Barbecue Chicken Pizza Braid
This Barbecue Chicken Pizza Braid is easy to make with just a few ingredients and has all the tasty flavors of its pizza namesake. I love how impressive the finished braid looks, you’d never guess it’s so simple to make! You’ll use a pre-made pizza crust and stuff it with cooked chicken and red onion smothered in tasty barbecue sauce and melty Mozzarella cheese. This Barbecue Chicken Pizza Braid makes a delicious dinner when paired with a side salad, but it’s also fun to serve at a party or while watching sports, since it’s easy to grab a slice. The braid slices eat like a sandwich making it perfect finger food, and I love having a slice of the leftovers for lunch the next day! Each satisfying (two slice) serving of this recipe is just 318 calories or 8 WW Points on Weight Watchers. To view your current WW Points for this recipe and track it in the WW app, click here!
Ingredient Notes
- Shredded Chicken: If I need cooked shredded chicken for a recipe, I almost always throw some chicken breasts in my slow cooker with a little water. It’s so easy and hands-off and the chicken falls apart with ease. I actually made a post about it if you want more specific instructions about making shredded chicken in your slow cooker! You could also bake, poach, or pressure cook your chicken, or just shred the breasts from a store-bought rotisserie chicken.
- Barbecue Sauce: I almost always use Stubbs Original barbecue sauce in my recipes because it tastes great and is lower in sugar than a lot of other brands. This isn’t sponsored or anything, I just like the sauce. I highly recommend it! If you decide to use another barbecue sauce, be aware of the sugar content if you’re tracking WW Points of nutrition info.
- Red Onion: Red onion is a staple ingredient on barbecue chicken pizza and adds flavor to this recipe! I sauté the onion in a little olive oil before mixing it with the chicken to make sure it’s fully softened in the finished product.
- Cheese: I used Mozzarella cheese in this Barbecue Chicken Pizza Braid since the flavors are meant to mimic the namesake pizza. However, I do think shredded cheddar or other types of cheese would taste great in this, so if you have something else on hand and want to use it go for it!
- Pizza Crust: I highly recommend using the Pillsbury canned pizza crust for this recipe, it’s very easy to use. You just pop the can, unroll the crust, use a rolling pin to spread it out a little, and it’s ready to go! I have not tested this recipe using any other pre-made pizza crust dough, but would imagine that you could likely substitute another brand.
More Tasty, Lightened-Up Chicken Recipes
Looking for more easy and flavorful lightened-up meals using chicken? Check out my Skillet Chicken and Mushrooms in Gravy, Chicken Pot Pasta, Pimento Cheese Stuffed Chicken, Tuscan Olive Chicken, Buffalo Chicken Braid, Crispy Cheddar Chicken with Cream Sauce, Barbecue Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders, Bubble Up BBQ Chicken and Beans Bake, Fiesta Stuffed Chicken, Cream Cheese Stuffed Everything Chicken, Cheesy Bacon BBQ Chicken, and so many more in the Chicken section of my recipe index!
Barbecue Chicken Pizza Braid
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion
- 10 oz cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, shredded
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup barbecue sauce, I Used Stubbs Original
- 1 (13.8 oz) can Pillsbury Classic Pizza Crust dough
- 2 oz shredded 2% milk Mozzarella cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Drizzle the olive oil into a sauté pan or skillet and bring to medium heat. Add the sliced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add the shredded chicken, salt, pepper, and barbecue sauce and stir together until well combined. Cook another 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
- Unroll the pizza dough onto a piece of parchment paper on top of a cutting board and roll the dough to be 10”x14.” Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, make cuts up one of the longer sides of the dough, about 1 inch apart and about 3 inches long (into the center). Mirror those cuts on the opposite long side of the dough.
- Spread the barbecue chicken mixture down the center of the dough, with the cut pieces on either side. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over the top of the chicken. Starting at one end, fold a strip of the sliced dough on the side diagonally over the center ingredients. Fold the strip across from it over that strip in a criss-cross and repeat, alternating sides, until the strips of dough are covering the center in a braided pattern.
- Crack the egg into a small bowl and add the tablespoon of water. Use a fork to beat them together to form an egg wash. Use a pastry brush to paint the egg wash all over the top of the braided crust and discard the remaining egg wash.
- Transfer the parchment paper with the braid onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20-24 minutes until the dough is golden. Slice into 12 equal pieces and serve (a serving is 2 pieces).
Notes
318 calories, 44 g carbs, 11 g sugars, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 23 g protein, 3 g fiber, 425 mg sodium (from myfitnesspal.com) Weight Watchers Points Plus:
8 per (2 slice) serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers brand PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition information below)
This one is a winner! Such an easy recipe that is not only delicious, but visually stunning. I used home made pizza dough that had been languishing in my freezer. This would be an easy one to prep for by having portions of the chicken filling already made up and in the freezer.
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