This chicken pesto whole wheat pizza dough is so dang tasty – and better than any pizza delivery! It is made with simple whole-wheat pizza dough, homemade pesto sauce, grilled chicken, fresh mozzarella cheese, and topped with lemony arugula.
It’s Friday – pizza night – right? There is something about the weekend and pizza that seem to go together perfectly. I’m not sure why that is, but it’s just the way it is. If I am being honest, my husband and kids are HUGE pizza fans, and every once in a while my hubby likes to have pizza night with them; I on the other hand like it, but I very rarely eat it, and usually opt out of pizza night at our house – I know, LAME.
Pizza is one of those foods that I have a hard time just eating one slice, and it doesn’t get along with my waistline…basically, pizza makes me one of “those girls.” However, if I make homemade pizza at home, I have no problem and no guilt eating a couple of slices on Friday night pizza night.
The lemon arugula is obviously optional, but I STRONGLY recommend giving it a try. It takes this pizza from good to extremely/insanely delicious. Trust me, even though it sounds strange, the arugula on top is so GOOD!
A few notes about this recipe:
- I make the crust from scratch and it is super simple…but I understand if you don’t want to or don’t have time – I totally get it. My local grocery sells a fresh pre-made whole wheat pizza crust that I have used when I am in a hurry.
- I grill my chicken myself, usually the day before, and used leftovers for the pizza…but a rotisserie chicken would work as well, or any pre-cooked chicken.
- This is made with my own Paleo pesto sauce recipe, you can find the recipe included in my Baked Whole30 Spaghetti Squash Recipe with Pesto and Bursted Tomatoes
- I used fresh mozzarella because I love the taste on the pizza, but any mozzarella cheese would work
- Finally, this pizza crust recipe makes a thicker pizza crust. I like my pizza crust thinner, so I use some of the crust to make my kids their own personal cheese pizza – there is no way my little girl would eat a pizza with green pizza sauce on it.
Please comment below and let me know what you think of this recipe and if you make it all from scratch or not – no judgments here!
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Chicken Pesto Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe
This chicken pesto pizza is so dang tasty – and better than any pizza delivery! It is made with a simple homemade pizza dough, homemade pesto sauce, grilled chicken, fresh mozzarella cheese, and topped with lemony arugula.
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1 packet yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp coconut sugar * (or light brown sugar)
- 1 tsp salt
For the Pizza
- Homemade Pesto Sauce
- 4 ounces shredded chicken
- 4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
- 1 medium tomato, sliced
- Fresh basil, minced
- 1 Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
For the Crust
- Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water in the medium bowl (approx. 5 minutes)
- Stir in the remaining ingredients and incorporate well
- Allow to sit for 15 minutes, knead a few times, and spread out onto a pizza pan (I used a pizza stone, but any pizza pan or baking sheet would work)
For the Pizza
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees
- Spread a thin layer of the pesto sauce onto the prepared crust
- Add the remaining toppings
- Bake for 25-35 minutes or until crust starts to lightly brown
For the Arugula
- Combine all of the ingredients for the arugula in a large bowl.
- When the pizza is done baking and slightly cooled, top with the arugula
Keywords: Clean, Simple, tasty, homemade
Cindy
Pizza dough isn’t that hard to make if you have a bread maker which is what I use. I really want to try it with this whole wheat recipe. I love the variety you have with all these recipes.
★★★★★
thespicyrd
Fabulous! I would love to make this on a gluten-free crust -Udi’s store bought since I haven’t had much success making my own GF crust. My kids would love this too, minus the arugula on top ? Pinning to make soon!
★★★★★
Rebecca Baron
I am going to have to give the Udi’s pizza crust a try. A pre-made crust makes this pizza come together super fast, which is nice for those crazy busy days ?