The secret ingredient in this cheeseless pizza brings rich flavors and creamy textures- while providing a host of nutritional benefits. You’ve never tasted such a delicious healthy pizza before!!
Whether you’re looking for a cheese, less pizza because you’re vegan, lactose, intolerant, or trying to reduce overall fat or processed food in your diet- this is a great recipe!
For the longest time, Friday nights were homemade pizza night. It was such a fun and easy way to make use of the random leftovers we had in our refrigerator.
My husband and I would make cheese and pepperoni for the kids. then we would enjoy a few beers and get weird with our pizza toppings. (Leftover barbecue chicken, kimchi, roasted carrots- mmmmm....so good!!)
Long story short in the middle of last year, my husband had a medical issue which has caused him to greatly reduce the amount of fat in his diet. While we had been eating pretty healthy, now that he had had his gallbladder removed, his body no longer process is fat as easily.
We still have cheese and moderate amounts, but greatly cut back on our overall consumption of cheese in there for traditional pizza.
As some of you know, by now I’m a little obsessed with beans, and during one of my many legume adventures this summer, I made an outrageously, delicious warm navy bean spread.
The two of us wolfed it down for lunch one and my husband, Tom, suggested putting it on pizza instead of cheese. I’m going to call it a moment of brilliance!
By replacing tomato sauce with this white bean spread, you get a creamy delicious base that you can layer all your toppings on. It’s the end of summer and the tomatoes and summer squash are coming in hot and both pair perfectly well with navy bean spread.
Topped with caramelized onions and chili peppers this is a celebration of summer. It is also a healthier and more satisfying way to enjoy this traditional dish.
The instructions below are for a thin-crust sheet pizza because that’s the easiest way for us to satisfy all of the picky preferences of the smaller family members
in our household. For those of you who don’t have to negotiate with toddlers, the recipe easily adapts to other cooking methods. Pizza stone, and pizza oven friendly.
Jump to:
The most important ingredients
Navy Beans
Navy beans are the secret ingredient that creates a rich and creamy white sauce
for this pizza. If you don’t have navy beans, you can use other kinds of white beans like cannellini or great Northern beans. I would not use butter beans as they will not be as smooth and creamy.
Of all of these white beans navy beans have the softest and most creamy texture and is why I prefer them for this recipe. Learn more about Navy Beans vs Great Northern Beans
Caramelized onions
Second, only to the magical, navy bean, caramelized onions are the next most important ingredient for this recipe. Without any cheese or meat on this pizza, you missed nothing in robust depth flavor because of caramelized onions!
Yes, they take a little time to sauté but they’re totally worth it. You can use yellow, sweet, or red onions. After adding caramelized onions, I think all other toppings are optional and up to you.
Everything else
Here are the ingredients for my original recipe which was developed at the end of summer and the toppings reflect the season with beefsteak tomatoes and summer squash.
(I think after the white is spread in the caramelized onions, you could make this pizza a million different ways, and it will still be delicious.)
- Tomatoes- I used sliced large beefsteak tomatoes for today's pictures. You could also use smaller or even grape tomatoes instead. Note that beef steak tomatoes are easy to find in summer, but are almost always not worth eating during the winter months. If it’s the dead of winter and you want to make this pizza, I would look for small hot house tomatoes or cherry tomatoes which don’t seem to change as much in the winter.
- Summer squash- I used a vegetable peeler to make summer squash ribbons, which have a great texture and looks really nice against the big round tomatoes. I’m looking forward to trying this with butternut squash in the fall.
- Chili pepper- I’ve been getting some kind of green pepper for this pizza because the green just looks so beautiful with the summer squash and tomato. Plus, it brings a little spice in heat to the dish. We have tried banana, serrano, and jalapeño peppers. But if you do not enjoy spicy food, you could also use a green bell pepper.
- Pizza dough of your choice- I have included the pizza dough recipe I use most of the time- when I don’t buy a store-bought pizza dough. But feel free to make it your own with cauliflower or whole wheat crust. Maybe even a bagel bites version.
- Fresh Herbs- Fresh basil or oregano are my favorite for this topping combination
The dough recipe
If you’ve already purchased pizza dough, skip this section.
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour (plus some for your working surface and rolling pin)
- 2 ¼ teaspoon instant dry yeast
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 ½ cups warm water (~110 degrees)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, (plus some to coat the dough)
This pizza dough is really easy and you only need to make it about an hour beforehand, just enough time to get the oven hot and your toppings ready to go.
In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, yeast, and sugar. Once the dry ingredients are mixed, add the warm water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix until thoroughly combined. You can do this in a stand mixer with a dough hook or I just go ahead and use my hands right from the beginning.
Once the dough forms a ball, knead the dough for one minute. Coat the dough with olive oil and leave it in the bowl covered with plastic wrap for an hour.
Instruction
Preheat the oven to 450 while the dough rises. Meanwhile, prepare your toppings or raid your refrigerator for weird leftovers.
Making the beans spread
Drain and rinse a can of navy beans. Place in a food processor with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 4 cloves of garlic and ½ teaspoons of salt.
Blend until completely smooth. You should have a spread that is a little creamier than a hummus. Add another dash of lemon juice
if you need to.
How to Caramelize Onions
Start by thinly slicing your choice of onions. Heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a frying pan. Add the sliced onions to the pan with a pinch of salt. The key to caramelizing onions is to cook them slowly over low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking or burning. This process typically takes around 20-30 minutes, allowing the natural sugars in the onions to brown and sweeten.
While you’re caramelizing onions, you’re going to pre-cook your pizza dough. On a flowered surface shape, the pizza dough with a mixture of pinching with your hands and using a floured rolling pin.
Prep the Veggies
Use a serrated knife to slice the beef steak tomatoes. Then use a vegetable peeler to create ribbons from the flash of the summer squash, avoiding the seeds in the center.
You can decide between keeping the peppers whole or deseeded. Note that keeping the seeds will be spicier than if you cut them up and scrape the seeds out.
For the Dough
Normally, I just make one large sheet pan pizza on a 15”x 21” cooking sheet covered in parchment paper. If easier, you could cut the dough into two balls and make two smaller pizzas.
Line a large flat baking dish with parchment paper. Drizzle olive oil over the surface of the parchment paper. Transfer the thin pizza dough to the oiled parchment paper.
Before placing in the oven, use a fork to puncture the surface of the pizza dough, allowing air to escape. This will help prevent large bubbles being formed in the pizza dough.
Place in the oven at 425 for 10 minutes. This will toast the pizza dough a little bit before adding the navy bean spread will ensure a crispy cooked pizza bottom.
When the bottom of the pizza dough is slightly browned, remove from the oven and spread the navy bean spread evenly over the surface. Next layer the tomatoes, squash ribbons, and caramelized onions.
Return the pizza to the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is slightly browned.
Tips tricks and alterations
- Don't be shy about using flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin or surface
- Move the cooked pizza to a cutting board 5 minutes after it comes out of the oven. If you try to move it too easily it might be too floppy but wait too long and the center can end up being a little saggy.
- Make it your our with different by playing with he topping combinations. (green and black olives, roasted red bell peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, sweet potatoes, pesto, butternut squash, white mushrooms... the potabilities are endless)
- Try adding toppings and garnish after cooking. Pickled fresno chili peppers, nutritional yeast, balsamic glaze, and fresh herbs are a few of my favorites. But don't stop there...what about pickle onions, kimchi, cilantro garlic sauce, or tahini herb sauce?
- If you are using a pizza oven or stone be sure you semolina flour on the cooking surface so the dough can easily release with a pizza peel.
- Meat lovers- trying to stay health, this turkey sausage recipe is a great addition to this pizza.
Try more white beans recipes:
- Kale and White Bean Salad
- Easy Butter Beans (simply sauteed)
- Broccoli rabe salad White Bean With Sun-dried Tomatoes
- White Bean Salads
- Farro with White Blister Tomato and Pesto
If you’ve tried this Cheeseless Pizza Recipe recipe or any other recipe on BalancingBowls, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to see more tasty meals and anything else I’m up to.
Recipe
Cheeseless Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 sweet or red onion
- 2 beef stake tomatoes
- 2 summer squash
- 1 can of navy beans
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 cloves of galic minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- extra virgin olive oil
- Pizza dough (homemade recipe in notes below)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 while the dough rises.
- Drain and rinse a can of navy beans. Place in a food processor with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 4 cloves of garlic, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Blend until completely smooth. You should have a spread that is a little creamier than a hummus. Add another dash of lemon juice if you need to.
- Thinly slice your choice of onions. Heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a frying pan. Add the sliced onions to the pan with a pinch of salt. The key to caramelizing onions is to cook them slowly over low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking or burning, for about 20-30 minutes.
- Use a serrated knife to slice the beef steak tomatoes. Then use a vegetable peeler to create ribbons from the flesh of the summer squash, avoiding the seeds in the center.
- You can decide between keeping the peppers whole or deseeded. Note that keeping the seeds will be spicier than if you cut them up and scrape the seeds out.
- Pre-cook your pizza dough. On a flowered surface, shape the pizza dough with a mixture of pinching with your hands and using a floured rolling pin. Line a large flat baking dish with parchment paper. Drizzle olive oil over the surface of the parchment paper.
- Transfer the thin pizza dough to the oiled parchment paper. Use a fork to puncture the surface of the pizza dough, allowing air to escape. Place in the oven at 425 for 10 minutes.
- When the bottom of the pizza dough is slightly browned, remove from the oven and spread the navy bean spread evenly over the surface. Next layer the tomatoes, squash ribbons, and caramelized onions.
- Return the pizza to the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is slightly browned.
Notes
Pizza Dough Recipe
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour (plus some for your working surface and rolling pin)
- 2 ¼ teaspoon instant dry yeast
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 ½ cups warm water (~110 degrees)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, (plus some to coat the dough)
Tracy Ross says
Are you sure it's 'beef stake'?