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This healthy pizza recipe is full of wholesome ingredients and satisfying! The traditional thin crust is loaded with colorful vegetables, a tangy bold red sauce, and sprinkled with Parmesan.
Why we love this recipe
People often ask us, what’s your favorite thing to cook? Of you know us, you won’t be surprised by the answer: pizza. After our honeymoon in Italy, Alex and I have spent the last decade figuring out the best way to make homemade artisan pizza.
In fact, we’ve gotten a little nerdy about it. We’ve created popular recipes for our best pizza dough, pizza sauce, and classic margherita pizza. But we were posed with a challenge: can you make a healthy pizza recipe? We created this irresistible pizza recipe that has a third the calories of a delivery pizza and has the vitamins and nutrients of fresh, colorful veggies. Dinnertime win!
What makes a healthy pizza?
So you want to make a healthy pizza? We don’t always use the word healthy in our recipes, since it’s pretty subjective. But in this case our goal was to make a pizza loaded with wholesome vegetables that’s lighter than the typical pizza. One slice of Pizza Hut pepperoni pizza is 300 calories. In contrast, one slice of this healthy pizza recipe is 96 calories. Here’s what it features:
- Homemade thin crust: This pizza uses thin crust pizza dough. It’s made with simple ingredients (flour, olive oil, water) and because it’s thin, it has less calories than a fluffy crust.
- Flavorful pizza sauce: Red sauce brings big flavor without big calories. This one is our pizza sauce, a fan-favorite recipe that takes only 5 minutes and tastes like Italy.
- Minimal cheese. This healthy pizza has only ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese. It’s just enough to bring in a savory flavor, but there’s so much flavor in the veggies and sauce you don’t need to load on cheese. (Or try our Vegan Pizza.)
- Lots of veggies. Healthy isn’t just about calories: it’s about vitamins and nutrients. This pizza is topped with peppers that are loaded with vitamin C, and leafy green nutrient-dense baby arugula.
Pizza dough tips
The most technique-driven part of making pizza is making homemade dough. Because learning to make something like dough requires actually showing you, we’ve made a video to show the dough-making process. Here are a few tips about the dough to remember when making it: then watch the video above to see it in action:
- Make the dough 1 hour before serving OR make in advance. Making the dough takes only 15 minutes of hands on time. Then it rests for 45 minutes to proof before it’s ready to stretch. If you don’t have 1 hour before serving, you can make it up to 3 days in advance and refrigerate.
- Use a pizza stone and pizza peel, if possible. A pizza stone is what makes the crust crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Here’s the pizza stone we recommend. To get the pizza onto that hot stone, a pizza peel is helpful! It’s a paddle that throws the dough onto that blazing hot surface. Our favorites are this aluminum pizza peel or super pizza peel, but if you don’t have one you can use a rimless baking sheet.
- Thin crust pizza dough is easy to shape: roll it! This pizza dough is easier to shape than our Pizza Dough Master Recipe because you roll it out with a rolling pin! This crust is easy to make: see the video above.
- Use Tipo 00 flour if you can find it. Our favorite flour for making pizza dough is what the Italians use: it’s called Tipo 00 and it makes the crust light and fluffy. You can find at it some grocery stores or online here.
How to serve it
To keep this healthy pizza part of a healthy meal: accessorize it with salad and fruit! Our Favorite Chopped Salad, Perfect Italian Salad, Best Kale Salad, or Wedge Salad would go well here. Or just go with veggies and Healthy Ranch. A great “dessert” would be green apple slices and our chocolate hummus.
Dietary notes
This recipe is vegetarian. For vegan, go to our Best Vegan Pizza.
Frequently asked questions
Whole wheat crust is an option, offering slightly more fiber and nutrients than refined white flour. You can also try cauliflower crust or thin-crust options to reduce calories and carbs.
Opt for homemade sauce using fresh or canned tomatoes, herbs, and spices. Avoid store-bought sauces, which often contain added sugar and sodium.
Load up on veggies like bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, and zucchini. Add lean protein sources like grilled chicken or shrimp, or incorporate some plant-based protein like beans or lentils.
Try using a smaller amount of cheese or explore other options like goat cheese or feta.
Yes! Try Portobello Mushroom Pizza or Eggplant Pizza.
Healthy Pizza Recipe (Veggie-Loaded!)
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 7 minutes
- Yield: 8 slices 1x
Description
It’s loaded with veggies and sprinkled with Parmesan, with a tangy bold red sauce and a thin crust. Yes, this is the BEST healthy pizza you’ll find.
Ingredients
- 1 ball Easy Thin Crust Dough
- ½ cup Easy Pizza Sauce
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 1/4 medium red onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano, plus more for garnish
- ½ tablespoon capers, drained
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup baby arugula
- Kosher salt
- Olive oil
- Semolina flour or cornmeal, for dusting the pizza peel
Instructions
- Make the pizza dough: Follow the Easy Thin Crust Pizza Dough recipe to prepare the dough. (This takes about 15 minutes to make and 45 minutes to rest.)
- Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (here’s the pizza oven we use).
- Make the pizza sauce: Make the Easy Pizza Sauce.
- Prepare the toppings: Thinly slice the peppers. Thinly slice the red onion. Thinly slice the garlic. In a skillet, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. Saute the vegetables, stirring often, for about 7 to 10 minutes, until browned and very soft. Stir in the oregano and remove from the heat.
- Bake the pizza: When the oven is ready, dust a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you don’t have a pizza peel, you can use a rimless baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet. But a pizza peel is well worth the investment!) Stretch the dough into a circle; see How to Stretch Pizza Dough for instructions. Then gently place the dough onto the pizza peel.
- Spread the pizza sauce over the dough using the back of a spoon to create a thin layer. Sprinkle with the vegetables, drained capers, and Parmesan cheese.
- Use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake the pizza until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 5 to 7 minutes in the oven (or 1 minute in a pizza oven).
- While the pizza is baking, mix the baby arugula with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt. When the pizza is done, top with the arugula. Slice into pieces and serve immediately.
- Category: Pizza
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Italian
I really enjoy cooking, so I keep trying something new.
Found your recipe for healthy pizza…I’m always looking for ways to eat healthy….
Thank you
terrible
Pizza is delicious.
Have you tried grinding lentils into flour ? Black lentil beans have more protein. Substitute ground lentil flour for the crust . Then you can use a little more cheese . The carbs would work out the same .
We haven’t tried it!
I hardly ever leave reviews but this was probably the best pizza I’ve ever had and I’ve eaten my share fair of pizza, even in Italy! Only issue I had with the dough was my fault, I rolled it too thin before putting it on the peel but second attempt was a success, live and learn. Lastly, instead of arugula I just used spring mix, cheaper and easier to find and even though I wasn’t sure about raw greens atop pizza it was delish on this healthier version. 😋
So glad to hear this! Thanks for commenting :)
Hi there…we are planning a pizza party for my daughters bday party. Trying to look at recipes and seeing what I can make ahead. Could I do the veggies ahead of time?
Thank you
Definitely! You could also try the our focaccia pizza as a base because you get more servings out of the pizza and it’s mostly just waiting time: https://www.acouplecooks.com/focaccia-pizza/
Hi,
If I’m making this tonight and can’t get a pizza stone how long do I bake it in the oven for?
Thank you,
Hi! The bake time will be about the same, but you will end up with a little tougher crust by baking it on a tray. Enjoy!
Thank you.
Hello, could you give me a weight for how much dough you should use? Just there seemed to be far too much dough and to keep the calories as you have stated them, I’d like to use exact amounts. Thanks!
Hi! We use our thin crust pizza recipe for this. The dough for one pizza should be 216 grams (The recipe makes four dough balls).
The red onion is not listed under the ingredients. Is it not supposed to be on the pizza?
Good catch: added to the ingredients! Thanks!
Does the dough freeze well?
Yes! To freeze: Place each dough ball in a freezer proof bag and put in the freezer. The morning that you are going to use the dough, remove it from the freezer and place it in the fridge to thaw. About 30 minutes before making the pizza, take it out of the baggie and allow it to relax on the counter, covered with a towel.