How to Make a Healthy Pizza
JenniferM | On 03, Oct 2009
In this house, we LOVE pizza, so I make it often, probably two to three times per month. Over the years, I think I’ve perfected one of the best clean eating pizzas that doesn’t really taste all that healthy! I mean isn’t that the best feeling – eating something you know is good for you, but it tastes too good to really be good for you?
I think the secret to my pizza is I drizzle a Roasted Garlic Oil over the dough (whole wheat pizza dough made from scratch, btw!) and let the dough sit for approximately 5 to 7 minutes. The garlic in the oil gives the pizza a nice “garlicky” taste to it.
We also canned our own pizza sauce this year, so I’m lucky to have a pizza sauce made from fresh ingredients that we grew ourselves and I know what’s in it (and not in it!). Before we canned our own, however, I always looked for low-sodium pizza sauce. Organic is best, but of course isn’t always the cheapest. If you go organic, give Muir Glen
As I’ve said before, I love cheese and won’t give it up, so I use fresh mozzarella and shred my own instead of buying the pre-packaged, already shredded. I will also sometimes buy some Parmesan and grate it over the pizza as a finishing touch.
Other toppings I use on my healthy pizzas:
- Various bell peppers – usually red and green;
- Chopped onions;
- Fresh mushrooms;
- Canned hot pepper rings
- Chicken;
- Ground turkey;
- Ground beef (grass-fed preferably);
- Herbs such as oregano or basil if not using my own canned sauce
You can really use any fresh ingredients you want and I love, love, love fresh pineapple on my pizza! Since not everyone in my family agrees with me that pineapple is “the bomb” as a pizza topping, I only add the pineapple if I’m making a pizza just for myself.
Do you make a clean pizza that tastes great? If so, leave us comments below and let us know your “secret”!
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October 4, 2009
To achieve delicious, gooey cheesiness without all of the fat, I make my healthy pizza with a layer of low fat or fat free cottage cheese, sprinkled with just enough shredded 3-cheese blend for flavour. It bakes creamy and gooey but with a fraction of the calories and fat, and loads of protein!
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October 4, 2009
Oooohhh, cottage cheese! Never thought about that, so thanks for the tip!
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October 7, 2009
I don’t have a recipe for my own dough so I use a whole wheat pita shell with Heatlhy Choice sauce, I then add spinach and cut up chicken breast with low fat mozza cheese. Put it in the oven at 400 for 7 minutes.
I would love to have you recipe for dough:) -
November 1, 2009
I have found that my family actually prefers a pizza without sauce, just drizzle olive oil (i prefer EVOO), spread it with a spatula for even coverage and sprinkle chopped garlic over that, top lightly with cheese, and LOTS of veggies – sweet onions, mushrooms, peppers (prefer yellow and red), broccoli, zucchini, the list can go on and on! Then I sprinkle a touch of parmesan cheese over the top. Always a hit!
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November 3, 2009
Can you provide the recipe for your canned pizza sauce? I’d love to give it a try. Thanks!
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November 12, 2009
This sounds delicious and thanks for the dough recipe. I put ricotta cheese on my pizza as the base layer and then either chicken or zucchini on top with oregano. I’ll have to try cottage cheese next time.
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November 12, 2009
I think that these are all great recipes and ideas.
I believe you can still enjoy Pizza with anything you want on it as long as you do it once every 2 weeks to once a month (preferably the latter) If you have an active lifestyle that includes exercise and activities out of the house….no reason to sacrifice what you love as long as Pizza as seen as a reward and not a regular thing. But I do understand that everyone’s diet/ lifestyle/ body is different.
But I definitely agree, thin crust with lots of sauce and veggies do the trick!
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December 2, 2009
I make a white one w/olive oil and garlic as the sauce and these toppings:
spinach
feta
fresh tomato
artichoke hearts
mozz
romano sprinkle – YUMalso good with roasted red pepper
for meats:sometimes i use chicken, or turkey pepperoni etc to mix it up
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March 14, 2010
Bob’s Red Mill makes a great glutenfree/wheatfree pizza crust mix that is both delicious and low calorie. I highly recommend it!
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March 29, 2010
I love my homemade pesto pizza. Whole wheat crust, homemade pesto sauce (olive oil, walnuts, pine nuts, basil, parm. cheese, salt and pepper) with some fresh mozz. cheese, sliced tomatoes, spinach and basil leaves on top.
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September 26, 2010
Sounds great. Does anyone have a recipe for a clean pizza dough? I’m really new at this and my culinary skills are pretty basic.
Thanks,
Derek
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February 4, 2011
How do you make the crust???
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Hi Dee,
You can try this: http://cleaneatingclub.com/clean-eating-recipes/baked-goods/whole-wheat-pizza-dough/
Hope this helps!
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March 27, 2012
I absolutely love pizza and would never be able to fully give it up. My pizza dough is from the Clean Eating Magazine Cookbook, and it’s really good my husband even loves it!
Our topping typicaly topping are pesto with chicken and spinach or sliced tomato with garlic and basil (no sauce, just olive oil). I use minimal amounts of cheese (to cut back on cheese and becauase we both get a little sick if we eat too much dairy) and it’s so delicious!
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Hi Kim,
Too funny – JenniferE and I were talking just yesterday that we would never be able to give up our pizza! Ohhh, pesto on pizza, that sounds delicious! I love pesto as much as I love pizza, just never thought to combine the two in some way…lol.
I hear you on the too much dairy = sick. I can no longer drink regular milk because it seems I’ve developed a dairy intolerance apparently. I still eat cheese in moderation. It does affect me, just not as badly as milk…yet. Since I love cheese and can’t give it up entirely, I am willing to suffer a small amount of discomfort for it…LOL!
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