Broccoli Cheddar Pizza
Written by Beth - Budget Bytes
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
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
Nutrition
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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!
The best veggie pizza we’ve ever had. We made this one and the BBQ pizza one night for pizza night. Both pizzas were destroyed
Awesome! I used jiffy pizza dough mix with some cornmeal on the pan to firm up the bottom of the dough. I loaded it up with broccoli. Only real change I made was to add some crushed red pepper and green onion to the pizza after it finished cooking (which really kicked it up). Delicious!
I made this last night for dinner and I am still thinking of it! 10/10 I cannot believe how delicious this was. I will be making it next week again for sure.