The Jalapeno Burn Pizza may be something new to you, but it will soon become an old stand-by. This less than traditional pizza is super delicious.
For the last 20 years, I’ve spent most Friday nights making pizza. There have been a few exceptions, but for the most part, it’s a given that we will have pizza for dinner — and usually homemade
There was a season when all my children were really little and I was pregnant or nursing (or both!) and I was just too tired to make pizza from scratch. That’s when our local take-and-bake came to my rescue.
Contrary to the reputations of most take-and-bake restaurants, this place did not disappoint. One of our favorite pizzas to order was The Fresh Jalapeno Burn.
I considered it a wonderful indulgence since we were in debt and living on a really tight budget, but not only did that take and bake place fill the gap on a tired Friday night, but it inspired me later to make it myself! So easy and delicious. For just a few bucks we have a homemade Jalapeno Burn pizza that is super tasty and better for us!
How I make this good:
Whenever possible I like to cook with plain old ingredients. While the convenience of mixes and canned sauces is nice, I feel better about feeding my family just real food whenever possible. (Go here for some of my reasons on all that.)
I make my own dough for pizza, typically, using half whole wheat flour and half unbleached bread flour. I feel a little less guilty eating pizza if it’s whole wheat pizza. 😉
I usually use leftover chicken from something else or just cook a few frozen chicken tenders really quickly in a skillet. All the other ingredients are basically straight from the source: shredded cheeses and fresh chopped veggies.
How to make this cheap:
Here are some of the strategies you can use to make this recipe more economical:
- Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. Whether it’s canned olives, shredded cheese, tomatoes, or onions, I stock up when things are on sale.
- Shop Costco. Costco has the best price on shredded mozzarella. I buy the big five pound bag and divide it into smaller bags to store in the freezer.
Tools I use to make this recipe easy:
This is a pretty straight-forward dish. You don’t need any fancy equipment. However, having some good basic kitchen tools can really make your time in the kitchen more enjoyable. Over time, I’ve honed my collection so that they are perfect for my needs.
I actually have an arsenal of favorite pizza tools that make the Friday night pizza experience super quick and simple.
Here are the tools that I like to use in this recipe:
- A kitchen scale – to weigh flour quickly, much more quickly than when I use a measuring cup.
- A KitchenAid mixer – I used to use a bread machine, until the 4th — or was it the 5th? machine in 14 years broke. My KitchenAid, circa 2004, has served me well since then.
- A large plastic cutting board – I use this to work my dough.
- A bench knife – for dividing the dough easily into portions.
- Round pizza screens – I have a collection of different sizes that work really well for me.
- A pizza wheel – I have a Pampered Chef pizza wheel that has lasted me over ten years
- 12- inch pizza crust
- 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
- red pepper flakes
- 1 cup chopped cooked chicken
- 2 jalapeno peppers thinly sliced
- 1 roma tomato seeded and diced
- 1/4 cup sliced onion
- 1/4 cup sliced black olives
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- freshly chopped cilantro and sliced avocado for serving
- Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Spray a 12-inch pizza pan or screen with nonstick cooking spray. Fit the pizza dough into the pan, stretching to fit.
- Spread enough olive oil across the dough to cover. Sprinkle red pepper flakes to cover. Sprinkle the chicken, jalapeno slices, chopped tomato, sliced onion, and sliced olives in layers over the pizza’s surface. Sprinkle the cheeses over the top.
- Bake the pizza for 8 to 9 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is crisp. Remove to a cutting surface to slice. Serve with fresh cilantro and fresh avocado.
Nutritional values may vary. Those stated here are based on 1/8 of a pizza.
Originally published July 27, 2009. Updated October 15, 2016.
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We made this last night and it was AWESOME!!!! This will definitely be on the meal plan regularly. Thanks so much!
@Amy, it’s one of our favorites!
This is the recipe that our family’s version of chicken pizza originated from…though it hardly resembles it now!! It started when I didn’t have the fresh tomatoes, onion, or jalapeño…so I subbed a can of drained mild Rotel. Then, one time I had no chicken except canned chicken breast…so I drained and used a can of that. Then, we always have shredded Mexican blend cheese from Walmart on hand…so that is what we use instead of specifically mozzarella and cheddar. My husband doesn’t like olives and we rarely have fresh cilantro on hand…so those got left off. Eventually when our little son started joining in with us on pizza night he deemed it too spicy, so we toned it down by leaving off the red pepper flakes!! So now it bears little resemblance to your jalapeño burn pizza…but that is how our easy go-to chicken pizza got its start. Everything we put on it now with the exception of the cheese is stocked in the pantry…and we usually have cheese on hand in the fridge. By making our pizza dough in the bread machine, our chicken pizza is an easy fix without having to shop (cause we almost always toss a couple cans of Rotel and a couple cans of canned chicken in the cart when we grocery shop…just so we never run out).
What a fun story! I love to hear how readers make recipes their own. You’ve got it!