California Pizza Kitchen Copycat Recipes
California Pizza Kitchen turned pizza into a canvas for anything that tasted right — starting with the Original BBQ Chicken Pizza and the Thai Chicken Pizza.
5 recipes
California Pizza Kitchen opened in Beverly Hills in 1985, founded by attorneys Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax. Their premise was simple and turned out to be genuinely influential: treat pizza dough as a blank canvas and put on it whatever tastes best, not whatever tradition dictates. The Original BBQ Chicken Pizza (1985) was the first of its kind — sweet-smoky BBQ sauce instead of tomato, grilled chicken, smoked gouda and mozzarella, fresh cilantro added only after the bake. The Thai Chicken Pizza followed in the late 1980s, putting a peanut-ginger-sesame sauce on the base and finishing with raw bean sprouts, green onions, cilantro, and chopped peanuts added cold — none of it touches the oven. The Original Chopped Salad (also called the Italian Chopped Salad) has been a CPK signature since 1985 — iceberg and romaine chopped to 1/8-inch, julienned Genoa salami, chilled turkey, garbanzo beans, diced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil, tossed in a Dijon-mustard herb Parmesan vinaigrette and topped with scallions. The salad was pulled from the menu for a period and returned in 2023 after strong fan demand. The Jamaican Jerk Chicken Pizza is CPK's most-requested pizza fan favorite: a blended Caribbean jerk sauce (allspice, scotch bonnet, pineapple juice) as the base, smoked gouda and mozzarella, Nueske's applewood-smoked bacon, and cilantro added after the bake. All three pizzas share the same foundation — a non-tomato sauce base that does double duty as the flavor backbone — and all three have copycat blind spots. For BBQ Chicken: smoked gouda is the missed ingredient. For Thai Chicken: bean sprouts must go on after baking, never before. For Jamaican Jerk: allspice is non-negotiable and pineapple juice belongs in the sauce, not on the pizza. The Santa Fe Chicken Pizza (1987) takes the opposite structural approach from all three: no sauce goes on the dough at all — the lime-herb chicken and Monterey Jack bake on bare dough, then roasted tomato salsa, sour cream, smashed avocado, and cilantro are applied cold after baking. The cold-finish technique is the most-missed copycat detail: baked avocado turns brown and bitter; baked sour cream separates. CPK now operates over 200 locations nationally, with crust options ranging from the original hand-tossed to crispy thin to cauliflower.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between CPK's BBQ Chicken Pizza and Thai Chicken Pizza?
Three fundamental differences. Base: BBQ Chicken uses sweet-smoky BBQ sauce; Thai Chicken uses a peanut-ginger-sesame sauce thinned to a spreading consistency. Cheese: BBQ Chicken uses a smoked gouda and mozzarella blend (the gouda is the most-missed ingredient in copycats); Thai Chicken uses mozzarella only. Cold-finish toppings: BBQ Chicken finishes with fresh cilantro only; Thai Chicken finishes with raw bean sprouts, sliced green onions, fresh cilantro, and chopped roasted peanuts — all added after the pizza comes out of the oven. The BBQ Chicken Pizza dates to CPK's 1985 opening and the Thai Chicken followed in the late 1980s; both require a thin sauce layer and cold-finish fresh herbs.
Why does CPK add cilantro after baking rather than before?
Cilantro's flavor comes from volatile aromatic compounds — linalool and geranyl acetate — that evaporate at high heat. A 12-minute bake at 500°F destroys them, leaving behind slightly bitter, browned flecks. CPK adds cilantro as a finishing garnish, the same way a traditional Italian pizzeria adds fresh basil to a Margherita after the bake. Scatter the cilantro over the hot cheese within 60 seconds of pulling the pizza from the oven — the residual heat wilts the leaves slightly, which is exactly right.
What is the smoked gouda in CPK's BBQ Chicken Pizza and can I substitute it?
Smoked gouda is the most-missed ingredient in copycat BBQ Chicken Pizza recipes. Mozzarella alone produces the right structure but lacks the smoky, slightly sharp richness that makes CPK's version distinctive. Smoked provolone is the closest substitute. Plain (unsmoked) gouda works but loses the smokiness. The ratio that works: 3 parts mozzarella to 1 part smoked cheese. Shred the gouda yourself from a block — pre-shredded gouda contains anti-caking starch that prevents proper melting.
How much do CPK's pizzas cost, and is it cheaper to make them at home?
The Original BBQ Chicken Pizza and Thai Chicken Pizza are approximately $22–24 at CPK as of 2026, varying by market. Higher-cost locations (Manhattan, San Francisco, Hawaii) can run $25–27. Both pizzas cost roughly $12–15 in ingredients at home — about half the restaurant price for 4 to 6 servings. The smoked gouda and peanut sauce ingredients are the main variables.
What is in CPK's Original Chopped Salad and what makes it different from a regular Italian salad?
CPK's Original Chopped Salad (also called the Italian Chopped Salad) contains iceberg and romaine lettuce chopped to 1/8-inch strips, julienned Genoa salami, chilled roast turkey breast, garbanzo beans, diced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil — all tossed in a Dijon-mustard herb Parmesan vinaigrette and topped with scallions. The technique is the key differentiator: everything is cut to roughly the same small size so each forkful contains every component at once. The dressing is emulsified with Dijon mustard (which acts as both flavor anchor and emulsifier), red wine vinegar, olive oil, dried oregano and parsley, garlic, shallot, and grated Parmesan. The most commonly missed copycat ingredients are the garbanzo beans (not optional) and the Parmesan incorporated into the dressing itself rather than served on top. The salad was off the menu for a period and returned in 2023 per a BusinessWire announcement. Full-size restaurant version is approximately 1,010 calories per CPK's nutrition data.
What is CPK's Jamaican Jerk Chicken Pizza and is it on the menu?
The Jamaican Jerk Chicken Pizza uses a blended Caribbean jerk sauce — allspice, scotch bonnet, pineapple juice, ketchup — as the pizza base in place of tomato sauce, topped with jerk-marinated chicken, Nueske's applewood-smoked bacon, red onions, bell peppers, scallions, and a smoked gouda and mozzarella cheese blend. Cilantro is added only after the bake. It is CPK's most-requested fan favorite but has historically been a rotating rather than permanent menu item — CPK has brought it back multiple times in response to guest demand. Check cpk.com/menu for current availability. The most commonly missed copycat details: allspice must be generous (it is the non-negotiable jerk spice), pineapple juice goes in the sauce not on the pizza, and smoked gouda is part of the cheese blend.
What makes CPK's Santa Fe Chicken Pizza different from their other chicken pizzas?
The Santa Fe Chicken Pizza is the only CPK pizza with no sauce on the dough before baking. The BBQ Chicken, Thai Chicken, and Jamaican Jerk pizzas all use a sauce (BBQ, peanut, and jerk, respectively) as the pizza base. The Santa Fe goes into the oven as dough, Monterey Jack, lime-herb chicken, and red onions — nothing else. The roasted tomato salsa, sour cream, smashed avocado, and fresh cilantro are all added cold after baking. This is the key technique most copycats miss: they either bake the avocado (which ruins it) or assume there is a sauce base (there is not). The cheese is Monterey Jack only — not mozzarella, not gouda — the only CPK chicken pizza that uses it. The flavor profile is southwestern and citrus-forward, built around lime in the marinade and the roasted salsa, rather than the smoky, sweet, or Caribbean profiles of the other three.