BBQ Chicken French Bread Pizza (CPK Inspired)
Crusty French bread topped with two varieties of barbecue sauce, grilled chicken, crispy bacon, red onions, lots of mozzarella cheese and baked until cheesy, gooey perfection. Then it's finished off with cilantro. You'll love this French Bread Pizza!
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French bread or Italian bread
- 1.5 lbs chicken tenders breast or thighs work instead
- 5 strips bacon
- 3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/4 red onion, sliced thin
- 1.5 cups barbecue sauce I used regular Sweet Baby Ray's
- 1/2 cup Alabama white barbecue sauce store-bought, or my recipe is below in the notes
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
- BBQ Rub store-bought or my recipe is below in the notes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Season chicken well on both sides with BBQ rub. Cook in a skillet over medium heat about 3 minutes per side, flipping once. While the chicken is cooking, sprinkle the bacon with BBQ Rub then bake until crisp, about 15 minutes. Set chicken aside to cool under tented foil and allow to rest a few minutes then dice into cubes and chop the bacon into bits.
- Cut the bread horizontally (length-wise) and pull out some of the excess bread from the inside, allowing room for the meat and cheese to be stuffed down inside.
- Baste the inside of the bread with regular barbecue sauce, reserving some of the sauce for drizzling. Pile on 2/3 of the shredded cheese, then the chicken, bacon, then the sliced onions.
- Drizzle with Alabama white barbecue sauce and regular barbecue sauce. Then top with remaining cheese.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is fully melted through. Top with fresh cilantro, slice and serve. I love to serve mine with extra white BBQ sauce or ranch for dipping.
Notes
Alabama White Sauce
In a small bowl combine the below ingredients and whisk until smooth
In a small bowl, combine the below ingredients and mix until combined:
In a small bowl combine the below ingredients and whisk until smooth
- 1 ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoon brown sugar white sugar works as a sub
- 2 teaspoon horseradish
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1-2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar add 1 tbsp, then a second if more tang is needed
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
In a small bowl, combine the below ingredients and mix until combined:
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (less for less heat)