A Healthy[er] Way To Make Your Favorite Pizza

I love pizza. LOVE. Who doesn’t, really? But the awful party about being a pizza-lover is that the sauce, cheese, bread, pepperoni combo is really pretty bad for you. (sad face) BUT, there’s always a solution to your favorite recipes that can at least save you some of the calories, while not sacrificing on the cheesy goodness.

Healthy[er] Pepperoni Pizza:

You can accomplish this with just a few substitutions.

1. whole wheat crust/thin crust
2. healthy toppings: spinach, kale, mushroom, green pepper, onion, broccoli, grilled chicken, tomato
3. sauce substitute (Instead of the canned pizza sauce, use a pasta sauce such as garlic and tomato Prego or pesto–it’s less fatty and more natural!)
4. less cheese (Cheese rocks, believe me, I know. But you can use it as a topping rather than “Do you want some pizza with that cheese?”)
5. limit yourself to 2 slices per meal

So here’s what you do:
I like to start by brushing my crust with olive oil or pesto to help crisp it up and give it some flavor. Then gather as many healthy ingredients as possible, from peppers and spinach to grilled chicken and diced tomatoes. (Remember to cook the chicken first!)

 

 

Sauce, then toppings, then cheese. And if you’re a pepperoni gal like me, the pepperoni goes last.

And your final product?

Something that’s a little healthier than the real thing, but still flavor-packed and cheesy of course! Yum.