Gluten-Free Beet Pesto Pizza with Kale and Goat Cheese is a nutrient-dense healthier pizza recipe, packed with vitamins and flavor! This colorful superfood pizza is packed with antioxidants!
I know…a vegetable-forward pizza may sound like a snooze, but heavens-ta-Betsy, it’s good.
We simply whip up our favorite pizza dough, pre-bake it, then slather it in my amazing superfood Roasted Beet Pesto sauce.
Topping the pizza with kale is our insurance policy and justification for eating the entire thing and using two cheeses instead of just one because we know how to party.
Due to the micronutrient density of kale and the pesto recipe, we can call this a healthy pizza, right? Right.
Speaking of two cheeses…
The goat cheese. Have you ever eaten baked goat cheese?
Something magical – nay, fantastical – happens to goat cheese in the oven.
It gets an outer layer of crisp and becomes bombastic on the inside. There are no words to describe the magnanimity that is baked goat cheese.
It is truly a wish granting factory.
I use a gluten-free pizza dough for the crust because that’s how I roll, but you can go with any kind of pizza dough, be it store-bought or homemade.
All of this to say, the fresh ingredients in this gluten-free pizza recipe bring us a flavorful, uplifting experience. Beets lift us up where we belong.
Let’s discuss the wholesome ingredients for this delicious gluten-free pizza.
Beet Pesto Pizza Ingredients:
Pizza Dough: Pick your favorite pizza dough and whip it up! You can make homemade pizza dough or buy pre-made pizza dough from the store.
I like using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix, but any store-bought or homemade crust will do. See more crust options below!
Beet Pesto: Rather than going with traditional red sauce or even traditional pesto sauce, we’re whipping up a superfood sauce using beets.
This sauce is comprised of red beets, garlic cloves, walnuts, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and lemon juice.
This combination of ingredients makes a rich, sweet and savory sauce that is perfect on anything from sandwiches to pizzas.
Fresh Kale: Because incorporating leafy greens into pizza is our ultimate excuse to go to town on it, we add fresh chopped kale leaves to the pizza.
There’s no need to sauté them first, although you can if you’d like. You can use baby spinach or Swiss chard instead of kale, or leave out the leafy greens altogether.
Goat Cheese and Mozzarella Cheese: The combination of goat cheese and mozzarella cheese really makes a swoon-worthy pizza!
It’s ultra creamy, tangy, and cheesy, with so much flavor your mouth will hardly know how to behave. Swap this cheese combo out for any of your favorite pizza cheeses.
Recipe Adaptations:
- Make my Beet Green Pesto using beet greens instead of roasted beets.
- Switch out the cheese for any of your favorites. Feta cheese and raw milk cheddar are great here too.
- Omit the kale or replace it with spinach or chard.
- Add any of your favorite pizza toppings, such as olives, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, etc.
Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients, let’s make this amazing homemade pizza recipe!
How to Make Beet Pesto Pizza:
Prepare the Roasted Beet Pesto and the pizza dough.
Chop the beet and wrap it in a foil packet. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, or until the beets are very soft when poked with a fork.
Allow the beets to cool enough to handle. Once cool, remove them from the aluminum foil packet.
Transfer the cooked chopped beet to a food processor along with the rest of the sauce ingredients (walnuts, parmesan, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and black pepper).
Process until a thick, smooth spreadable sauce forms. Taste the pesto for flavor and add more parmesan, lemon, or salt to your personal taste.
Preheat the oven to 415 degrees F.
Dust gluten-free flour (or cornmeal) on a baking sheet and press or roll the dough to desired thickness.
Bake the dough for 5 to 7 minutes with no toppings.
Remove the crust from the oven and spread the beet pesto over it.
Add the kale leaves, followed by the goat cheese and grated mozzarella.
Note: the kale will cook down in the oven so don’t be alarmed by its volume. If you’d like, give the pizza a drizzle of olive oil before baking it. This makes the crust extra crispy.
Bake pizza for 20 to 25 minutes or to desired crisp.
Allow pizza to cool 5 minutes before serving.
Store leftover pizza in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Looking for recommendations for pizza crusts? I’ve got your back when it comes to gluten-free and grain-free options.
Crust Options:
You can prepare your favorite pizza crust to be the caravan of this superfood pizza. Whip up an Almond Flour Pizza Crust , Cauliflower Pizza Crust , or even a Kale Pizza Crust.
I use Bob’s Red Mill’s Gluten-Free Pizza Crust mix which is a real pleasure cruise given its simplicity.
If you don’t need the crust to be gluten-free, make Sally’s Homemade Pizza Crust Recipe.
Pizza stone owners, now is a great time to utilize your pizza stone!
Love homemade pizza recipes? Also try out these gems.
More Pizza Recipes:
- Caramelized Onion Fig Ricotta Pizza
- Asparagus and Pancetta Pesto Pizza
- Prosciutto Artichoke Heart Sun-Dried Tomato Pizza with Pine Nuts
- Roasted Chicken and Mushroom Pesto Pizza
Put this bombastic pizza in your face trap!
Beet Pesto Pizza with Kale and Goat Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 lb gluten-free pizza dough
- 1 cup beet pesto
- 2 cups kale leaves thinly sliced*
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese grated
- 2 to 4 ounces goat cheese to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the beet pesto and the pizza dough.
- Preheat the oven to 415 degrees F.
- Dust gluten-free flour (or cornmeal) on a baking sheet and press or roll the dough to desired thickness.
- Bake the dough for 5 to 7 minutes with no toppings.
- Remove the crust from the oven and spread the beet pesto over it. Add the kale leaves, followed by the goat cheese and mozzarella. Note: the kale will cook down in the oven.
- Bake pizza for 20 to 25 minutes or to desired crisp.
- Allow pizza to cool 5 minutes before serving.
How much of the beet pesto recipe do I need to make to get 1 cup? Is it just one serving of the recipe? Or will I need to double it?
Hi Theresa, you’ll have enough beet pesto for the pizza (and will likely have some leftover), if you follow the recipe as is 🙂 Let me know how you like the pesto and the pizza!
Wow, this might just be the most beautiful pizza I’ve ever seen! I’ve been putting beets in everything lately, this was just the icing on the cake! I didn’t make the pesto because I was a bit lazy, just used sliced beets instead, but I’ll definitely give it a try soon! Thanks again!! 🙂
i tried this out a couple of days ago for a simple supper. The only additions I made were bacon and red pepper chile flakes. it turned out great! Thanks for sharing! I now know another new use for beets 😀
OOF Bacon sounds amazing! So glad you liked the pizza and thanks for the note, Sujatha!
This looks delicious…along with the pizza recipe to which it was attached. Silly question – will the beets permanently stain the inside of my food processor bowl?
So glad you like the beet pesto idea. As long as you don’t let your food processor bowl sit too long before washing it, the color should come out completely. I’ve put all sorts of pigment-y vegetables in my food processor and haven’t had a problem 😀 Let me know how you like the pizza!
I ate this for dinner tonight, and it was killer!! I used beet greens instead of kale, because I had them leftover from the pesto-making. That pesto is stellar! I’m going to have the leftover pesto spread on some toast topped with avocado tomorrow. So great and colorful and delicious, and, please, anything with goat cheese is the bomb.
My mind is blown with this combo! It’s like all of the foods that I once hated but now can’t live without have teamed up to make the pizza of my dreams! It’s a super pizza 🙂 And I giggled because my 4 year old is always walking around saying heavens-ta-betsy!
I am a huge proponent of putting as many superfoods as possible on my pizzas! So YES to this. In a major way.
BeetpestosayWHAT?! Seriously could this ‘za be any more gorgeous?! CONGRATS to you and your second book!!! I CANNOT WAIT TO HAVE IT IN MY HANDS!! sorry to shout, just super excited! Xxo
Book number two–how exciting. I’m extremely giddy about this book. I love me some greens. This pizza looks amazing. That beet sauce is so pretty.
I need this pizza right now! It is funny because when I was a kid, I think I disliked all of the toppings on this pizza and now they are three of my absolute favorites! This is going to be my weekend project and I think I need to make about 10 of them because I know I won’t be able to stop eating it! Congrats on your book coming out soon 🙂
I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS COOKBOOK AND THIS PIZZA. Goat cheese is my current life obsession, and my fridge is packed with it. Pizza, goat cheese, kale….gettin’ NOM CENTRAL up in hur’ girl! Pinned!
Thank you for this recipe!!!! I got a whole bunch of beets in my door to door organics box and have no idea what to do with them! I just bought some goat cheese and am thawing out the dough. This is on the menu for tomorrow!
So I made one, because you know… what if I didnt like it?
Then I made another.
And now I’m eating this beet pesto with a spoon.
sooo… success!
Wahoooooooooooooooooooooo! I can’t tell you how happy I am you made the pizza! Isn’t the pesto amazing?! I always eat the majority of beet pesto with a spoon right up until some lucky bread gets smeared with it.
Holy molyyyyy. What a beaut!!! I may have to make this first when I get my little paws on your cookbook. I’m gonna be like that one girl who cooks her way through Julia Child’s cookbook except it’ll be YOUR fantastical cookbook!! WEEEEEE!
I would die if you became the Julie Powell of Let Them Eat Kale. I would just die. 🙂 xoxo
Beet pesto on pizza with Kale?!
WON. OVER.
Will your book ship internationally? 🙂 I wants it!
Amazon ships internationally!! But you can email me your mailing address, and I’ll have one shipped to you. 😀
So I’m going to pop some major cherries when I get home today.
1. Beet pesto. gotta have it.
2. Goat cheese on pizza. need to try it.
I fully plan on photographing this journey.
(!) excitement!