I always feel kind of embarrassed to say that my favorite food is pizza because it sounds so generic, but like, it’s truly one of the most flexible foods out there. You can get so creative with it! And I absolutely love coming up with new flavor combos for my pizza. This week it was a Broccoli Cheddar Pizza with a super creamy, herb-filled white sauce. SO GOOD.
Pizza Crust Options
You can use any type of pizza dough or pizza crust for this recipe. I used my super quick Thin & Crispy Pizza Crust recipe, but you could also use store-bought dough, store-bought pre-baked pizza crust, or even something like naan or tortillas.
Can You Use Fresh Broccoli?
Yes, absolutely. I used frozen broccoli because it’s par-boiled before freezing, so it’s already tender and ready to go, but if you prefer fresh broccoli you can certainly use that. You can either leave it fresh for extra crunch, or you can steam or par-boil it first to make it more tender. If using broccoli fresh without any pre-cooking, I suggest tossing it in a little bit of oil to prevent it from drying out when in the oven.
What Else Can I Add?
I’m a huge advocate of checking your pantry, fridge, or freezer for leftover ingredients that you can toss into your meal. Pizza is one of the best recipes for using up random ingredients. Here are some ingredients that would go awesome on this pizza, if you have them:
- Red onion
- Bacon
- Grape tomatoes
- Feta
- Pesto
- Cooked chicken (rotisserie, grilled breast, etc.)
- Ham
Broccoli Cheddar Pizza
5 from 7 votes This broccoli cheddar pizza starts with a super creamy herb-filled white sauce then is topped with tender broccoli florets and cheddar. Author: Beth – Budget Bytes
Servings 4 2 slices each Cook 25 minutes minsTotal 35 minutes mins
Ingredients
- 1 large pizza dough* ($0.30)
Herby White Sauce
- 1 Tbsp butter ($0.11)
- 4 oz. cream cheese ($0.40)
- 1/2 cup milk ($0.15)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp onion powder ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.01)
- 1/8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.01)
Pizza Toppings
- 12 oz. frozen broccoli florets, thawed ($0.89)
- 6 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded ($1.27)
Instructions
- Prepare the herby white sauce first. Combine the butter, cream cheese, milk, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper in a small saucepot. Heat and stir over medium until the cream cheese has fully melted and the sauce is thick and creamy.
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Stretch your pizza dough over a pizza pan. Spread the herby white sauce over the surface of the pizza dough.
- Chop the thawed frozen broccoli into smaller pieces. Sprinkle the chopped broccoli over the herby white sauce on the pizza. Top with the shredded cheddar cheese.
- Bake the pizza for 10-15 minutes, or until the pizza crust is golden brown and the cheddar on top is melted. Cut into eight pieces and serve!
Notes
*I used Thin and Crispy Pizza Crust, which requires a five-minute pre-bake before topping.
Nutrition
Serving: 2
slicesCalories: 588.48
kcalCarbohydrates: 58.95
gProtein: 22.23
gFat: 28.88
gSodium: 953.7
mgFiber: 4.53
g Read our full nutrition disclaimer here.
How to Make Broccoli Cheddar Pizza – Step by Step Photos
Start with the herby white sauce. Add 1 Tbsp butter, 4 oz. cream cheese, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp dried basil, ½ tsp dried oregano, ⅛ tsp pepper, ¼ tsp salt, and ½ cup milk to a saucepot (photo is before adding the milk).
Heat and stir the sauce ingredients over medium until the cream cheese is fully melted and the sauce is thick and creamy.
Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Stretch your pizza dough onto a pizza pan, then spread the herby white sauce over the surface.
Chop 12 oz. of thawed frozen broccoli florets into smaller, bite-sized pieces.
Add the chopped broccoli on top of the white sauce.
Finally, top with 6oz. shredded cheddar.
Bake the broccoli cheddar pizza in the preheated 450ºF oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the cheddar is melted.
Slice the pizza into eight pieces, then serve!
