Detroit BBQ Chicken

Name: Detroit BBQ Chicken
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 26 h 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Detroit
Ingredients: 232 g King Arthur Bread Flour; 163 g water; 5.8 g salt; 1.6 g yeast; 9 g oil; 3 g sugar; 1 ball Pizza dough (see formula above); 250g Brick cheese or mozz mix; 200g, shredded Cooked chicken breast; 100ml BBQ sauce; 75 g, thinly sliced (about half a red onion) Red onion; handful Fresh cilantro

BBQ sauce replaces tomato, with roasted chicken, red onion, and cilantro. Insane crispy BBQ cheese edge.

Recipe by the Pizza Planet team · Published February 18, 2026

Prep + bake 35 min · Dough schedule 26 h 15 min · Total 26 h 50 min4 servings

Open in Calculator →

BBQ chicken pizza done badly tastes like a sad menu add-on. Done well, it's one of the most addictive pizzas you can make at home. Two tricks. First: split the BBQ sauce — toss the chicken in half, then drizzle the rest on top after baking. BBQ sauce baked at 260°C (500°F) caramelizes into something acrid. Second: red onion goes on raw; it cooks just enough in the residual heat to soften without losing bite. Fresh cilantro at the end cuts the sweetness. Sauce-logged chicken is the other trap — wet shreds will leave the middle soggy no matter how dark the frico gets.

Flour: King Arthur Bread Flour (12.7% protein) — read the review

Dough Formula

Dough formula in grams and baker's percentage
Ingredient	Grams	Baker's %
Flour (12.7% protein)	232 g	100.0%
Water	163 g	70.3%
Salt	5.8 g	2.5%
Yeast	1.6 g	0.7%
Oil	9 g	3.9%
Sugar	3 g	1.3%

Makes 1 ball of ≈415 g

Ingredients

Dough

•1 ball Pizza dough (see formula above)

Toppings

•250g Brick cheese or mozz mix
•200g, shredded Cooked chicken breast
•100ml BBQ sauce
•75 g, thinly sliced (about half a red onion) Red onion
•handful Fresh cilantro

Instructions

1
Make the dough: mix per the formula above, then follow the calculator schedule for Detroit — 26 h bulk/cold ferment before shaping (hands-on 20 min).
2
Toss shredded chicken with half the BBQ sauce.
3
Press dough into pan, let rise, add cheese to edges.
4
Distribute BBQ chicken and red onion slices.
5
Bake at 260-290°C (500-550°F) for 12-15 minutes.
6
Drizzle remaining BBQ sauce in stripes and top with cilantro.

Tips

→Hands-on time is about 35 minutes; allow the dough its full ferment — see the calculator schedule
→Rotisserie chicken is the time-saving shortcut
→BBQ sauce burns easily — don't go heavy before baking
→Fresh cilantro after baking cuts through the richness

🎬

How to Make Detroit BBQ Chicken

Video coming soon

Shop this bake

Flour
King Arthur Bread Flour
The first bag to buy if you bake in a domestic oven. At 12.7% protein with added amylase on the label it gives you chew and colour at 250 °C, which is exactly what an unmalted 00 will not.
$14.32· as of Aug 31, 2026
i
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Affiliate link — we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Check price on Amazon →Read the review →
Ingredient
SAF Instant Yeast
Instant, so it goes in dry with the flour: no warm-water step means no step at which the yeast can be cooked, which is where an active-dry dough most often dies.
Affiliate link — we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Check price on Amazon →Read the review →
Equipment
Original Baking Steel
6.4 mm is the home compromise: enough stored heat to bake two pies back to back, in a slab that will never crack the way a cordierite stone eventually does.
$139.00· as of Aug 31, 2026
i
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Affiliate link — we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Check price on Amazon →Read the review →