BBQ Chicken Braid

Back to school. Three words that feel like freedom and heartbreak at the same time, because I love my children and I need my children to be in a building with trained professionals for seven hours a day so I can work and breathe and not lose what is left of my mind. Summer was long. Summer was good. Summer is over.

The back-to-school shopping trip was a military operation. Four kids, each with a supply list that reads like a ransom note from the school system: two dozen pencils, three composition notebooks, a specific brand of glue stick that apparently no other brand can replace, and a box of tissues because schools do not provide tissues, which seems like something we should address as a society but never will.

Amber starts eighth grade at Walnut Middle School. She is twelve, taller than half her teachers, and carrying herself with a quiet confidence that was not there a year ago. The therapy is working. She is sleeping through the night more often than not. She still has nightmares sometimes, but they are less frequent, less violent, and she can talk about them now, which is progress measured in inches but still progress.

Tyler and Justin start fifth grade. Tyler is excited because fifth graders get to use the computer lab. Justin is not excited about anything related to school, but he is not angry about it either, which is its own kind of progress.

Josie starts second grade and she is vibrating with anticipation because her teacher is Mrs. Patterson, who is legendary among Grand Island second-graders for having a class hamster. Josie has talked about this hamster for two weeks. She does not yet know the hamster name. She does not care. The hamster exists and that is sufficient.

I made a special last-night-of-summer dinner: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and biscuits. Proper fried chicken, soaked in buttermilk overnight, dredged in seasoned flour, fried in a cast-iron skillet filled with an inch of vegetable oil. It takes forever and makes a mess and it is worth every minute and every splatter. The kids ate it like it was their last meal, which in a way it was: the last meal of summer, the last meal before the routines and the schedules and the early mornings take over again. I let them eat as much as they wanted. Tomorrow the structure returns. Tonight, we feast.

That last-night-of-summer fried chicken dinner is a tradition I guard fiercely, but on nights when the cast iron and the buttermilk and the hour-long fry session are more than the calendar allows, this BBQ Chicken Braid has become my secret weapon — it carries the same “we are celebrating something” energy, the same pull-apart abundance, the same way of saying tonight matters without requiring me to stand over a skillet until 8 p.m. If you’ve got four kids bouncing off the walls before the first day of school, you will understand exactly why that matters.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1/2 cup BBQ sauce, plus more for serving
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
1/4 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
1 (13.8 oz) tube refrigerated pizza dough
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and black pepper to taste
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Preheat. Heat oven to 375°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Make the filling. In a medium bowl, combine shredded chicken, BBQ sauce, red onion, green bell pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir until the chicken is evenly coated.
Roll the dough. Unroll the pizza dough onto the prepared baking sheet and stretch it gently into a roughly 10x14-inch rectangle.
Add the filling. Spoon the chicken mixture down the center third of the dough in an even strip, leaving about 1 inch clear at the top and bottom. Sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese evenly over the chicken.
Cut the strips. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, make diagonal cuts along both sides of the filling, spacing them about 1 inch apart, cutting from the filling out to the edge of the dough.
Braid. Fold the top and bottom flaps of dough up over the filling. Then alternate folding the diagonal strips over the top of the filling, overlapping slightly, to create a braid pattern. Tuck the last few strips underneath to seal.
Egg wash. Brush the top of the braid evenly with the beaten egg.
Bake. Bake for 22–25 minutes, until the braid is deep golden brown and cooked through. Let rest 5 minutes before slicing.
Serve. Garnish with chopped parsley if desired. Serve warm with extra BBQ sauce on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

BBQ Chicken Braid — Our Last Meal of Summer