Looking for some guidance as to how much chicken should be used as a topping portion on a 16" pizza. I do not currently offer chicken as a topping and am trying to figure out if it makes economic sense to add it. It is by far the most requested topping that we do not offer.
Paul - we’re buying raw tenders @ your fav spot RD for $1.60# - seasoned & run thru the conveyor, flipped & run again (6 min @ 460) cooled & diced 1/4"
If chicken is the only topping, then approx. 8 oz on the pie…
We feature several chicken pies & they are quite popular, but seldom get a request for chicken only (in part 2 the variety offered)
You can use fajita chicken strips, they are cooked and seasoned, but costly, about $3.50/#
If you buy raw tenderloins or breasts, pound them flat, season them with Lawrys perfect blend seasoning for poultry and cook them in the oven they are, IMO, much better. You just don’t have the pretty lines. You can also experiment with brining the chicken to make it moister and more tender.
I use 4.8 oz on a 14" pizza. When charging for chicken I concider it a premium topping which is double the price of regular toppings. I sell about 25% of my premium pizzas with chicken as a topping.
I would figure whatever portion will fit into your food cost goals. Chicken will of course be on the higher end of food costs topping wise.
If your portion isn’t quite what you wish it could be, you need a more finely diced chicken topping so it will still get good coverage.
One thing I’ve seen with chicken topping is that it gets overused more than just about any other topping. If a cook free-hands sliced fajita chicken of decent size, he will likely put nearly twice the correct portion on, because chicken is pretty heavy. Sometimes I will take the bigger pieces and tear them up to get good coverage with the portion that is called for. Since you are in the planning phases maybe this is something you could request (smaller pieces) from a distributor.
Another thing you could do is pre-portion the chicken like they do at Subway.
The place I work at (Im an employee not an owner) does 8oz of chicken for 1 topping and 5oz for multi topping 14".
Also Paul , What we do is make certain higher end toppings a double topping charge. So that certainly makes it worthwhile. If they want it they pay it no complaints from customers at all, and we do sell lots of chicken. I do the same with any Premium topping (roast beef, shrimp ect).
Hope that helped,
We have quite a few chicken recipes on our website which you can reference for chicken portions in various dishes.
Also, there is a Profit Potential Calculator in our Tools and Resources section to help demonstrate the profit margin differences between specialty and standard items.
I’m at about 6oz for a 14". You’re going to have a lot of weight on the pizza to get a good coverage becuase the chicken is so dense and thick.
I pay $3.98/lb for chicken and get $1.65 for a topping on a 14". That’s about a 16 cent profit on it, which is why I don’t push chicken as a topping at all.
Paul, we classify Chicken as a premium topping.
We charge $2.50 for 1/2 a topping , and $5.00 for a full topping.
This is on an 18 Inch Pie.
Yikes, not much room for error. Do you not feel that your customers are not willing to pay a premium for chicken as many of the posters have mentioned? At least this way, you’ll actually make something. I too charge 2X for chicken. Some people may balk at the price, but usually end up going with a single priced topping instead if they feel it’s too expensive.
We put 80gm (you work out how many ounces 'cause I’m too dumb and lazy to) on a 13" BBQ chicken pizza. We get ours diced and cooked for about $12 kg (2.2lb) and portion control into 50gm plastic round tubs with lids.
As an extra we charge $1.50 for a serve on the 13" size but this is moving to $2 on our new menu out soon.
We sell heaps of chicken type pizzas.
PH and Domino’s charge $3 extra for chicken on their “large” 11.5" pizza.
Dave
80 grams is 2.83 ounces.
We use a mesquite grilled bre@st that we run through our mushroom slicer twice with produces kind of a shredded product. Portion is 3oz on a 16" pie. Cost of that portion is about a dollar. It is a double price topping on our menu so we charge $3.40 for it so cost is 29%… on the high side, but it is a VERY popular item. It is the most popular meat after Pep and Sausage.
When comparing costs on chicken, remember that the price per pound on raw needs to be bumped by about 40% to account for weight loss in prep. Also the prep labor needs to be accounted for as well as food safety issues related to stocking uncooked chicken.
Thanks for being my brain today 
Dave
We buy raw chicken breasts and grill em, then dice. $2.75/pound.
12" = 6.5 oz = $1.10 food cost, we charge $2.70
14" = 7.5 oz = $1.28 food cost, we charge $3.10
16" = 9.5 oz = $1.62 food cost, we charge $3.50
Steveo… you are putting over a half pound of chicken on the pizza? wow.
We bumped our 16" portion UP to 5 ounces, and it gets pretty good coverage . . . charge $3 for it as a premium. We buy pre-cooked fajita strips @ about 3.50/lb. Portion for 12" pie is about 3.5 oz
Steveo, you could probably cut your portion back, and still get good coverage by changing your cut/spread. Smaller pieces for wider spread. BTW I project your cost per pound of cooked bre@st to be nearly $3.75 not counting labor and enerfy and seasonings.