Pizza is an Italian dish that comes with the goodness of cheese, vegetables, flavourful toppings, and a very specific tomato sauce that brings the Italian cuisine home. While pizzas are not exactly a healthy diet, having them once in a while isn’t going to have a significant impact on your health. If you do want to incorporate pizzas more regularly into your diet, there are healthier alternatives that exist.
Healthy pizza choices to let you off your misery
Whole wheat pizza – whole wheat pizza crusts are more nutritional as they contain more fibre. You find whole wheat pizza crust available at stores or at pizza bakeries. These are easy to make as they simply switch out the dough ingredients.
Cauliflower crust pizza : adding in vegetables is the easiest trick in the hat to add nutrition. Cauliflower crust is a low-carb gluten free alternative that is just as delicious as traditional pizza crust. It’s got a good amount of fibre and potassium. Restaurants who do it right bring an added texture to the pizza that you can devour.
Millet pizza crust : using a millet pizza base instead of traditional pizza base. Millet is rich in protein, fibre and micronutrients. It comes with the goodness of pizza elements like tomato sauce, protein rich chicken, bell pepper and lots of cheese. These elements go perfectly with the millet pizza base and bring out the perfect texture.
Zucchini crust pizza : Zucchini crust pizza is also a low-carb pizza crust alternative. It makes for a good gluten-free option. Zucchini also provides fibre, vitamin A and C and manganese.
Chickpea crust : chickpea is an excellent source of protein. It’s a gluten free option and is rich in iron and fibre as well. Chickpea pizza helps increase one’s protein intake as well as gives a healthy plant-based alternative to traditional pizza.
Veggie pizza : loading your pizza with vegetables is the easiest way to make it a nutritional treat. If you’re not able to find an alternative crust, fill your pizza with all colours of vegetables and throw some cheese on top. It’ll come perfect every time. Use toppings like mushrooms, asparagus, peppers, onions and tomatoes.
Mediterranean pizza : Mediterranean pizza is a healthy and flavourful option. It has a topping of hummus which is made of chickpea – rich in plant based protein, feta cheese, olives and other toppings.
Brekkie pizza : This is where you throw all your usual breakfast solutions onto the pizza. It’s a fun and unique way to get started, use toppings like egg, cheese and veggies. It’s like a breakfast salad but on a pizza. One can also add a protein of choice.
Low-Carb pizzas
This is a good option for people who are trying to reduce their carb intake. These are made of low-carb crust like cauliflower or zucchini. The toppings are also low-carb, these have more veggies loaded over them. The trick is to increase fibre and protein while keeping a check on the carbohydrates.
Pizza Kinds for Healthy pizza choices
Pita pizza is when you top a pita bread with pizza sauce and toppings. Pita bread is light and is less dense as well as lower in calories and carbohydrates than other forms of bread. This is a quick and easy way to have healthy pizzas.
Flatbread pizza flatbread is yet another alternative. This too is lower in calories when compared. It;s thinner and lighter. One can opt for whole grain or wheat flatbread for the added nutrition.
Grilled pizza uses less oil than traditionally cooked oven pizza. The grill is simply heated and the pizza is cooked through crust and toppings. This is a quicker and healthier pizza option to try out.
Make Healthier pizzas starting today
- Use light cheese
- Pick leaner meats if you must have them
- Add as many vegetables as you possibly can
- Avoid processed foods these lack in nutritional value
- All healthy sauces, try Mediterranean pizzas, they make use of hummus.
- Limit the use of oil and try to use healthier oils
- Remember it’s only the pizza crust that needs to be cooked, reduce cooking time and increase temperature instead
Final thoughts
There might be many tricks that’ll take your pizza to the healthier road. It’s important to understand that what you’re trying to do here is fine pizza alternatives that are easier to digest and come with added health benefits.
Also read – Pizza Toppings from Around the World: Unusual and Surprising Flavors
A food enthusiast and a blogger – someone who likes to eat and write about it. I’m passionate about exploring different cuisines and challenging my palette. I give into my food craving regularly and am often on the hunt to find my new favorite food place in town.
