During college, I studied abroad at NYU Abu Dhabi and I swear the thing I remember the most was ordering Chicken Tikka or Murgh Makhani Pizzas late at night from the dining hall. It was absolutely divine, and it’s now the favorite thing I make at home. It’s not terribly uncommon for desi households to repurpose leftovers in wacky ways. My mom puts Chole in pasta, and it’s actually scary delicious. If you have leftover butter chicken from an Indian restaurant or homemade from the night before, then you need to try this recipe. The butter chicken acts as a pizza sauce plus a chicken topping. The naan is the pizza crust that’s slathered in garlic butter. Then the mozzarella cheese gets bubbly and browns a little under the broiler. It’s absolutely divine with so many delicious things combined into one glorious pizza.
Why you’ll love this Recipe
I cannot say enough good things about this recipe. At this point, I make it at least once a month. For my household of two, it’s good for a few meals! The slices are hefty and pair well with a fresh salad. Here’s why you’ll love it:
It’s great for using butter chicken leftovers! Although leftovers are probably even more delicious the next night, it’s even better on a pizza. With lots of garlic and cheese. Yum! You can use my Authentic Stovetop Butter Chicken recipe or this Easy Baked Butter Chicken recipe. This recipe makes a giant naan for the pizza crust. It’s delicious, fluffy, and not a fussy bread to make. It holds up super well to the moisture in the curry. It’s easy to customize with additional toppings, including red onion or green bell peppers. I also love to experiment with the cheese, pepper jack being my favorite so far for the additional spice kick. What’s better than having a handheld slice of butter chicken on pizza? Enjoy it at a backyard party or while watching a game with your friends.
Ingredients - Notes and Subsitutions
Naan is an Indian bread that originated in Iran. It’s typically cooked in a tandoor, a clay oven. It uses a unique ingredient, dahi, or yogurt that adds a bit of tanginess. The naan forms the crust of this pizza. It’s fluffy on the inside and gets nicely browned on the bottom from the hot pan. Brush it with garlic butter and it’s seriously sooo good. I especially love the bites of the crust where it’s brushed with aforementioned garlic butter and bits of browned cheese. If you don’t want to make naan from scratch, you can also purchase it fresh from an Indian restaurant or in the frozen aisle of an Indian grocery store. One frozen naan per person should be sufficient.
Butter Chicken - Leftover butter chicken from an Indian restaurant or homemade butter chicken are equally delicious. Cheese - Fresh mozzarella with a bit of cheddar cheese has the best flavor on this pizza when paired with butter chicken. I’ve also really loved pepper jack as well. Cilantro - For garnish.
Don’t be afraid to add your favorite vegetables as well! Red onion and green bell peppers would be delicious additions.
How to make Butter Chicken Garlic Naan Pizza
Let’s break this down into a few parts:
1. How to make Butter Chicken
Try my highly-rated authentic butter chicken or easy baked butter chicken recipes! You’ll start off by marinating the chicken in dahi, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, and spices. While the chicken marinates, you’ll sautè the spices, aromatics, and tomatoes in lots of butter. Once the tomato-base gets thick and dark, everything will go into the blender resulting in a silky smooth makhani sauce. The chicken is pan-fried and tossed in with the makhani. Lastly, It’s topped with heavy cream, and then it’s ready to enjoy. I promise it’s easier than you think, and better than at an Indian restaurant. I love repurposing leftovers for butter chicken pizza or tossing it with a classic mac and cheese.
2. How to make a Garlic Naan Pizza
Making the dough for naan is easy and very forgiving. You can make it by hand, but a stand mixer takes under 10 minutes.
If you’re using a stand mixer, fit it with the dough hook. Then, add the dry ingredients - the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Give it a stir so that the ingredients are evenly mixed together.
Then, add the yogurt and oil in. Start the mixer at a low speed. While it’s mixing, slowly add in the warm water. Keep mixing for about 5 minutes, using a small spatula to scrape all the edges.
The dough is ready when it’s smooth and pulls away from the edges. If it’s too sticky where it gets all of over your fingers, add more flour. If it’s just a little sticky, it’ll be okay after it rises.
Cover the mixing bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for 30 minutes until it doubles in size. After the half hour, punch the dough down and knead it a few times until it’s smooth again.
Note: This naan recipe also works for individual regular-sized naan, but has been tested specifically to work as a large piece of bread to hold up the saucy butter chicken.
3. Assembling the Pizza
Preheat the oven to 425℉ and spray a half sheet pan with cooking oil. Place the butter and garlic in a tadka spoon, small saucepan, or mini cocotte and then over a low flame on the stove. Allow the garlic to simmer in the butter on low for 5 minutes, until fragrant. Once all that garlic flavor has been infused into the butter, remove it from heat and set it aside. Note: This is great to do while the naan goes through it’s first 10 minute bake. Put the pizza back into the oven on the lower rack for another 10 minutes, still at 425℉. At the end of the 10 minutes, switch on the broiler for 5 minutes. The crust will turn a gorgeous golden brown and the mozzarella will bubble and brown as well. Pull the pizza out of the oven. Let’s get to serving!
Serving Instructions
Garnish the pizza with chopped cilantro. Using a pizza cutter, cut the pizza into either 4 large slices or 8 smaller slices. For a little spice, add chili flakes. Butter Chicken Naan Pizza pairs really well with Mango Lassi.
Storage Recommendations
Store leftover pizza in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave for a minute and 30 seconds. Alternatively, bake in the oven at 350℉ for 5 minutes or until warmed through.
More Indian Main Dishes to try
For more butter chicken, try this Butter Masala Pasta and Butter Chicken Wings! Use leftover butter chicken. Leftover butter chicken is best for this recipe. It thickens significantly in the fridge, so it’s not likely to make your pizza soggy or runny. If it’s fresh butter chicken and the gravy is watery, put it in a pan and let it simmer for a few minutes until the gravy thickens. Spread it thin on the naan crust as you typically would when making a pizza. Don’t skip the par-bake or broil. Baking the dough halfway makes the crust sturdy enough to hold the makhani and ensure the dough cooks all the way through. The broil is what gets the signature gorgeous golden crust and bubbly mozzarella. Add more toppings. This pizza is genuinely so good with just butter chicken, garlic butter, and cheese. But feel free to add sliced red onion, bell peppers, and anything else you can think of.
Recipe
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