Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza w/Zucchini Crust

It starts with a zucchini almond pizza crust smeared with sun dried tomato pesto and a rich creamy bacon-y ranch sauce. Then it’s topped with cooked chicken, chopped sweet onions, a bit of curly kale and lots of good melty cheese. I would have included some fresh tomatoes, but I was fresh out at the time and definitely wasn’t up for making yet another trip to the store.

Some days I feel like I spend my life grocery shopping. I try to tuck it in here and there, when I’m near the store or on my way home from somewhere. But it never fails, I always feel like I just gotta have this one little thing for this new recipe or that one that I want to try. So I’m really proud of myself this time for resisting the urge to rush off to the store to get “the last ingredient” when I have more than enough food at home. I made this pizza without three trips to the store!

I have been in the mood for pizza ever since National Pizza Day when one of my coworkers talked me into going out for pizza. I felt like I HAD to go … I mean, it’s National Pizza Day. You gotta celebrate with your coworkers, right? I was full after 2 pieces, but I charged on and ate another yummy piece … and then I boxed up the rest of the pizza, knowing that I really shouldn’t eat it later either. (But I did.) And then there was more pizza at work, and people were encouraging me to eat it and so I ended up eating more crap pizza that made my body feel all yucky and wishing I had a pizza that made me feel GOOD. So I put it on my list to make one.

THIS pizza is tasty and delicious and it makes me feel good. I mean not like insanely good like I would if I’d eaten a salad, but pretty dang good. The flavor alone makes my taste buds SING with joy. I love that the zucchini crust is low-carb and the toppings (aside from the bacon) are really quite healthy. But bacon gives it so much good flavor!

To be honest, zucchini crusts taste good, but they don’t have the same crunch and puff as a good yeasty crust … so if you really just gotta have your yeasty crust, feel free to substitute. I like my Boboli-copycat Italian Garlic crust … or the New York style crust. You can’t go wrong with either of those.

And if you happen to have some sweet cherry tomatoes (or even sun dried tomatoes) on hand, throw a few of them on top of the pizza too. That burst of juice will make this pizza experience just one little bit better.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza w/Zucchini Crust

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 4 - 6 servings 1x

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the zucchini crust:

• 4 cups shredded zucchini (about 3 zucchini)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shredded Italian cheese
• 1/3 cup almond flour
• 1 clove garlic, peeled & chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 egg

For the creamy bacon ranch sauce:

• 4 oz. Greek cream cheese (or Neufchatel), softened
• 1/4 cup bacon ranch dressing (recipe here … or regular ranch)
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon bacon morel salt (recipe here) … or salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• A pinch of dried dill

For the pizza:

• Sun dried tomato pesto (store bought or homemade – recipe here)
• Creamy bacon ranch spread
• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• Cooked, chopped chicken
• Cooked, chopped bacon
• Chopped sweet or red onion
• A bit of chopped kale leaves (or spinach)

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 500 F with pizza stone in the oven. Line a flat baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Use a food processor to grate the zucchini, then sprinkle with salt and toss to mix. Let the zucchini sit for about 15 minutes, then pour it out over a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth and roll up, then, over the sink, wring out the excess moisture. Squeeze and squeeze and squeeze that water out!
3. Return the zucchini to the food processor and add the rest of the crust ingredients. Blend to mix the ingredients well. Form the zucchini mixture into one large or two smaller circles on the parchment paper, about 1/2 inch thick. (I made two individual pizzas about 7 inches each.)
4. Bake at 500 F. for about 8 – 12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown on top and bottom.
5. While the crust is baking, in a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the bacon ranch sauce.
6. Once the crust is done, spread with a thin layer of sun dried tomato pesto, then a thin layer of the bacon ranch sauce. Sprinkle lightly with shredded mozzarella, then some chopped chicken, bacon and onion and a bit of kale or spinach and then a bit more mozzarella to hold it all together.
7. Bake at 425 for another 10 minutes or so or until the cheese is melted and bubbly and starting to brown in a few spots. Remove from the oven, slice into wedges and enjoy!

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

© Copyright 2018, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.

This recipe was shared at Full Plate Thursday, What’s for Dinner? and Pretty Pintastic Party.