Beet Pesto Pizza with Goat Cheese and Kale

Step up your pizza game with this Beet Pesto Pizza with Goat Cheese and Kale, a decadent yet healthy pizza that’s packed with nutritious flavor.

*This recipe has been updated to be more clear (and delicious!) and bumped up to the top of our feed*

What better way to learn to like a less-than-liked vegetable than by pairing it with a food you love? That’s right, friends, beets and pizza are joining forces today!

So after a bit of trial and error (and a magenta mess that left my kitchen looking like a beet crime scene) I arrived at this tasty beet pesto base on which to pile loads of cheese and kale!

How to Make Beet Pesto

This beet pesto, guys. It’s creamy. It’s nutty. And most amazing of all, it’s not earthy. It doesn’t taste like dirt! This pesto recipe manages to remove that signature beet taste, transforming it into a pesto you could put on pasta or paninis or…whatever really! Today, we’ll stick with pizza.

The signature to removing that earthy flavor is to roast the beets. Chop off the top and bottom, peel off the outer layer with a vegetable peeler, then chop the beets into cubes. Place on aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil, then create an enclosed aluminum foil pouch and bake until tender.

Once our beets are cooked and tender, throw them in a food processor or blender with some garlic, walnuts, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and salt. Puree until it’s as smooth as possible, then slowly pour in olive oil, blending as your pour, to create a creamy dream-colored pesto.

Get yourself some pizza dough (I would, of course, highly recommend the Easy Peasy Pizza Dough). Spread the beet pesto over the dough, leaving about an inch around the edges. This should be a pretty thin layer of pesto, and you may have some leftover depending on the size of your pizza dough.

Then you’ll layer on your greens and cheese! Even though this is a goat cheese pizza, we’re going to lay down a solid mozzarella base first. Then throw on a few dollops of goat cheese which will melt into perfect goat cheese morsel perfection. Bake to golden perfection and devour!

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Beet Pesto Pizza with Goat Cheese and Kale

This Beet Pesto Pizza with Goat Cheese and Kale is a decadent, healthy pizza that’s packed with flavor and antioxidants.  

Course Main Dishes, Pizzas

Cuisine American

Keyword beet pizza, goat cheese pizza, kale pizza, pesto pizza, pizza

Diet Vegetarian

Occasion Valentine’s Day

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 42 minutes

Total Time 52 minutes

Servings 10 slices

Calories 223 kcal

Author Live Eat Learn

Ingredients

Beet Pesto

• 2 large red beets
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup walnuts 75 g
• 3/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese 75 g
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice 30 mL
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil + 1 Tbsp for roasting 75 mL

Everything Else

• 1 pizza dough click for easy homemade recipe
• 2 cups kale
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese 200 g
• 2 oz goat cheese 60 g

Instructions

1. Roast Beets: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (218 C). Trim, peel, and chop beets into 1/2 inch cubes. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil and place on aluminum foil, fashioning it into a sealed pouch. Cook for 30 minutes, or until tender. 

2. Beet Pesto: Puree roasted beets, garlic, walnuts, parmesan, lemon juice, and salt in a food processor. Slowly pour in 1/4 cup olive oil, blending as you pour.

3. Assemble: Spread a thin layer of beet pesto over pizza dough (you may have leftover pesto). Layer on kale, sprinkle on mozzarella, then add dollops of goat cheese.

4. Bake: Increase temperature to 475 degrees F (246 C). Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.

Nutrition Facts

Beet Pesto Pizza with Goat Cheese and Kale

Amount Per Serving (1 slice)

Calories 223 Calories from Fat 121

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 13.4g 21%

Saturated Fat 3.1g 16%

Cholesterol 9mg 3%

Sodium 333mg 14%

Potassium 140mg 4%

Total Carbohydrates 20.1g 7%

Dietary Fiber 2.2g 9%

Sugars 1.5g

Protein 8.8g 18%

Calcium 7%

Iron 3%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link, I may earn a commission (at no extra cost to you). Thanks so much for dropping by Live Eat Lean and for making east recipes like this Beet Pesto Pizza possible! Be sure to take a picture and tag #liveeatlearn on Instagram if you give it a try.