Pizza is one off the worlds favourite foods for at least 1000 years, loved, and made, by millions. Pizza toppings can make a meal from little things leftover in the fridge, or as here, from chicken left after a roast.
Homemade Pizza Dough
Mix the pizza base ingredients together with enough warm water to make a dough. There is no need to knead the dough if you have time to leave it for a couple of hours or more. The gluten will develop on its own, and the longer you can leave it, the more flavour will develop.
You can mix the base ingredients together on a Monday for instance, and leave it, covered, in the fridge until Friday pizza night if you like.
Leave it to rise for as long as you can, the longer you can leave it, the more it improves the flavour. Maybe mix it up in the morning and leave it all day, or in the evening and leave it overnight, or at any rate, leave it until risen.
We use value own brand supermarket flour here for our homemade pizza dough as it is the cheapest and does an excellent job.
Chicken Pizza
While the homemade pizza dough is rising, prepare the tomato base by simply mixing all the ingredients together. You might want to simmer it to make it thicker if you are using a tin of tomatoes that are a bit too watery. Then whizz if you want it smooth. Leave to cool if you have time.
Slice and chop the onion, pepper and chicken and mix together. Grate the cheddar and chop the mozzarella and mix together.
When you are ready, bash the dough back and spread out onto a baking tray to about 12″/30cm and leave for half an hour to settle and rise a bit until soft and springy.
Now spread the tomato sauce evenly over the base leaving a 1cm gap between the sauce and the pizza edge.
Top with the sliced onions and peppers. and pile the two cheeses on top of the vegetables.
If you are using stuffing, place them around the pizza now.
Bake in a hot oven Gas 7 / 425°F / 220°C / 200°C Fan for about 25 minutes until, golden, crispy edged and gorgeous.
While it is cooking, chop any salad ingredients you are serving with it. Serve the cooked pizza immediately while hot and fresh.
What was this chicken pizza like
The amount of chicken was plenty and the vegetables and cheeses made for a generously topped pizza. You could use less and it would still work very well.
What changes can I make
I really enjoyed this option and made it exactly as the recipe as I need to throughly test the recipes I write about (except for the stuffing as my husband isn’t keen on it)
When I make it next, all kinds of options spring to mind.
- I would try a pizza with chicken and spinach by using the same amount of chicken but use spinach instead of onion and pepper.
- Or make it a sweet chilli chicken pizza by either using sweet chilli sauce on the base, along with the tomato sauce, or even instead – or mixing the chicken with sweet chilli sauce before putting on the pizza.
- Or how about a chicken and sweetcorn pizza? Again, the same amount of chicken, but sweetcorn instead of onions and peppers. My daughter would love that, she likes peas and sweetcorn with everything!
All the recipes in the series on how to make a chicken last a week
- Roast chicken, 400g chicken, gravy, with stuffing, 4 portions
- Risotto, 140g chicken, onion, half the the stock, some vegetables butter and parmesan, 4 portions, this recipe
- Pizza, 117g chicken, tomato sauce, maybe some stuffing, 4 portions
- Spicy Pasta Bake, white sauce, 120g chicken, onion, spices, stuffing, 4 portions
- Tart, 100g chicken, onions, sweetcorn, couple of eggs, no cheese, stuffing, 4 portions
- Pie, 100g chicken, some of the gravy, onion, maybe some sweetcorn or mushrooms, maybe some stuffing, 4 portions
- Soup with the remaining half of the stock, red lentils, onion, spices, 4 portions
28 portions of chicken loveliness
How to make the most of a chicken – seven family meals
How to make a Poached chicken last a week
-
- Poached chicken
- Spaghetti with olives, sultanas and lemon 140g chicken
- Oaty, nutty, seedy chicken and mushroom crumble 140g chicken
- Chicken and rice salad – red peppers from a jar, peas, gherkins, raisins 140g chicken and some of the stock
- Chicken and something Pizza, sweetcorn, onion, red pepper, mozzarella and cheddar 140g chicken
- Coronation Chicken Jacket Potato – 140g chicken
- Red Cabbage Waldorf with apple, walnut and dressing – 140g chicken
- Chicken Tart with Butternut Squash, Lemon Zest & Parmesan 140g chicken
- this comes out at a total of 28 portions, which is amazing!
Other pizza recipes on Thrifty Lesley
Ingredients
Pizza base
- 250 g flour 55p/1.5kg, 9p
- 1.5 tsps yeast 56g/59p, 7g, 7p
- 140 ml warm water
- 0.5 tsp salt
Base
- 400 g tomatoes a value tin 28p
- 30 ml olive oil Solesta £2.39/750ml, 9p
- 1 clove garlic 5p
- 1 tsp oregano dried, 11g/49p, 9p
- 5 leaves fresh basil 67p for a plant, 7p
Topping
- 100 g onion 49p/kg, 5p
- 100 g red pepper Aldi 3/£1, 16p, red, yellow or orange, about half a whole pepper
- 117 g chicken from a whole chicken £3.19, 37p
- 3 stuffing balls 1/6 170g/35p, 6p, optional
- 40 g cheddar cheese Everyday Essentials £3.99/900g, 18p
- 125 g mozarella Everyday Essentials, 45p
- 1 tblsp olive oil to drizzle, 5p
Instructions
Pizza Base
- Mix the pizza base ingredients together with enough warm water to make a dough. Leave it to rise for as long as you can, the longer you can leave it, the more it improves the flavour. Maybe mix it up in the morning and leave it all day, or at any rate, leave it until risen.250 g flour, 140 ml warm water, 0.5 tsp salt, 1.5 tsps yeast
Tomato Sauce
- Tip the tinned tomatoes into a saucepan.400 g tomatoes
- Add the herbs, salt and olive oil.30 ml olive oil, 1 clove garlic, 1 tsp oregano, 5 leaves fresh basil
- You can use the sauce as it is, or simmer it until it is thicker. Then whizz if you want it smooth. Leave to cool if you have time.
Topping
- Slice and chop all the topping ingredients and mix together.100 g onion, 100 g red pepper, 117 g chicken
- Grate the cheddar and chop the mozzarella and mix together40 g cheddar cheese, 125 g mozarella
Assemble
- When you are ready, bash the dough back and spread out onto a baking tray and leave to bounce back a little for about 10 minutes or so.
- Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the base
- Top with the remaining topping ingredients, except the stuffing balls, putting all the cheese on the top.
- Dot the stuffing balls around if using3 stuffing balls
- Finally, drizzle with the olive oil around the crust edges so that they bake crispy1 tblsp olive oil
- Bake in a hot oven - Gas 7 / 425°F /
220 °C / 
200 °C - for about 25 minutes until golden and crispy round the edges
To Serve
- While it is cooking, if you are having salad with it, prepare all the salad ingredients, and serve while the pizza is hot.
Notes
All the recipes in the series on how to make a chicken last a week
- Roast chicken, 400g chicken, gravy, with stuffing, 4 portions
- Risotto, 140g chicken, onion, half the the stock, some vegetables butter and parmesan, 4 portions
- Pizza, 117g chicken, tomato sauce, maybe some stuffing, 4 portions, this recipe
- Spicy Pasta Bake, white sauce, 120g chicken, onion, spices, stuffing, 4 portions
- Tart, 100g chicken, onions, sweetcorn, couple of eggs, no cheese, stuffing, 4 portions
- Pie, 100g chicken, some of the gravy, onion, maybe some sweetcorn or mushrooms, maybe some stuffing, 4 portions
- Soup with the remaining half of the stock, red lentils, onion, spices, 4 portions
How to make the most of a chicken - seven family meals starting with a poached chicken
-
- Poached chicken
- Spaghetti with olives, sultanas and lemon 140g chicken
- Oaty, nutty, seedy chicken and mushroom crumble 140g chicken
- Chicken and rice salad - red peppers from a jar, peas, gherkins, raisins 140g chicken and some of the stock
- Chicken and something Pizza, sweetcorn, onion, red pepper, mozzarella and cheddar 140g chicken
- Coronation Chicken Jacket Potato – 140g chicken
- Red Cabbage Waldorf with apple, walnut and dressing – 140g chicken
- Chicken Tart with Butternut Squash, Lemon Zest & Parmesan – 140g chicken
I loved this – it is such a generous topping and very tasty. I’m going to add mushroom as well next time!
I loved this pizza. It had generous toppings and was very economical too