Buffalo Chicken Pizza: The Recipe, the Sauce, and Ranch vs Blue Cheese
Buffalo wings rebuilt on a crust. The sauce base that works, how to keep the chicken from flooding the pizza, and the ranch vs blue cheese question.
Buffalo chicken pizza replaces tomato sauce with a base of hot sauce and melted butter, or ranch or blue cheese dressing. It's topped with chicken tossed in Buffalo sauce and mozzarella, then finished after baking with a drizzle of ranch or blue cheese and thin-sliced celery. It's Buffalo wings rebuilt on a pizza crust.
Where buffalo chicken pizza came from
The flavor comes from Buffalo, New York. The standard story credits Teressa Bellissimo at the Anchor Bar in 1964, who fried halved chicken wings, tossed them in hot sauce and served them with celery and blue cheese dressing. The Buffalo History Museum notes a rival claim: John Young, who opened Wings & Things in 1966 and served whole breaded wings in a tomato-based mambo sauce. Either way, the combination of hot sauce, butter, blue cheese and celery spread nationally, and pizzerias put it on pizza. No single inventor of the pizza version is documented.
What goes on a buffalo chicken pizza
- Base: Buffalo sauce, ranch, blue cheese dressing, or a mix of Buffalo sauce and tomato
- Chicken: cooked, shredded or diced, tossed in Buffalo sauce
- Cheese: low-moisture mozzarella, often with some provolone or cheddar
- Finish: blue cheese crumbles, a drizzle of ranch or blue cheese dressing, thin-sliced celery or scallion
- Optional: red onion, banana peppers, bacon, or a few fresh chilies
Buffalo chicken pizza sauce: pick your base
The base does more to change the pizza than any topping. Pick it by how much heat you want:
| Base | Flavor | Heat | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo sauce (hot sauce + butter) | Sharp, tangy, buttery | High | Wing lovers; the most authentic version |
| Ranch dressing | Creamy, herby | Low | Kids and mixed crowds; the pizzeria default |
| Blue cheese dressing | Funky, rich | Low | Classic wing-night flavor |
| Half tomato sauce, half Buffalo sauce | Bright, familiar | Medium | People who want it to still taste like pizza |
Whichever you pick, use less than you would of tomato pizza sauce. Dressings and butter sauces are rich, and too much turns greasy in the oven.
Homemade buffalo chicken pizza recipe
For one 12-inch pizza.
Buffalo sauce:
- 1/3 cup (80ml) cayenne pepper hot sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice (optional; sharpens it)
Pizza:
- 250g dough ball (see our pizza dough recipes)
- 2 tablespoons Buffalo sauce or ranch for the base
- 150g cooked chicken, shredded or diced (rotisserie chicken works well)
- 3 tablespoons Buffalo sauce for the chicken
- 150g low-moisture mozzarella, shredded
- 30g blue cheese, crumbled
- 1 celery stalk, sliced very thin, and a drizzle of ranch or blue cheese dressing to finish
Method:
- Heat the oven with a stone or steel inside to its highest setting, usually 500 to 550°F, for 45 to 60 minutes.
- Whisk the melted butter into the hot sauce. Toss the chicken with 3 tablespoons of it and let any excess drip off in a sieve.
- Stretch the dough and spread a thin layer of base sauce, leaving a half-inch border.
- Add the mozzarella, then the chicken in a single layer, then the blue cheese.
- Bake 7 to 10 minutes until the crust is browned and the cheese is bubbling. If you're starting from raw chicken, cook it to 165°F before it goes on the pizza. That's the USDA safe minimum temperature for poultry, and a short pizza bake won't get raw chicken there reliably.
- Rest one minute, then finish with the celery and a thin zigzag of dressing.
How to keep buffalo chicken pizza from getting soggy
Butter and hot sauce are mostly liquid, and the combination makes this one of the easier pizzas to turn soggy. Three rules help. Sauce the chicken lightly and drain it, so it's glossy rather than dripping. Keep the base layer thin: two tablespoons is enough for a 12-inch pizza. And put cold dressings on after baking. Ranch baked under the cheese splits and turns oily. Low-moisture mozzarella matters here for the same reason; our guide to the best cheese for pizza explains why.
How to make buffalo chicken pizza without a pizza stone
You don't need a stone or steel for this one. A heavy sheet pan or a 12-inch cast-iron skillet works well, and the thicker, pan-style crust holds the saucy chicken better than a thin base. For a sheet pan, oil it generously, press the dough to the edges and bake on the lowest rack at 475°F for 12 to 15 minutes. For cast iron, heat the oiled skillet on the stovetop for two minutes to start the base, add the toppings, then move it to a 475°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Either way, check the underside with a spatula before you pull it: it should be deep golden and firm, not pale and bendy.
Ranch or blue cheese?
The Anchor Bar served its wings with blue cheese dressing, and many people in western New York still treat ranch as the wrong answer. Across most of the country ranch is more popular, and it's the default at most chains. On pizza the practical difference is intensity. Blue cheese stands up to a hot Buffalo base. Ranch cools things down, which suits the milder ranch-base version. Serving both on the side settles the argument.
Buffalo chicken pizza variations
- Sweet heat: a thin drizzle of hot honey after baking balances the vinegar in the hot sauce.
- Pan style: a thick Sicilian pan base holds up well under the sauced chicken.
- Buffalo chicken ranch: ranch base, Buffalo chicken, cheddar and bacon. This is the mildest crowd-pleaser.
- Gluten-free: the toppings work on any crust in our gluten-free pizza guide. Check that your hot sauce is labeled gluten-free.
For more combinations built on the same principles, see our pizza toppings guide. Leftovers keep well. To bring back a crisp base, reheat pizza in a skillet rather than the microwave.
Frequently asked questions
What is on a buffalo chicken pizza?
Chicken tossed in Buffalo sauce, mozzarella, and a base of Buffalo sauce, ranch or blue cheese dressing, usually finished with blue cheese crumbles, a drizzle of dressing and thin-sliced celery.
What sauce goes on buffalo chicken pizza?
Either a Buffalo sauce made from cayenne hot sauce and melted butter, or a ranch or blue cheese dressing base. Buffalo sauce gives the most heat; ranch is the mildest.
Do you cook the chicken before putting it on pizza?
Yes. Use cooked chicken, such as rotisserie or leftover roast chicken. A pizza bake is too short to bring raw chicken reliably to the USDA safe minimum of 165°F.
Is buffalo chicken pizza better with ranch or blue cheese?
Blue cheese is the traditional pairing from Buffalo and stands up to a hot base. Ranch is milder and more popular nationally. Adding the dressing after baking works best either way.
How do you keep buffalo chicken pizza from getting soggy?
Sauce the chicken lightly and drain off the excess, keep the base layer thin, use low-moisture mozzarella, and add cold dressings only after the pizza comes out of the oven.
How spicy is buffalo chicken pizza?
Medium to hot with a Buffalo sauce base, mild with a ranch base. You can reduce the heat by adding more butter to the hot sauce.