Growing up, my mother made it a point to cook dinner for our family every night. Eating out was rare, eating dinner together was a nightly ritual. My first memory of having a frozen pizza? High school. And I’m fairly certain it was at my boyfriend’s house. I was in college before I figured out that this was not necessarily the norm for many of my friends – they thought that I was the weird one to have a mom who actually cooked, instead of relying on take-out or prepared foods.
So when my cooking adventures inspired one of these friends to cook dinner for me this past summer, I was like a proud momma. And the meal was so good, I insisted she email me the recipe! I had forgotten about that recipe until recently, when I suddenly found myself craving some of that Thai Chicken Pizza. I dug up that recipe the next day, did some tweaking, and feasted on Thai Chicken Pizza for the next three days.
We’ve got some great players here: nutty whole wheat crust, creamy peanut sauce, crunchy veggies, juicy chicken, and just enough cheese to pull it all together. Feel free to add other veggies as you feel appropriate – I think some thinly sliced snap peas would be a great addition here. And we all know I’m a lightweight when it comes to spicy food, but if you like some extra kick, add some crushed red pepper to your peanut sauce.
Trust me, this recipe is easy, full of protein, and far better than any frozen pizza you are likely to find.
Adapted from a Jillian Michaels recipe.
Recipe for whole wheat pizza crust.
Thai Chicken Pizza
Ingredients
- 16 ounces whole wheat pizza dough
- 1 large chicken breast diced
- 1 green pepper diced
- 1 medium carrot grated
- 4 scallions chopped
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter natural, please!
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Optional: crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Press or roll out crust and place on a well-oiled baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until puffed and the bottom is lightly crisped.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, water, and red pepper flakes (to taste).
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until cooked through. Add the cooked chicken to a bowl and combine with the green pepper, carrot, and 1 heaping tablespoon of the sauce.
- Spread the remainder of the sauce on the prepared crust. Spoon the chicken mixture evenly over the crust, sprinkle with the scallions, reserving some for garnish if desired, and sprinkle with the cheese.
- Bake for 10-12 more minutes until the cheese is melted and the crust is nicely browned. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before cutting.
I love Thai chicken pizza! That’s awesome that you inspired one of your friends to cook. So many of my friends use the excuse that cooking for one isn’t fun and I’m constantly trying to convince them otherwise!
It is more fun to cook for others, but the great part of cooking for one is you can have leftovers! Which means you cook less often. Throw them that argument and see what they say 😉
Oh baby! This looks great! I think a big drizzle of Sriracha would go great over this pizza! My mom cooked everday. We all sat at the dinner table and ate every single night. We didn’t get take-out until middle school when we started Pizza Hut Saturdays. I love those memories of eating all together around the table.
Thanks for sharing your story Steph. As a child growing up I too always ate around the table every night as a family. The first time I ate out at a restaurant was when I was 11 years old, seriously.
I am a mom and have been for over 32 years. I carried on the same tradition as my mom and hers before her of preparing dinner almost every night. I love to do it still. Our youngest son is 21, a full time college student living at home. I know he looks forward to dinner every night.
One of his favorites is pizza. I am excited about trying your recipe. It looks delicious.
Thanks, Vickie! I hope you all enjoy it.
Looks delicious! I grew up with a family that ate together every night too with a homemade meal. Must be what made us love food and cooking!
YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Thai Chicken is one of my favorite pizzas and I’ve never tried making it at home. Your crust looks perfect! Let’s do this. With Grey’s Anatomy. And lots and lots of beer 🙂
Confession: I may or may not have used a TJ’s crust when I actually made this. HOWEVER! The link I gave for the crust recipe is almost identical, if not better. I was just having a lazy day. Go figure.
Um, you don’t know how much I wish half a country did not separate us.
This looks absolutely delicious – just got home from work…I want it now 🙂
I love this pizza! One of the best flavor combos on top of pizza! Such a great idea! yum yum yum!!
Weeeeee my pizza! You know I’ll cook ANYTHING if Jillian Michaels tells me to! <3
:-* xoxo
I definitely have not had a Thai pizza yet…..and I am a pizza addict! Love all the flavors! Perfect dinner option, filling and delicious! Yum, Hugs, Terra
I really must make this again soon…the flavors are so awesome! You’ll love it!