Barbecue Chickpea Pizza

Posted by Erin McCarthy

I miss barbecue chicken pizza. It was never the chicken or cheese I most looked forward to though - it was the barbecue sauce. I love that stuff. I think the perfect pizza is made with just barbecue sauce and no tomato sauce (why would you mix them??). I used to order mine with extra sauce. It wasn't a big leap to create a recipe for barbecue chickpea pizza to satisfy my cravings.

I cheated here and didn’t make my own barbecue sauce because I have my favorite brand that I love - I know, terrible! But I totally bet you do too. The good news is that makes this is a super easy, super quick recipe to put together.

Yes, you have to make your own pizza dough (that’s what makes homemade pizza amazing), but just whiz it together in the morning in the food processor and throw it the fridge, and it’ll be ready to roll out when you get home.

chickpea pizza with barbecue sauce no tomato sauce

Red onions are a must on a barbecue pizza. I didn’t add any cheese to mine, but if you want to add vegan cheese (or real cheese if you’re a vegetarian), go for it!

This pizza is spicy and tangy, and the sauce has this delicious glaze to it when it comes out of the oven. The chickpeas get a bit roasted on the top and the onions get a bit crispy on the edges - a perfect mesh of bold flavors and filling ingredients.

If you like barbecue style pizza, you’ll love this one. I’d love to hear what you think in the comments!

Servings: 4

Time: 30 minutes, not counting the time it takes the dough to rise

Ingredients

1 recipe pizza dough

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 2 teaspoons salt (sea or kosher salt is best)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Pizza

  • 1 cup barbecue sauce
  • ½ tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 red onion, halved and sliced thinly
  • 1 cup of cooked chickpeas (a little less than one can, drained and rinsed)
  • Optional: Vegan (or regular) grated mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Pizza dough

  • Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine ingredients. With the machine on high, slowly pour in one cup of water until a ball of dough forms.
  • Transfer the dough to a lightly floured countertop and knead a few times, then form into a ball.
  • Place into an oiled bowl and let rise until it doubles in size, 1-2 hours. Or put in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours (I prefer to make the dough in the morning and let it slowly rise in the refrigerator using this method - the dough develops more flavor as well when rising slowly like this).

Pizza

  • Remove the pizza dough from the fridge and let rest.
  • Turn on the oven broiler.
  • Toss the onions with the olive oil, salt, and pepper on baking sheet covered with foil.
  • Put the onions in the oven and broil for 6-8 minutes, until tender and the edges start to look a bit crispy.
  • Remove the onions from the oven, set aside and set the oven temperature to 500 degrees F.
  • Roll out the pizza dough into rounds or rectangles on a pizza stone or oiled baking sheet, making one large pizza or dividing into two smaller pizzas (I usually divide into two for my husband and I - his side gets cheese). A rolling pin works really well for this. If the dough is being stubborn and doesn’t want to roll out without tearing, let rest for ten or more minutes and try again.
  • Top with the barbecue sauce, a layer of cheese if using, onions and chickpeas.
  • Bake in the oven until crust begins to brown and crisp, cheese is melted, and barbecue sauce is bubbly, 15-25 minutes depending on how well done you like the crust (we like ours pretty well done and browned).
  • Let sit for a few minutes before cutting.

Serving

Coleslaw is the perfect barbecue accompaniment, and that holds true for this pizza. This is also pretty good with the marinated mushrooms I posted here.

If you make this without cheese, try topping the pizza with a bit of coleslaw for something interesting and different. Don’t knock a pizza topped with crunchy greens till you’ve tried it - I once had a caesar salad pizza that was out of this world delicious. Another trick for vegan pizza without cheese is to drizzle the pizza with some extra olive oil just before serving.

Storing

This stores well in the fridge for up to three days, and it freezes just fine for lunches or times when you don’t feel like cooking. As with any pizza, the crust doesn’t microwave very well. I don’t really mind it, but it’s just as delicious cold or room temperature.

Will you give this a try? Are you a barbecue pizza fan, or do you prefer the traditional tomato sauce? Have you ever had a pizza topped with crunchy greens, and if so, what did you think? Let me know in the comments!

barbecue chickpea pizza vegan

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