Grilled Chicken Taco Pizzas

Tonight we made some grilled chicken taco pizzas.  Since it's summer, we like using our grill a lot, and we were looking for something different and fun to make.  We have tried these pizzas once before, but since it was so long ago, we didn't remember how they turned out.  So we decided to give them a try again.  They were delicious!!!


Grilled Chicken Taco Pizzas
Adapted from this recipe on FoodNetwork.com

Prep Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 3

Ingredients:

  For the taco seasoning:

• 2 tbsp. onion powder
• 2 tbsp. garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 - 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tbsp. kosher salt
• 1 tbsp. ground black pepper

 For the pizzas:

• 1/4 cup canola oil, plus more for brushing
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 (16 oz.) tube pizza dough
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 avocado
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tbsp. diced red onion
• 1 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Mix all the taco seasoning ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Mix 2 tbsp. of the taco seasoning and the canola oil in a shallow bowl or small baking dish.  
3. Pound chicken breast between 2 pieces of plastic wrap until they are both the same thickness, roughly 1/2".  
4. Add the chicken to the bowl, turning to coat.  Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
5. Preheat gril to medium high heat.  Grill the chicken for about 5 minutes per side.  Let cool, then cut into bite-size pieces.
6. Divide the pizza dough into 3 pieces.  Roll out each piece onto a floured surface until you have an 8" circle.  Brush each side with canola oil and sprinkle with taco seasoning.  Grill 3-5 minutes or until crisp.  Remove from the grill.
7. Mix the cheese in a bowl then sprinkle on the crusts.  Top with chicken.  Return to the grill, cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  
8. Mix the avocado, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, and red onion.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  
9. Top the pizza with the avocado mixture, salsa, sour cream and cilantro.

Notes & Suggestions:

I made the pizza crust from scratch instead of using the store bought kind (only because I wanted to try making it from scratch).  Boy was it worth the little bit of extra time!  I will include the pizza crust recipe in this post as well.  

On the taco seasoning, I only used 1/2 tsp. of the cayenne pepper.  If you have little ones, you may want to use a little less because the pizza crust was a bit spicy.  The recipe makes about twice as much as you need, but you can always use it for other recipes, or to make tacos.  :o)

I let the chicken marinate for a couple of hours, instead of the 30 minutes.  While my husband was grilling the chicken, I rolled out the 3 pieces of pizza dough into 8" circles (about 1/4" thick) and got them ready for the grill. We weren't real sure how they were going to hold up on the grill, but they ended up grilling up beautifully.  

I think next time we will try pico instead of salsa.  It seems like it will go better because it's in small chunks like everything else.  Also, we thought we could use more avocado mixture because there was only enough for 2 of the 3 pizzas.  

All in all, it was very yummy!  It was a little bit of work and it got a lot of dishes dirty, but it was definitely worth it. This one will go in our favorite recipes binder for sure!

Thin Crust Pizza Dough

Adapted from this recipe on Williams-Sonoma.com

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 3/4 cup warm water (105 degrees)
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 cup plus 3 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the yeast, sugar and water.  Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. In a food processor bowl, combine the cake flour, all purpose flour and salt.  Pulse 3-4 times to mix.
3. Whisk 1 tbsp. of the olive oil in the yeast mixture.
4. With the food processor running, slowly add the yeast mixture a little at a time to the flour mixture, allowing each addition to be mixed well before adding more.  After all the yeast has been added, pulse 10-15 times to knead the dough.  The dough should clean the inside of the bowl but still be a little sticky.  
5. Coat the inside of a large bowl with the remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil.  Dust your hands with flour and remove the dough.  Form dough into a ball and place in the bowl.  Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, place in a warm place and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours.  Divide the dough in half and roll out as directed in the pizza recipe.  Makes two 10" pizzas.

Notes & Suggestions:

I followed the recipe exactly as written.  I was surprised how easy the dough was to make, as well as how easy it was to handle and roll out.  I'm not very good at rolling out any kind of dough, but I didn't have any problems with this one at all.  Very impressed!  

When making the chicken taco pieces, I just separated the whole dough ball into 3 pieces and it worked out to be just the right amount for that recipe.  

If you have the extra time, I would suggest trying this pizza dough.  I don't think you will be disappointed.