Chicken, Bacon & Ranch

We resisted putting this one on the site for a while. It doesn’t fit the aesthetic. It’s not regional. It’s not something you’d find at a New Haven apizza institution.

It’s also the pie that disappears first at every pizza night we’ve ever hosted.

The ranch base is the key — made from scratch, heavy on dill and chives, tangy enough to hold its own against the smoky bacon and the richness of the chicken. Don’t use bottled ranch dressing. The ratio matters, and it takes four minutes to mix. Once you’ve had this on a properly charred crust off a 650°F stone, the bottled version will never seem like the same substance again.

We’ve made peace with this being in our rotation. The guests have spoken.

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Ingredients

For the ranch base:

• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise (full fat)
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 tablespoon buttermilk (or whole milk with a few drops of lemon juice)
• 1 small clove garlic, grated or pressed
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced (or 1 tsp dried)
• 1 tablespoon fresh chives, minced
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon Baleine fine sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

For the pizza:

• 1 dough ball (about 250g), stretched to 10–12 inches
• 4–5 tablespoons ranch base (above)
• 1 cup cooked chicken, shredded or roughly chopped (rotisserie works perfectly)
• 4 strips thick-cut bacon, cooked until crispy and crumbled
• 4 oz low-moisture mozzarella, shredded (fresh mozzarella is too wet here — use low-moisture)
• 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced — divided, half for baking and half for finishing
• Red pepper flakes

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Instructions

1. Make the ranch base

Combine all ranch ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Taste — it should be tangy, herby, and well-seasoned. This base is thicker than pourable ranch dressing; it should hold its shape on the dough. If it’s too thick to spread, add another small splash of buttermilk.

This keeps in the fridge for 4–5 days. We always make a double batch.

2. Cook the bacon and prep the chicken

Cook the bacon until genuinely crispy — not chewy, crispy. It’s going on a hot stone and needs to survive the bake without turning to rubber. Drain on paper towels, then crumble into pieces.

If using rotisserie chicken, shred the meat and season lightly with salt and pepper. If cooking from scratch, a simple roast or poached breast works. Either way, the chicken should be pre-cooked — it won’t have enough time to cook through on the stone.

3. Build on the peel

Stretch your dough and lay it on a well-floured peel.

Spread the ranch base evenly across the surface, leaving a ¾-inch border. Scatter the shredded mozzarella over the ranch. Distribute the chicken and half the scallions. Add the bacon crumbles. Finish with the Parmigiano and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Don’t overload the pie. This one has several components, and the instinct is always to add more of everything. Resist. A crowded pie takes longer to bake and the crust suffers.

4. Launch and bake

Ninja Woodfire: Pizza mode, stone at 620–650°F. Launch and bake 3–4 minutes, rotating once at the 2-minute mark. The mozzarella should be fully melted and beginning to brown. The crust should be deeply golden with good char spots underneath. Because this pie has a creamy base, check the undercarriage before pulling — it can look done on top while the bottom needs another minute.

Ooni: Fully preheated on high. Launch and bake 60–90 seconds, rotate, another 60–90 seconds. The high heat of the Ooni caramelizes the ranch base at the edges in a way we actually love.

5. Finish

Off the peel, scatter the remaining raw scallions across the top. The contrast between cooked and fresh scallion is subtle but right.

Optional: a thin drizzle of extra ranch base, straight from the bowl, across the finished pie. This is not subtle. People will comment on it.

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Notes

On the mozzarella: Low-moisture here, not fresh. Fresh mozzarella releases too much water for a pie that already has a creamy base — you’ll get a soggy center. Part-skim low-moisture shredded mozzarella is the right call.

On the chicken: Rotisserie chicken from a grocery store works as well as anything we’ve tried from scratch. The bake is short and the chicken isn’t raw, so what matters is that it’s well-seasoned going on. Pull it from the bone while still warm and season with salt.

On the ranch: The scratch ranch takes four minutes. The difference between it and bottled is significant enough that it’s not worth the shortcut here. If you only have bottled, thicken it slightly with a tablespoon of sour cream and add fresh dill if you have it.

On the kids: This is the pizza kids actually eat. If you’re hosting pizza night with children, make this one first and watch what happens. We’ve seen adults reach for it over the margherita.

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Related

• The 72-hour cold-ferment dough
• How to Throw a Pizza Party for 12 Without Losing Your Mind
• 9 Pizza Recipes Beyond Margherita