This Loaded Pesto Veggie Pizza is the perfect simple weeknight dinner! Made with a store-bought crust, top it with your favorite veggies, savory pesto and lots of cheese and you’re all set!
Alright y’all. We have almost made it to March. Which means one step closer to Spring. I don’t know about you but the almost year long of being in this unprecedented time has been pretty exhausting. Staying at home and cooking all the time was my job before but now that it’s like, pretty much ALL that I do ALL the time – I’m always looking for the easiest yet most delicious recipes I can make!
Enter this loaded Pesto Veggie Pizza!
If you didn’t know, Ben and I are creatures of habit and really like routine. For example, every Monday night we eat my Easy Black Bean Burgers. Tuesday is always Taco Tuesday and Friday is always homemade pizza night! Usually our go to toppings are: pizza sauce, pepperoni, jalapeno and red onion. But we were getting bored with that combo and we wanted to switch it up!
And this pizza combo is exactly the change up we needed!
Why You’ll Love this Pizza:
First, I love the pesto as the base of the pizza! It’s incredibly savory and has so much flavor. I love how fresh it tastes with the basil and the garlic – and the extra fat from the oil takes this pizza a long way!
Next, I mean, hello veggies! Feel free to add meat on this pizza – I bet a peppered salami would be amazing, but I do love the veggies on here!
This pizza can be very versatile – you can really use any and every veggie that you may have in your fridge.
For me, that happened to be white button mushrooms, green and red bell pepper, fresh garlic and of course, a little bit of spinach!
The pizza is of course, then loaded with CHEESE! And lots of it. I love extra cheese on mine.
The veggies get perfectly roasted, caramelized and juicy. The fresh garlic adds a little bit of spice and I love the super savory pesto. The crust that I used – which was of course, Wewalka (not sponsored!), was thin and the perfect bistro style crust for this pizza.
Once it’s fully baked and the cheese is golden and bubbly – top it off with some spicy red pepper flakes and fresh herbs and you have an incredibly delicious, ultra simple recipe!
Ingredients You Need:
- Store bought pizza crust (or your favorite homemade recipe)
- Jarred pesto (or homemade)
- Red and green bell peppers
- White button mushrooms
- Fresh garlic
- Spinach
- Fresh herbs (if desired)
- Mozzarella cheese
How to Make Pizza:
Begin by preheating your oven to whatever your store bought pizza dough says! Mine happened to be 425 degrees.
Next, time to slice and dice all of the veggies!
Roll out your pizza dough onto parchment paper + a baking sheet or a pizza stone.
Layer it with pesto. Top with a little bit of cheese.
Next, add on your veggies top with MORE cheese because you love yourself and more cheese is the 2021 mood.
Put in the preheated oven and bake until the cheese is golden, bubbly and toasted!
Remove and slice and eat up!
Best Tips/Substitutions:
A little bit of pesto goes a LONG way – it’s very flavorful, salty and oily so be careful to not add too much at one time!
Feel free to substitute any veggie on this pizza. For example, I also love adding red onion on mine or subbing out one of the bell peppers for a spicy serrano pepper.
Fresh herbs on top of this pizza go a long way! Highly recommend.
If you have any leftovers, be sure to store them in a tightly sealed container in the fridge. For best results heating it up, I almost always put my oven on broil and then let it heat up for 2-3 minutes, watching carefully. SO much better than microwaving it or eating it cold in my humble opinion 😉
I hope you guys enjoy this pizza recipe – it’s so so yummy and I hope you get to try it out soon! XO – Haylie
Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few others you might enjoy:
Cheesy Roasted Red Pepper Flatbread
Creamy White Sauce Pizza with Prosciutto, Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms and Kale
Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie
Loaded Pesto Veggie Pizza
This Loaded Pesto Veggie Pizza is the perfect simple weeknight dinner! Made with a store-bought crust, top it with your favorite veggies, savory pesto and lots of cheese and you’re all set!
Ingredients
- 1/4 red bell pepper, sliced into long strips
- 1/4 green bell pepper, sliced into long strips
- 1/2 cup sliced white mushrooms
- 1/3 cup leafy greens
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup jarred pesto
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 store bought pizza crust (my favorite is Wewalka!)
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 425 (or to whatever your store bought pizza crust label says - (SEE NOTES!!!). Roll out the pizza crust onto a baking sheet or a pizza stone.
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Slice the bell peppers, mushrooms and mince the garlic. Set aside.
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Add the pesto onto the crust. Top with a 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Add the toppings, including the spinach. Top with the remaining 1 cup of cheese.
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Bake for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and crispy - SEE NOTES!
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Once it's done, slice and eat up! Enjoy! Top with red pepper flakes and fresh herbs!
Recipe Notes
I used Wewalka Bistro Pizza Dough pizza crust. It's my favorite. If you use a different store-bought crust, please follow the baking directions on that package. Different baking times/temperatures might need to be followed.
This pizza serves 2 people usually with leftovers 🙂