This recipe is for my popular BBQ pulled pork pizza, which is topped with tender, crispy pulled pork, a tangy homemade barbecue sauce, crescents of red onions, and a blanket of melted mozzarella cheese. It's a great way to use up leftover pulled pork or carnitas and is so good served with a side of coleslaw!
My husband and I first started making variations of this BBQ sauce pizza to use up leftovers from grilling, but now we plan ahead to make it on purpose because it's just so good. When we host pizza nights, it's one of the most frequently requested pizzas by our friends.
The homemade South Carolina-style mustard-based BBQ sauce is sweet and tangy with just a bit of a vinegary kick. The shredded pork (usually leftover pulled pork or carnitas) crisps up beautifully under the broiler, and the red onion provides just the right amount of bite.
Planning ahead is key to a quick and easy successful pizza night! Whether you're making my overnight pizza dough (my personal recommendation) or using store-bought dough, you'll need to divide and pre-shape it for at least a few hours (if not the night before) before you plan to use it.
Then, check out my guide to hand-stretching pizza dough — it'll help you get a beautifully circular pizza instead of one shaped like an ode to Pangea.
For the meat on this barbecue pizza, I usually use leftovers from making these sous vide carnitas, but any leftover pulled pork will work. Don't have leftover pulled pork? Pork is by far my favorite meat topping for a BBQ pizza but I've also made it with shredded rotisserie chicken. You could even use thinly sliced portabella mushrooms as a vegetarian option.
I use my South Carolina BBQ sauce for this pulled pork pizza because I love the sweet and tangy flavors, and I know the sugars in it will caramelize perfectly without burning in the oven, but you can use any of your favorite barbecue sauces, too.
I usually have a bottle of the homemade South Carolina BBQ sauce in the fridge already when I decide to make this pizza, but if you don't, don't worry — there's more than enough time to make it while the oven preheats.
BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza Assembly
To get the signature bubbly crust and crispy, thin-crust bottom of this pizza, you'll want to hand-stretch your pizza dough. As always, make sure you use plenty of flour, let gravity do most of the work, and always stretch on the backs of your hands.
When it comes to saucing this pulled pork pizza, less is definitely more. Barbecue sauce has a lot of sugar in it, which heats, bubbles, and caramelizes in the high heat of the oven. I really try not to use too much sauce, or it'll take over the whole pizza.
I use a squeeze bottle for an even distribution of sauce across the surface of the pizza.
I think the onion crescents look best when I slice the onion from root to tip rather than across the middle, but you do you.
As always, I make my pizzas on a baking steel (use code TPK10 for 10% off!), and use a wooden pizza peel dusted with semolina flour to slide my dough onto the steel.
Launch the pizza onto the baking steel:
- Place the tip of the pizza peel an inch or two in front of the back edge of the baking steel.
- Lift the handle of the peel up slightly at about a 20 degree angle.
- In a quick movement, thrust the peel forward about an inch, so the edge of the pizza slides off the end of the peel and onto the steel. Then pull the peel back and out of the oven, keeping the tip of the peel on the steel the whole time to let the pizza slide off.
Every oven is different, but pizza cooks quickly — after the first 5 minutes on the steel, the pizza dough will be cooked through.
What you're really looking at to determine if it's "done" is the browning on the crust and cheese. Some of that will come down to personal preference. The final bit of time under the broiler is when the crust will take on a darker color.
💭 Have More Pizza Questions?
I've rounded up answers to common baking and pizza questions and how-to guides, including:
- Ingredient swaps and FAQs
- How to hand stretch pizza dough
- When to put fresh basil on pizza
- Ingredients I use (salt, flour, yeast, etc.)
- Step-by-step guides for pizza and baking techniques
See my baking techniques & troubleshooting guide and ingredient swaps and FAQs for more!
📖 Recipe
South Carolina BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza
Recipe Notes
- Freeze the Mozzarella: I always use low-moisture mozzarella cheese because I think it gives the best melt for pizza. If the mozzarella cheese is too soft to grate, pop it in the freezer for about 10 minutes, then try again.
- You can absolutely swap pulled pork for shredded chicken or even thinly sliced mushrooms for a vegetarian option.
- Wrap any leftover barbecue pulled pork pizza slices in foil or plastic wrap and store them in the fridge for about 3-4 days. Reheat day-old or cold pizza in a dry skillet over medium heat, or on a foil-lined baking sheet in the oven at 350°F for 10-15 minutes (or until the cheese is melted again).
- Using Store Bought Pizza Dough: I don't recommend using store bought dough as it's almost impossible to get a truly thin and crispy crust with it, but if you DO use store bought pizza dough, you'll want to divide it in half or in thirds when you get home, pre-shape it into balls, and let it rise in the fridge (if not using immediately) or at room temperature if using within an hour or so.
- Let the pizza dough warm up: Hand stretching refrigerated pizza dough takes a bit of practice. The cold temperature tightens the gluten network making it harder to stretch. You'll have a much easier time if you let it sit at room temperature for 60-90 minutes before stretching it.
Ingredients
Pizza Assembly
- 1 ball overnight thin crust pizza dough (approximately 200 grams)
- 1 cup leftover pulled pork
- ¼ cup South Carolina BBQ sauce (or BBQ sauce of your choosing)
- ½ cup low-moisture mozzarella cheese (grated)
- 1 tablespoon powdered pecorino romano cheese (or parmesan cheese)
- ⅛ cup thinly sliced red onion
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500°F with baking steel on the top rack of the oven for at least 1 hour before use. Remove pizza dough from the refrigerator at least 60-90 minutes prior to stretching.
- Make the South Carolina BBQ sauce. This can be done several days, even months ahead of time. If you don't want to make BBQ sauce from scratch, that's okay too.
- Prep your toppings. Grate the mozzarella cheese, slice the onion, and shred the pork further if needed. Store the cheese in the fridge until ready to use.
- Hand stretch the pizza dough. Stretch the pizza until it is 12-14" across. Transfer to a pizza peel dusted with semolina flour.
- Use a squeeze bottle to drizzle or spread the BBQ sauce across the surface of the dough with the back of a spoon, taking care not to tear the dough.
- Sprinkle on an even layer of the shredded mozzarella cheese, bringing the cheese all the way to the edges of the sauce. Top with pulled pork followed by red onions. Dust with pecorino romano or parmesan cheese to finish.
- Give the pizza a shimmy on the peel to make sure it isn't stuck. Then, slide it onto the baking steel: Pull the top oven rack out and place the tip of the peel near the back of the baking steel at a low angle. Quickly slide the peel out of the oven, letting the pizza slide off and onto the baking steel.
- Cook the pizza for 2-3 minutes, then rotate the pizza on the baking steel and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Broil for the final 1-2 minutes until the cheese and crust are as browned as you like.
- Use the peel to remove the pizza from the oven, slice into wedges, and serve immediately.
Nicole says
This was a great way to repurpose my leftover pulled pork! Simple but super tasty!
Jean Zucker says
Made this a month ago and loved it! Right now the other half of dough and pulled pork, and the oven are coming up to their needed temps. I’m so excited to get to have this again.
You’re the best! Love your recipes.