Veggie Pesto Pizza

This vegetable pesto pizza is loaded with lots of green vegetables, fresh basil pesto, and tangy goat cheese. Like a wise frog once said, it’s not easy being green. Luckily for us, this pizza makes it a little bit easier. There’s broccoli, zucchini, and bits of kale plus tons of pesto – forcing in all of the green-y nutrients that you need to hit your daily recommended vegetable intake. 

The addition of lemon zest, goat cheese, parmesan, and red pepper flakes keeps this tasting fresh, zingy, and a smidge spicy.  It’s the veggie pizza of your dreams.

What You’ll Need

Vegetable Pesto Pizza Ingredients

To make this green vegetable pesto pizza, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Fresh pizza dough
• Basil pesto
• Broccoli
• Zucchini
• Kale
• Lemon
• Goat Cheese
• Parmesan Cheese
• Red pepper flakes
• Optional flaky sea salt

For the exact ingredient amounts, check out the recipe card at the bottom of this page.

Equipment

In order to make this pesto-y veggie pizza, you’ll need the following pieces of equipment:

• Cutting board and knife
• Circular baking tray (like this one from Amazon)

Vegetable Pesto Pizza Recipe Tips

When you make this vegetable pesto pizza, here are a few tips to make sure it’s delicious:

• When layering your vegetables on this pizza, give them a good toss to make sure they’re evenly distributed across the pizza. This way you’ll get a bit of every veggie in each bite!
• This pizza is loaded with toppings. To make sure your pizza crust can handle all those veggies, don’t roll it out too thin in the center. Once rolled the crust should not be so thin that it’s transparent in the center.

The Recipe Details

Do Some Prep Work

To get this veggie pesto pizza recipe started, you’ll need to first do a bit of prep work. While preparing the rest of the ingredients, set out the pizza dough so that it can come up to temperature and begin preheating the oven. 

Chop the broccoli, zucchini, and kale into small, bite-sized pieces. Set the vegetables aside and collect the pesto, lemon, goat cheese, parmesan cheese, and red pepper flakes. Crumble the goat cheese into a bowl and grate the parmesan cheese, if needed.

Once the pizza dough is at room temperature, use your hands or a rolling pin to stretch the dough out into a circular shape. The dough should be about ¼ inch thin in the center.

Assemble and Bake the Vegetable Pesto Pizza

Now that the ingredients are ready to go, let’s assemble the pizza! Drizzle a bit of olive oil onto a circular baking tray and transfer the pizza dough into the center. If the dough shrinks slightly as you transfer it, use your hands to spread the dough out again slightly.

Spoon the pesto onto the center of the pizza and use the back of a spoon to spread it across the dough. Be sure to leave a bit of exposed dough around the edge to be the crust. Arrange the chopped broccoli, zucchini, and kale across the dough. Sprinkle the goat cheese across the vegetables and then pop the tray into the oven. Bake the pizza until the veggies and dough have cooked through.

Once the pizza is out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes. Add a generous amount of parmesan cheese and freshly grate some lemon zest over the entire thing. Sprinkle a bit of red pepper flakes and flaky sea salt if desired over the pizza to taste. Slice the pizza and serve right away!

For any leftovers, heat them in a 350°F oven for about 5 minutes to warm them back up and to keep the toppings crisp.

If you make this vegetable pesto pizza, be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating – I can’t wait to hear how it goes. As always, tag me on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook in your photos. It makes me feel like we’re getting to cook together!

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Print Recipe

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Veggie Pesto Pizza

Author: Laura Wilkins Cooking Method: Baked Cuisine: Italian Courses: Pizza

Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 15 mins Cook Time 15 mins Rest Time 5 mins Total Time 35 mins

Cooking Temp: 500  °F Servings: 4

Best Season: Suitable throughout the year

Description

A vegetable pesto pizza packed with broccoli, zucchini, kale, goat cheese, parmesan, red pepper flakes, and lemon zest. A perfect green pizza on crispy crust.

Ingredients

Scale

1/2x 1x 2x 3x

• 1 lb fresh pizza dough
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ³⁄₄ cup basil pesto
• 1 cup broccoli, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 cup zucchini cut into ¼ inch half moons (about 1 small zucchini)
• 1 cup chopped kale
• 2-3 oz crumbled goat cheese
• ¹⁄₄ cup grated parmesan cheese
• Pinch of red pepper flakes, to taste
• zest of 1 lemon
• Flaky sea salt (optional)

Instructions

Do Some Prep Work

1. Remove your pizza dough from the refrigerator and set on the counter to come to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

   Use the time your dough is coming up to temperature to prep your vegetables

2. Preheat your oven to 500° F and set out a circular baking tray.

3. Use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch the pizza dough into a circular shape about 1/4 inch thick in the center.

Assemble and Bake the Veggie Pesto Pizza

1. Drizzle the olive oil over the baking tray and transfer the pizza dough onto the tray.

2. Spoon the pesto into the center of the pizza crust. Use the back of the spoon to spread the pesto around the crust, leaving 1-2 inches from the edge of the crust.

3. Arrange the chopped broccoli, sliced zucchini, and chopped kale across the top of the pizza. Sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese over the vegetables.

4. Bake the pizza for 12-14 minutes, until the dough is baked through and the veggies are crisp.

5. Remove the pizza from the oven and let it rest on the tray for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese and a pinch of red pepper flakes over the entire pizza. Freshly grate lemon zest over the vegetables and add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, if desired.