With a few shortcuts, this spicy southwest chicken pizza is quick and easy to make and rivals our local takeout place!
Do you have a favorite pizza place? Our favorite for years has been Extreme Pizza, which is a chain, so you might have one near you. They have a lot of creative topping combinations for their signature pizzas like a mediterranean one with hummus, a tandoori chicken one, and my personal favorite, the Mexican one. It used to be called the California Cactus, but now it’s the Baja 1000. (Why would they change from a cute name to that far inferior one??) This pizza has a black bean and salsa base instead of pizza sauce and is topped with chicken, jalapenos, olives, onions, tomatoes, and fresh cilantro. It is SO GOOD.
Why make your own?
You may be asking why I’m trying to make a copycat recipe if the original is so great and can be delivered to my door. Well, I’ll tell you. It’s a little thing called going gluten free. When I had to give up wheat, I was thrilled to know that Extreme offered gluten free crust. There’s only one problem: It tastes pretty bad. We have ordered dozens of pizzas on their gluten free crust, and I’ve tried to tell myself they taste OK. The fact is, they are sweet, grainy, and just yuck.
It’s too bad because there are good gluten-free pizza crusts to be had! I love the frozen ones from Udi’s and Rudi’s (which I guess are not the same company? That’s not confusing at all…) In fact, I used the Udi’s one in this copycat recipe. I don’t know why Extreme Pizza has opted to use the yucky crust, but I’m not going to take it anymore, especially since a 12″ gluten-free pizza costs about $25. I’d rather make my own good-tasting pizza at home for less than half that price.
Isn’t homemade pizza a lot of work?
Of course part of the fun of ordering pizza is the whole not having to cook part. If I want to make my own pizza, it needs to be pretty quick and easy. I already told you that I usually use pre-made crusts, but this recipe also uses a couple other shortcuts. First off, I used prepared bean dip instead of making my own. If you can find black bean dip, that would be even better, but I used good ol’ Frito Lay bean dip in the can. Secondly, I used pre-cooked chicken breast strips. Since this is a Mexican-ish recipe, I went with the southwestern seasoned chicken, but the plain flavor would work well too.
With those shortcuts, these southwest chicken pizzas were really quick to throw together. You just have to slice the other ingredients, pile on the toppings, and pop them in the oven. The chicken strips came out great and definitely cut down on the prep time. I don’t know if I’d use these pre-cooked chicken on a regular basis since it’s more expensive per ounce than buying and cooking your own chicken, but it’s definitely great for convenience. I would use them when I just need a little chicken like to add to a lunch salad, for quesadillas for the kids, or for a pizza topping like you see here.
Let’s make this easy southwest chicken pizza!
Who knew I had so much to say about pizza? This post has gotten entirely too long, so let me get to the recipe. You’ll find some other Mexican pizza recipes too! Thanks for hanging in there with me :)
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 15 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 1 large ready-to-bake pizza crust (or use multiple small crusts)
- 9 ounces prepared bean dip
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3 jalapenos sliced (remove seed to reduce spiciness)
- 6 ounces Foster Farms chicken breast strips Southwestern flavor or plain
- 1/2 red onion sliced thin
- 2 tomatoes sliced
- 1/2 cup sliced black olives
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped (or substitute freeze-dried cilantro)
Ingredients
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Rate this recipe!
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- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Spread bean dip over pizza crust, and sprinkle mozzarella over the beans. Arrange all the other toppings on top, ending with the cheddar cheese and cilantro.
- Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and center is hot. Slice and serve!
I forgot to add black olives to the pizza pictured, but they should be included to make this a true copycat recipe.
I kind of have a thing for Mexican pizzas. Here are a couple others you might like!
Loaded Mexican Pizza
Mo K says
I made this tonight for hubby and me, and he has leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I used a Boboli-type crust, and created a hybrid between yours and another SW pizza recipe I had. Loved the idea of a bean dip spread over the crust (I used Guiltless Gourmet spicy black bean), topped with a few tablespoons of enchilada sauce, the Mozz. cheese, jalapenos, chicken (I had rotisserie on hand) , the sliced red onion, a few tablespoons of corn kernels, a few tbsps of chopped bell pepper, the chopped black olives, shredded cheddar, and a few shakes of dried cilantro. Excellent! Thanks so much for the recipe, Andi. :-)
Andi Gleeson says
Oh wow the enchilada sauce addition sounds so good! I’ll have to try that next time. Thanks, Mo! I always love to hear your ideas ?
angie s says
this looks amazing. Like I could eat it for breakfast right now. The idea of using a black bean paste for the sauce is brilliant! Thanks for a keeper!
Andi Gleeson says
Thanks, Angie! I can’t take credit for the black bean idea since it’s a copycat recipe, but I can vouch that it’s SO good! :)
Cakespy says
I wasn’t familiar with the original but now I am obsessed! I want to make this pie.
Andi Gleeson says
I hope you like it! Thank you!
Laura O| Petite Allergy Treats says
*sigh* I hear you on the search for good gluten free pizza crust. BUT you’ve totally nailed a classic here! I can’t wait to try this recipe with my family. Gorgeous!
Andi Gleeson says
I’m sure you make amazing GF crust from scratch, but I’m usually too lazy for that ;) Thanks, Laura!
Ashlyn @ Belle of the Kitchen says
I LOVE Mexican pizza, Andi! Our favorite local pizza place has a garlic butter herb braided crust that I absolutely swoon over. It’s always better when you can make your favorite pizza at home, though. I need to try that southwest chicken, it looks so good!
Andi Gleeson says
Ooh, that braided crust sounds delicious, Ashlyn! I would order out for that too :) Thank you!
Melanie | Melanie Makes says
Love those slices of jalapeno on this pie, Andi!
Andi Gleeson says
Thanks, Melanie! That’s one of my favorite parts too. I always eat my husband’s jalapenos he picks off too. ;)
tanya says
Making your own pizzas always seems to be better! Definitely cheaper and usually much better. I love the flavor in this pizza. I have a thing for Mexican too!
Andi Gleeson says
Mexican food is the best. I went to lunch with a friend yesterday at a food court, and I went straight to the Mexican place without even looking around. She went and got a scone because she said she wasn’t in the mood for Mexican since she had it recently. I couldn’t even understand what she was saying ;) Thank you, Tanya!
Jessica @ Sprinkle Some Sugar says
This pizza looks too beautiful to eat! I’m loving all of these southwest flavors, one of my favorites! I need this pizza in my life asap.
Andi Gleeson says
Thank you, Jessica! This pizza is nice to look at since it’s so colorful. Hope you get to try it! xo
Stephanie @ back for seconds says
Oh man! This looks so so good! This pizza would be a huge hit here :)
Andi Gleeson says
Thanks so much, Stephanie!