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I was just wondering if I can arrange raw chicken on the pizza base and cook everything along or if I should cook the chicken first separately.

Uday Kanth
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    Generally the temperature to which you cook your pizza will not be effective with killing bacteria that is dangerous in chicken. In addition if you introduce the raw chicken to your other raw ingredients for your pizza you will contaminate them as well. – Chad Dec 28 '11 at 20:21
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    @Chad Pizza is cooked plenty *hot* enough - just not **long** enough to pasteurize most cuts of chicken. – rfusca Dec 28 '11 at 20:55
  • I saw you asked what seasoning goes well with chicken, and I assume you meant on pizza. Well, where I live, a (somewhat) popular choice is chicken + curry + banana + pineapple. Might sound weird but I find it very taste and a bit different. – Max Jan 02 '12 at 16:05

3 Answers3

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Cook the chicken ahead of time. I doubt your pizza cooking time and your chicken cooking time will be a perfect match, and it is more likely than anything that your chicken would be undercooked. That would not be good for anyone.

If you are worried about the chicken being dry on your pizza, you can try par-cooking the pieces instead of fully cooking them (though that may be a little dangerous, too), or you can add the cooked pieces to the pizza after it has begun baking.

Sean Hart
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  • Thanks! Also what kind of seasoning goes well with chicken? – Uday Kanth Dec 28 '11 at 19:47
  • It's all a matter of personal taste, as most seasonings go pretty well with chicken. A place near me serves a pizza that has sauteed chicken pieces that are also tossed in Buffalo wing sauce. It's delicious, it goes well with the other pizza flavors, and it keeps the chicken pieces from drying out. – Sean Hart Dec 28 '11 at 20:16
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I've a bias against putting raw chicken on anything that possibly might not get thoroughly cooked. It has something to do with Salmonella. That said, the high percentage of water released when cooking poultry, as opposed to other meats, might cause your pizza crust to become soggy, or your sauce liquidy. Neither of these are good things when it comes to pizza.

Wayfaring Stranger
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i put the chicken on raw. I cut it thin and in small pieces so that it cooks at 450f for about 15 minutes. The trick is to cut it when its still a little bit frozen it is much easier this way. The chicken cooks perfectly and is not burnt, fried, not dry. People are so scared of raw chicken its hilarious. I cook my chicken, mushroom, and onion pizza RAW.

adrian
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    15 minutes is a lot longer than many people cook pizza dough. It's common to pop it in at 500F on a pizza stone for 7-8 minutes. – Yamikuronue May 21 '12 at 12:40