This Chicken Tikka Masala Pizza is a fusion of two takeout favorites. The rich, spiced sauce and tender meat of the chicken tikka masala top a thin, chewy crust and gets covered with melty mozzarella, red onions, and cilantro in this best-of-both-worlds pizza!
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It’s the weekend and that means…PIZZA! Am I right?! And it has been a while since I posted about my Four Cheese Pizza with Tomato Basil Arugula Salad. High time for another pizza recipe on here!
I love all traditional pizzas, don’t get me wrong, but this Chicken Tikka Masala Pizza rocks my world. I mean, one of my favorite parts of eating chicken tikka masala is scraping around my plate with a piece of naan to wipe up every last drop of the rich, creamy sauce, so it only made sense to put that sauce and the tender, spiced chicken on a pizza crust and then top it with some red onions, chopped cilantro and melty mozzarella cheese.
It’s sort of inspired by CPK’s bbq chicken pizza except with an Indian food takeout twist. And you will never find this pizza on the menu at your local pizzeria.
Whenever I make a batch of my favorite Bombay House style chicken tikka masala, I double it just so I can make this pizza from the leftovers later in the week. Then it’s just a matter of making the pizza dough, chopping onions and cilantro, and assembly.
You could even take a semi-homemade approach and buy a jar of tikka masala sauce and frozen pizza dough at the store and then just put it all together at home if you feel intimidated by making your own pizza crust. But really, pizza crust is quick and easy to make – you should try it if you never have before!
We love homemade pizza! This recipe uses our favorite pizza dough crust combined with our favorite Bombay House Style Chicken Tikka Masala to make a fantastic and unexpected pizza!
I feel like the melted cheese helps tone down the spiciness of the tikka masala sauce, so keep that in mind when judging the level of spice you like in your pizza. And the cilantro and red onions add such freshness and amazing flavor that sort of brings it all together.
I grilled this particular pizza because I love the slightly charred crust, but you can bake it in the oven if you prefer, especially once the weather starts cooling and you might not want to be outside grilling as much.
Chicken Tikka Masala Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza crust
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/3 cup olive oil
Pizza Toppings
- 1/2 batch [chicken tikka masala]
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Pizza dough preparation
- In a medium bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and stir to combine, the let it sit and proof for 5-10 minutes, until slightly foamy.
- Meanwhile, in a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Turn the paddle on at low speed and drizzle in the olive oil slowly, mixing until combined.
- Pour the yeast mixture into the oil and flour mixture and mix until completely combined.
- Prepare a clean bowl with a little extra oil so that the dough won’t stick to the sides while it rises, then scrape the dough into the bowl, turn to coat in the olive oil, and cover it with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 1 hour, or place the dough in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
- To prepare the dough for pizza assembly, divide it into two roughly equal parts. Roll out each ball of dough on a lightly floured surface to form a very thin crust, then transfer to a clean baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough.
Pizza assembly
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
- While oven is heating, gently spread about 1 cup of the tikka masala sauce around each rolled out portion of dough, leaving a slight margin around the edges to create a crust. Sprinkle chunks of the chicken on top, along with half of the chopped red onion, cilantro, and mozzarella. Repeat with the other portion of dough and remaining ingredients.
- Bake each pizza until the crusts are golden and the cheese is bubbly, around 12-15 minutes.
- Alternatively, you can grill your pizza by rolling out the dough, brushing both sides with olive oil and laying each crust on a preheated grill to cook for 2-3 minutes, then flipping, topping with the sauce, chicken, onions, cilantro, and cheese, then closing the lid and cooking another 2-3 minutes or longer, until the cheese is melted and the crust is cooked through.
