Garlic Pizza Recipe
It’s “cauliflower pizza,” but not in the way you think. Instead of making a complicated crust out of cauliflower, we’re using it as a topping for this Roasted Garlic Pizza recipe.
Roasted Garlic Pizza
I know I’ve mentioned it before, but my husband and I try to eat at least a couple of vegetarian dinners each week. One of the easiest and best ways I’ve found to make this happen is with PIZZA.
I mean seriously, everybody loves pizza, and given the right toppings, nobody will miss the meat at all.
Also, any veggie pizza is automatically 500% less greasy than a pie with pepperoni on it, so you won’t be doing the old blot-this-awkwardly-with-a-napkin-before-I-eat-it trick.
Why You’ll Love this Cauliflower Pizza with Garlic
- The savory sweetness of roasted cauliflower pairs perfectly with the rich, aromatic roasted garlic, creating a flavor profile that is both satisfying and unexpected.
- Incorporating cauliflower as a topping adds a nutritious boost to pizza night.
Garlic Pizza Ingredients
- cauliflower – the star of this pizza, but we’re not making it into crust, we’re using it as a pizza topping.
- olive oil – for roasting the garlic
- salt and pepper – for seasoning the cauliflower so it’s as tasty as it can be.
- garlic – we’ll be roasting an entire head of garlic for this pizza!
- pizza dough – buy a 1 pound ball of store-bought dough or use my recipe for homemade pizza dough.
- cream cheese – this acts as the creamy and flavorful base sauce for the top of the pizza.
- Roma tomatoes – these add juiciness to the pizza.
- Parmesan cheese – provides a salty and nutty flavor, and contributes to the cheesy goodness of this roasted garlic pizza.
- chives – add a subtle onion flavor and pop of color as a finishing touch.
How to Make Homemade Garlic Pizza
- ROAST CAULI + GARLIC. Place the cauliflower on a baking pan and toss with oil, salt and pepper. On the same pan, place the bulb of garlic, drizzled with oil and wrapped in foil.
- PULL CAULI, FINISH GARLIC. After about 50 minutes, the cauliflower will be very brown and done. Transfer it to a bowl, but then return the garlic to to the oven for about 10 more minutes until it is dark brown and very soft.
- CRUST. Place a pizza stone in the oven to preheat, then stretch your pizza dough in a large circle. Spray the stone with nonstick cooking spray then place the dough round on the stone and bake 6 minutes.
- SQUEEZE. While the crust bakes, squeeze the garlic from its cloves and mash it into the cream cheese with a fork.
- TOP. Remove the crust from the oven and spread it with the cream cheese mixture. Then, top it with the cauliflower, tomatoes, cheese and chives. Bake 8 minutes longer or until the crust is cooked through.
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How to Make Pizza with Roasted Garlic ahead of time (optional)
Many elements of this pizza can be made ahead of time, making assembly quicker when it’s time to eat:
- The cauliflower and the garlic can be roasted up to 3 days in advance. Squeeze the garlic from it’s cloves while it’s still warm and refrigerate in a covered container.
- The garlic cream cheese can be made a day in advance.
Garlic Pizza Recipe Substitutions
- You can use shredded mozzarella in place of the Parmesan, or experiment with any type of cheese that you like.
- Instead of chives, feel free to use another type of herb like basil or oregano.
- Add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes to spice things up.
Garlic Pizza Home Chef Tips
- If you have a pizza stone, you’ll want to preheat your oven with the empty pizza stone IN it, so the stone gets nice and hot and you get the crispiest crust.
- Allow the pizza to rest for a minute or two after baking to allow the flavors to meld before slicing and serving.
How to Store Homemade Garlic Pizza
Store leftover pizza slices in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the oven or microwave.
Cauliflower Pizza with Roasted Garlic FAQs
How do you cut garlic for pizza?
While thinly sliced garlic is great as a pizza topping, in this case, we are roasting a whole head of garlic and then mashing the roasted cloves into cream cheese to make a “sauce.”
Cauliflower Pizza with Garlic
It’s “cauliflower pizza,” but not in the way you think. Instead of making a complicated crust out of cauliflower, we’re using it as a topping for this Roasted Garlic Pizza recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower florets separated and thinly sliced
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 head garlic top of bulb trimmed off until tops of cloves are exposed
- 1 ball homemade pizza dough, or store-bought 1 pound
- Nonstick cooking spray
- ½ cup cream cheese
- 2 Roma tomatoes sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place cauliflower on rimmed baking pan. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place garlic on piece of foil; drizzle with a small amount of oil and tightly wrap foil around bulb. Place garlic on same pan as cauliflower.
- Roast cauliflower until very brown, about 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer cauliflower to bowl, then return pan with garlic to oven. Roast garlic until it is dark golden brown and very soft, about 10 minutes longer. Let garlic stand for 5 minutes or until cool enough to touch.
- Place pizza stone in oven (leave at 400 degrees F).
- Toss and stretch pizza dough into a 14-inch circle. Once oven is preheated, carefully remove pizza stone from oven and spray with cooking spray. Carefully place dough on stone. Transfer to oven and bake 6 minutes.
- Meanwhile, squeeze garlic from it’s cloves into a small bowl. Add cream cheese and mash together with a fork.
- Remove crust from oven. Spread with cream cheese mixture, then top with cauliflower, tomatoes, cheese and chives. Bake 8 minutes longer, or until crust is cooked through and toppings are hot.
Notes
- You can use shredded mozzarella in place of the Parmesan, or experiment with any type of cheese that you like.
- Instead of chives, feel free to use another type of herb like basil or oregano.
- Add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes to spice things up.
Calories: 417kcal, Carbohydrates: 59g, Protein: 15g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 33mg, Sodium: 942mg, Potassium: 578mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 11g, Vitamin A: 738IU, Vitamin C: 76mg, Calcium: 150mg, Iron: 4mg
This website provides estimated nutrition information as a courtesy only. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Did you make this recipe?Leave a Review below or share a photo and tag me on Instagram @foxeslovelemons with the hashtag #foxeslovelemons.
Store bought frozen pizza dough? Are you really a ccrdible food blogger and chef? Just how hard is it to make pizza dough? Flour, yeast, honey, salt, water let dough rise, punch it down, knead the dough and you’ve got pizza dough.
The fall of civilization is frozen store bought pizza dough, microwave and fast food.
I’m sorry you feel that way, Colleen. My mission is to encourage people to enjoy the act of cooking at home. In my opinion, that’s all about balance, and this recipe reflects that. Readers have an option to make homemade dough if they’d like, or start with store-bought. If feeling obligated to make homemade dough is the only thing that stands in the way of a homemade meal vs. getting fast food, then by all means, I think people should start with that frozen dough. I’m lucky enough to have a locally-made brand of frozen dough available to me that is made with just the ingredients you list: flour, yeast, honey, salt, water. I’m willing to save myself a little time in the kitchen by starting with a good-quality frozen dough.
I use roasted vegetables a good deal on pizza for vegan daughter. A mixture of zucchini, peppers, sliced tomatoes, roasted cauliflower, eggplant, fresh herbs on a bed of fresh tomato sauce topped with vegan cheese. For those who enjoy mushrooms-they too are added. Sometimes crumble vegan patties as the “meat” which is not missed. For the meat eaters, I add Italian sausage and or anchovies. Pizza with a lot of ingredients is generally called pizza a la capricciosa- sort of as my whimsy takes me.
Years ago, when my children (now in their 50’s) were at home, I used to make and store 9 inch pizza shells. When their friends came over, I used to set out all sorts of toppings for them to make their own pizza.
It was fun, put their hands and imaginations to good use. They had a great deal of fun-in a safe place.
This sounds like such a great idea for kids, Kathryn! I could see doing something like this with my niece when she comes to visit. Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂
I just made this for dinner. It was awesome! The cream cheese/roasted garlic base made the pizza extra delish.
I’m so glad you liked it, Amanda! Thanks so much for stopping by and letting me know 🙂
Do you you mean a clove or a head of garlic?
Oh, I mean a whole HEAD of garlic, Ginlyn. Shoot – I just realized I said “clove” a few times in the post when I really meant “head.” I’m going to go back and change it now so it’s more clear from here on out. Thanks for asking!
Oh, I mean a whole HEAD of garlic, Ginlyn. Shoot – I just realized I said “clove” a few times in the post when I really meant “head.” I’m going to go back and change it now so it’s more clear from here on out. Thanks for asking!
Thanks so much – this is one of my favorite pizzas, for sure 🙂
Your pizza looks wonderful. Just love that you add the roasted garlic and cauliflower. Yum!
Your pizza looks wonderful. Just love that you add the roasted garlic and cauliflower. Yum!
Thanks so much – this is one of my favorite pizzas, for sure 🙂
I’m so glad he enjoyed it! Thanks so much for reading!
Thank you for yr womderful recipe 🙂 my son loved it …!
Thank you for yr womderful recipe 🙂 my son loved it …!
I’m so glad he enjoyed it! Thanks so much for reading!
That is one amazing-looking pizza! Loving the roasted garlic cream chese – yum!!
Your pizza looks so delicious! The only way I tend to eat cauliflower is with lots of cheese on, but roasted and on a pizza sounds like a great idea!
Thanks Rosie! Yeah, cauliflower definitely needs cheese for me, too! Or curry.
Oh, my gosh, your pizza looks terrific! Roasted garlic AND roasted cauliflower??? I’m sold. Just pinned it…’cause I want it!!!!
Awesome, thanks Liz! Please let me know how it turns out 🙂
I love roasted cauliflower! Putting it on pizza is a great idea!
Thanks Laura!
I love cauliflower on pizza! This looks delicious!! 🙂
Thanks Puja!
Never had cauliflower on pizza, this is a must try, your photo’s are stunning.
Thanks! I don’t know if I’d ever had cauliflower on a pizza before trying this either, but something struck me to do it!