Sweet Chili Garlic Chicken Pizza Recipe - Pinch of Yum
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Sweet Chili Garlic Chicken Pizza

4 reviews / 4.8 average

Ohhhhhkay we need to discuss.

This homemade wheat crust topped with homemade sweet chili garlic sauce, spicy jerk chicken, fresh pineapple pico de gallo, and melted white cheese WILL MAKE YOUR MOUTH DANCE.

So let’s try to talk about pizza even though I’m still pretty much 100% sad about coming home from vacation. And just so you know, I am not ever a baby or a whiner or a pity partier, ever. *sobs* I think I might have mentioned that I will be sharing lots of pictures and stories and experiences from the trip in the next few days and I’m just giddy to put all that together and pass along some trip inspo to you sweet readers slash relive the dreamiest girls’ weekend ever.

But for today, prepare to light your mouth on fire because this cheesy, saucy pie guy has an alter-ego named The Fire Breathing Dragon Pzzzzza.

Sweet Chili Garlic Chicken Pizza sliced into six pieces.

I am not totally sure what that means, if that means that I will turn into a fire breathing dragon when I take a bite, or if it means that I will be breathed on by a fire breathing dragon when the pizza hits my mouth? Or that I myself will breathe fire but stay a human even though dragons are the only ones who breathe fire and food can’t really make you breathe fire which means that none of this even makes any sense? Ignore.

The fact of the matter is that there is a neighborhood pizza restaurant close by our house and a) it is adorbs, and b) it serves JUST THAT – a fire breathing dragon pizza – and it’s lickity-your-lips-good. I had it a few months ago and right when they brought it out to our table, I said to myself: make it and blog it.

Then life happened, I went on the best girls’ weekend trip of my life which might have also been the only girls’ weekend of my life and which I also apparently can’t stop talking about and I’m sad now please halp me, so just now (better late than never) this pizza has come into existence in my very own kitchen.

Chilis on a wooden surface and in a skillet.

This pizza has lots of opportunity for lil short cuts because I wholeheartedly believe that practical, realistic, actually-gonna-happen-tonight food is the best kind.

I absolutely love the crazy combos and fancy pants food stuffs, but Real Life is where it’s at. And in Real Life, homemade pizza can be sort of obnoxious to make, unless you’d rather make your own pizza instead of sitting on the comfy couch and ordering a hot, ooey-gooey large pep, but what am I saying? Those peeps don’t read this blog.

What I’m going to tell you about this is that EVEN THOUGH I MADE IT ALL FROM SCRATCH and I most definitely feel super proud about that, you have four options for taking the homemade or the semi-homemade route. The options are listed here with approximate make-it-from-scratch times for each one:

  1. the pizza crust (make it = 30 minutes)
  2. the chili garlic sauce (make it = 10 minutes)
  3. the jerk chicken (make it = 10 minutes)
  4. the pineapple pico de gallo (make it = 10 minutes)

If one or all of these is less important to you to have made from scratch, then go ahead and buy it and have your pizza in a right quick flash. Since Bjork and I are trying to control sugar and do less processed food, annnnnd since this is now my “real job” to spend most of the day making spicy, saucy pizzas from scratch, I included all of the ingredients and directions so you can make the whole thing right in your very own kitch.

Chicken Pizza slices.

On the other hand, I don’t want you to feel like you can’t make this pizza if you can’t find an hour to prep everything. I know how it is to get home from work being all like need pizza now and have no-thing-left in the energy department. Chicken can be purchased, pico de gallo can be pre-chopped, and sauce can come out of a bottle. Time is of the essence and ultimately there is a cheesy, gooey, fire-in-the-mouth Sweet Chili Garlic Chicken Pizza at stake here, so make it happen however you likey.

If I’m channeling my inner spice lover, the homemade sweet chili garlic sauce might just be my favorite part of this whole thing – it’s sweet, sticky, syrupy, and completely fire-red-hot like beware when you dip your finger in for a taste but don’t panic because it will be the perfect amount under all those toppings.

Then again, let us not forget – there’s that juicy, tender, fragrant jerk chicken I told you about yesterday which is quick and easy like a little magic dust sprinkled into your life, and of course we’re baking everything on a chewy/crispy homemade whole wheat crust (three cheers for wheat!) and now seriously whoever invented juicy pineapple on a pizza, would you please stand up?

Sweet, spicy, saucy, fresh (–>see-lan-tro<—), real food, cheesy, vibrant, gooey, bubbly, happy, and GOOD FEELINGS.

That’s what this pizza is to me.

Sweet Chili Garlic Chicken Pizza.
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A picture of Sweet Chili Garlic Chicken Pizza

Sweet Chili Garlic Chicken Pizza


  • Author: Pinch of Yum
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 16 slices (2 large pizzas) – nutrition info is for one slice 1x

Description

This Sweet Chili Garlic Chicken Pizza is made from scratch and loaded with flavor, color, and spice. Every bite is deeelish!


Ingredients

Scale

FOR THE CRUST:

  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 cups white flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

FOR THE SAUCE:

  • 2/3 cup brown rice syrup (or corn syrup)
  • 6 chiles (I used Fresno peppers)
  • 12 cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

FOR THE PINEAPPLE PICO DE GALLO

  • 1 pineapple, cored (about 23 cups diced)
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
  • lime juice, salt, and honey to taste

FOR THE PIZZA

  • 2 cups shredded cheese (I used Queso Chihuahua)
  • 1 lb. grilled chicken breast, thinly sliced (JERK CHICKEN RECIPE HERE)

Instructions

  1. CRUST: Combine the sugar, water, and yeast in a bowl and let rest until the yeast is frothy, about 5 minutes. Add to the flours and salt and mix to form a dough. Knead for a few minutes (2-3 minutes on low speed using a dough hook on a stand mixer) and set aside in a warm spot to rest for about 30 minutes.
  2. SAUCE: Puree the sauce ingredients together in a blender until smooth or mostly smooth. Transfer to a saucepan over medium high heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until thick. Season generously with salt.
  3. PINEAPPLE: Toss all the pico de gallo ingredients together until well combined. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
  4. Divide the dough in half. Roll out each piece into a thin crust about 1/2 inch thick or less, and transfer to a pizza pan. Poke with a fork, bake for 10 minutes, and remove from oven. Crusts should be golden and partially baked. Top with sauce, chicken, pineapple, and cheese. Return to oven and bake for another 10 minutes or until everything is warm and bubbly. Top with additional fresh cilantro and red pepper flakes.

Notes

The sauce will taste REALLY spicy at first but once it sits for a while and then eventually gets baked under all those toppings, it will be just the right amount of heat! I used mature red fresno peppers – remember that different peppers will have different spice levels. If you are worried about the spice level, take out the ribs and seeds of the peppers.

  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Category: Dinner
  • Cuisine: Hawaiian-Inspired

Keywords: sweet garlic chili pizza, pineapple pico de gallo, chili chicken pizza

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91 Comments

  1. Pinch of Yum Logo

    HOMEMADE SWEET CHILI SAUCE. My life is compl-eat. I put that stuff on e’rythanggggg but didn’t know how to make it…and it’s mega EZ.
    Like the rest of this pizza. Which means maybe breakfast? Cheese is dairy which is breakfast acceptable.
    Looks like you had fun on your girls trip via IG. Yay! Pinned!

  2. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This looks DELICIOUS!

    One question though – an entire pineapple to just one pepper and onion?

      1. Pinch of Yum Logo

        I should also say that my pineapple was already cored, so really, it wasn’t that big. It ended up being maybe two cups. I’ll add a note about that.

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      Thanks Michelle! We had a blast. I’m still in a sad end-of-trip bubble. Hoping it will burst soon though! Just need more pizza, I think. 🙂

  3. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Yep, my mouth is dancing already just looking and reading about this pizza. Sweet-spicy-chili-sauce is my middle name (really), so this will definitely be hitting the table.

  4. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Spicy pizza comfort! it can not get better than that. When I make chilli sauce, I have always used the hottest chillies I could find since I find the burn is part of it addictiveness. The bigger the spice the more I come back for it.

    Thanks for great recipe!

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      I was sort of glad that we were done with our 60 days sugar free so I could make that sweet chili garlic sauce! Those Asian-inspired sauces were really hard for me… and I had looked through the I Quit Sugar cookbook and got inspired to try brown rice syrup so I used it here in place of what would otherwise probably be corn syrup. 🙂

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      Sad face! I want to suggest alternatives but… it might just end up being a chicken, pineapple, and sweet chili sauce stir fry of sorts… Good luck!

  5. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I think that “fire-in-the-mouth Sweet Chili sauce” is worth its weight in gold! YUM! Any pizza made with that sauce has gotta be better than any other “hot, ooey-gooey large pep”!!! 4 REALZ!

  6. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Ah! Lindsay! Pizza in my inbox is the best morning treat/distraction. So so awesome. Also, I just recently discovered that if you use White Whole Wheat Flour (which is from the white wheat berry, as opposed to the common red wheat berry) you seriously don’t need the white flour! I also use 2 Tbsp of olive oil to keep it chewy and fluffy. I just made 6 pizzas for my freezer last week (best decision ever) and they’re 100% whole wheat awesomeness.

    Roasted red pepper-pesto-ricotta-basil pizza is my current fave, but um, pineapple pico on pizza? GENIUS.

  7. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I want to make this right now! I’m not crazy about whole wheat pizza crust so think I might try it with regular but everything else looks amazing. Love chili garlic sauce…and pineapple salsa…and jerk chicken! And spicy! So it’s everything I love.

  8. Pinch of Yum Logo

    That’s one good looking pizza. I love pizza with pineapple chunks!

  9. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Oh my gosh this looks good. I was just telling my husband that I was craving chilli but that it also seemed too early for it since its been pretty humid out lately and we don’t have ac. This sounds amazing though. Pinned for future making!

  10. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Meals with components that CAN be bought in a pinch (like when you spend 18 hours of your day holding a 5 day old and chasing a toddler… just for example) are a sanity-saver! Though I would much rather make all the deliciousness from scratch like you did here!

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      I hear you! I mean, sort of. The only thing I’m holding is my phone and a granola bar. But I hear ya. Short cuts are acceptable – realistic food wins. 🙂