Healthy Pizza in Minutes

Who doesn’t love pizza? This healthy pizza in minutes is quick to make (have it ready in the time it would take to order and wait for a pizza delivery!) and delicious, it’s also wholesome, being made with wholegrains, real food ingredients, and allowing you control over what toppings you use.

Who says you need to give up pizza when you lower your sugar intake? It’s true that some takeaway ones (I’m looking at you Domino’s!) are loaded with it, but an authentic Italian pizza is not, and certainly any that you make at home don’t have to be.

Pizza is a weekly staple in our house. We all love eating it, my kids enjoy making it, and actually, so do I. It takes less than 5 mins to chuck the ingredients for the dough in a bowl and give it a little knead, and if you want to make your own sauce as well, even that only takes a few mins prep and then you just leave it on the stove to do its own thing. And if you don’t even want that hassle – just spread some passata or pesto or mascarpone over the base!

I nearly always keep the ingredients for pizza on hand, as it is such an easy and popular meal that it is a great one to bring out at the last minute on a tough day when we are all exhausted. Having said that, our best pizzas are nearly always the pre-planned ones, as I find making the dough in the morning and leaving it to rise during the day makes for the nicest, crispiest pizza bases.

Not only does homemade pizza taste absolutely gorgeous, but it is easy to top it exactly how you want it, use up leftovers if you want to, and can be made in less than 30 mins including cooking time, by which time Domino’s wouldn’t even have turned up yet! Not to mention it is unbelievably cheap, and you probably already have most of the ingredients in your cupboard!

And if all of that hasn’t convinced you, maybe this will: kids love pizza. We all know that. But it also makes it a great vehicle for trying new or not-so-popular things. Yes, they may well pick them off. But if they help you make them and even choose their own toppings (from a limited healthy selection you’ve put out for them) as you make your own, they may well surprise you with their choices.

My daughter gets excited putting the toppings on and watching what I choose, and often wants to put a bit of everything simply because it is there. She has eaten pizza with olives (actually, that one isn’t surprising – she loves them!), broccoli, kale, courgettes, aubergines, peppers, asparagus and many others fun toppings. She even had some with Stinking Bishop once (to you non-British readers, it is a cheese that lives up to its name).

All in all, homemade pizza creates a fun family activity, gets kids involved in cooking and choosing their food (stirring dry ingredients, kneading dough and topping pizzas are my children’s favourites), and gives them some control over their food, which makes them much happier to eat it! Not to mention it can make for a nice family tradition of Pizza Night, where everyone gets stuck in making the food and washing up afterwards, chatting over dinner round the table and maybe even taking in a movie for the older kids and parents – a classic Saturday family night in made cheap and more fun!

So get the kids involved at every step by getting them to:

• mix the pizza dough ingredients and knead the dough (kids love this as it’s basically punching the dough!)
• top the base with the sauce and cheese and choose from healthy toppings you have laid out for them
• older kids can measure out the ingredients, make the dough by themselves, roll it out, chop topping ingredients, and even stir the tomato sauce in the pan with supervision

Print

Healthy Pizza in Minutes

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

20 mins

 

I have tried many many different pizza recipes and this is by far my favourite. I have adapted it a little over time, but it is pretty perfect so I don't mess with it too much! Far healthier and cheaper than a take away and actually takes less time! Quick, cheap, easy, healthy, yummy. What more could you want from a weeknight classic?

Course: Dinner

Servings: 4 large pizzas or 8 mini pizzas

Ingredients

Dough:

• 500 g (3 and 1/2 cups) wholegrain or plain flour (half-and-half makes for an excellent dough - you could also use the same amount of wholegrain and/or light spelt flour for a lower gluten pizza)
• 2 teaspoons dried active yeast
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 250-300 ml (1-1 1/4 cups) warm water (approx 110ºF/45ºC - should be quite warm but not hot to the touch)

Sauce (optional - just use a little passata if not making your own):

• 1 tablespoons butter or coconut oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
• 2 tins (800g/28oz total) chopped tomatoes, or 750g (26 oz) chopped fresh tomatoes if you prefer
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree (tomato paste)
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 teaspoons fresh oregano or basil, or 1 teaspoon dried
• sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Toppings:

• 2-3 packs (250-400g total) mozzarella (you can skip this if vegan/dairy free, or use a vegan cheese if you prefer)
• Other toppings of choice: fresh or dried herbs, sliced chilli or jalapenos, veggies, cooked or cured meats, fish, seafood, olives, other cheeses or other toppings of choice

Instructions

1. First, make the dough: Pour flour into a bowl, and put salt on one side of the bowl and yeast on the other, then drizzle in the oil and water and mix together. Knead on a clean counter or in a stand mixer for a few mins until smooth and elastic (about 3-4 mins should do it), then return to bowl and cover with a tea towel. Place in a warm area and leave to rise while you make the sauce (or all day if you can!).

2. If you are making the sauce, heat the butter or oil in a pan on a low-medium heat and gently fry the onion for 3-5 mins until golden and caramelised. Add the garlic and fry for another minute.

3. Pour the chopped tomatoes and puree into the pan and bring to the boil, then simmer gently over a low heat, adding in the lemon juice and herbs.

4. Allow to simmer until thick. This usually takes about 10 mins. Take off the heat and allow to cool a little.

5. Assemble the pizzas: Preheat the oven to as high as it goes (around 250C/475F/gas 9) and add the baking trays to it so they get really hot. Roll out the dough into as many pizzas as you wish to make - we sometimes make 4 large pizzas, but it is fun to make 8 mini ones sometimes so everyone can choose their own toppings. Make sure the dough is rolled thinly - this will ensure a gorgeously crispy base! Place pizza bases on hot baking trays (be careful!) lined with baking paper and lightly dusted with semolina or bread flour.

6. Spread the bases with a few tablespoons of the sauce (3-4 tbsp for a large pizza, 2 tbsp for a mini one), the top with shredded mozzarella and any other toppings of your choice (if using fresh herbs or cured meats like Parma ham, leave these until the pizzas are cooked).

7. Bake for 5-8 mins, or until the bases are crisp and just starting to blacken, and the cheese is melted and bubbling.

Find more of our healthy 30 minute recipes here, or use that half an hour to make a week’s worth of healthy snacks with our FREE e-book.