used a variety of seasonings like onion powder, garlic powder, Badia complete, and smoked paprika.
- Honey BBQ sauce: This is the base of the pizza sauce. Feel free to use your favorite brand. Here’s my favorite.
- Brown sugar: also used to sweeten the sauce and compliments the spice
- minced garlic: you can also use garlic paste.
- Fresh Thyme: this herb brings out a subtle earthy flavor that just works in Caribbean inspired dishes.
- Cheese: I use a blend of sliced mozzarella and thick grated mozzarella and Colby jack
- Bacon: either turkey or beef bacon
- Shallot: thinly sliced, red onion will also work. Just be sure to soak in cold water to take out the bite.
- Sweet peppers: think color! The more color the better. I used red, orange and yellow sweet peppers.
- Green onions: adds the perfect fresh tang that compliments the pizza.
- Pizza dough: I made mine from scratch for this recipe but feel free to use store-bought.
What to serve this Jerk Chicken Pizza With?
- Loaded Kale and Quinoa Salad
- Shaved Brussels Sprout Caesar Salad Recipe
- Ultimate Spring Cobb Salad
- Air fried Hennessy Wings
- Air Fried Mango Habanero Wings
More weeknight dinner ideas?
- Creamy Tomato Spinach Pasta with Sausage
- Crispy Mango Beef Stir Fry Bowls
- Shaved Brussels Sprout Caesar Salad Recipe
If you try my Honey Harissa Chicken Bowls I’d love to hear your feedback. Please be sure to leave a comment, and/or tag me on Instagram @cookwithci. I would love to see your recreations and hear your thoughts.
Jerk Chicken Pizza
Equipment
- Pizza oven or regular oven with pizza stone
- Pizza stone
Ingredients
- 3 cups Bread flour
- 1 1/4 cups warm water
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 pack Instant Dry yeast
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
For the chicken
- 2-3 chicken thighs
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp jerk seasoning
- 1 tsp green seasoning optional
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp Badia Complete seasoning
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup Honey BBQ sauce
- 1 tsp Jerk seasoning
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp garlic paste or minced garlic
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp fresh thyme
For the pizza
- 4 oz sliced mozzarella
- 1/2 cup thick shredded mozzarella
- 1/2 cup thick shredded Colby Jack
- 2 strips turkey bacon
- 1/2 shallot thinly sliced
- 3 sweet peppers red, orange and yellow
- 2 sprigs green onions diced
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine Instant yeast, 21/2 cups of flour, sugar and salt.
- Pour in the warm water and olive oil, then knead the dough in a stand mixer for 7 minutes. Add up to 1/2 cup of flour gradually, as needed, until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and hand knead it into a smooth ball.
- Place in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth and set in a warm place to rise, about 90 minutes or until the dough doubles in size.
- In a bowl season chicken thighs with jerk seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, Badia complete seasoning and a drizzle of olive oil. Set aside and marinate for at least 20 minutes.
- For the sauce, in a saucepan over medium heat melt 2 tbsp of butter. Once it begins to bubble, add BBQ sauce, brown sugar, jerk seasoning, garlic paste, red pepper flakes and fresh thyme.
- Simmer for about 5-7 minutes mixing occasionally.
- After an hour, punch the dough to release the gas and transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into 2 or 4 even sections.
- Lightly flour a dough ball and begin to stretch the dough into your desired sized pizza.
- In a skillet, sear bacon until cooked then set aside to cool.
- In the same pan, add 1 tsp of olive oil and cook the chicken, 6 minutes on both sides. Once cooked, remove from the pan, allow it to cool before chopping into pieces.
- Preheat oven to 500°F.
- To assemble the pizza, spread the sauce from the center of the stretched pizza dough outward. Add a layer of sliced mozzarella cheese, chopped jerk chicken, bacon, sweet peppers, sliced shallots, and green onions. Top with Colby jack cheese and more mozzarella.
- Add pizza into preheated oven and bake for 11-12 minutes until the crust is golden and the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Top with red pepper flakes if desired and enjoy!
