Homemade Pizza, the Healthy Way

Is there a time I'm not craving pizza? Spoiler alert: there isn't. Thanks to COVID-19, I haven't had pizza from a pizzeria since March 2020. Seriously. My family is finally thinking about getting takeout, now that we're all about to be completely vaccinated. This would be our first restaurant food in over a year because we took restrictions seriously and decided it wasn't worth the risk. Pizza is very high on our wishlist.

We make our own pizza all the time, dough and all. I can tell you, it's pretty delicious. Still, in the past month or so, I have been trying hard to revamp my eating habits. I am working out, eating fruit and vegetables at every meal, and trying my best to watch portions and maintain a caloric deficit every day. Pizza is...problematic to fit into this plan. I can do it, but I'm not doing it on the daily. And trust me when I say I could eat pizza every day.

Pinterest to the rescue! You might have seen those homemade, high-protein bagels that everyone is flipping for? The dough is just equal parts plain Greek yogurt and flour (you'll need to sprinkle extra flour to keep it from sticking). You stir it up, shape it into bagels, put toppings on, and air fry. I like them, but last night I saw that people are using that dough for everything. Including pizza.

I could not stop thinking about healthy pizza. I decided today was the day to try it. At my house, you can usually count on leftover sauce lurking somewhere in the fridge. Shockingly, not today. Not one to let small details stand in my way, I just chopped a whole tomato and sprinkled it over the dough. I added chopped onion, garlic, and a handful of shredded spinach. Then I sprinkled the veggies with basil, oregano, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper. I used a bit more cheese than I usually would, but there wasn't enough to save, so cheesy yummy pizza it is. I air-fried it at 375° for 15 minutes, and soon a delicious veggie pizza was on my plate for lunch.

You can put any toppings you like, and if you don't like chopped tomatoes, sauce is the classic option. Regarding how big your pizza will be, my personal-sized version used 1/2 cup of yogurt and flour (plus a tablespoon or so more flour for sprinkling) and clocked in at 525 calories. This was a lot of food for one meal; you could use 1/4 cup flour and yogurt for a smaller pizza, or if you make the larger one, share it and add a piece of fruit.

A note on cooking: I have the kind of air fryer with trays. You really couldn't do this with a basket air fryer (though you could make miniature calzones or pizza rollups). No air fryer? No problem! You can bake it in the oven, too. Oven cooking is generally slower than air frying, so give it 20 minutes and then check, adding more time if you need to. Next time I plan to pre-air fry my crust before I add toppings because I like it crispy. Air fryers vary between models, so just experiment on the timing and see what works in yours.

There isn't much I love more than being able to enjoy something delicious while knowing it's also good for me. I hope you'll try this method--and that you love it as much as I do.

Delicious, high-protein pizza: the recipe

Dough:

Decide how much pizza you want to make. Mix together equal parts plain Greek yogurt and all-purpose flour. Optional: a small pinch of salt. The dough will be sticky. You should sprinkle your board and the surface of the dough with a bit of extra flour so you can work with it.

Top your pizza:

The possibilities are endless!

Base: Tomato sauce, Alfredo sauce, ricotta cheese for a white pizza, olive oil and herbs, chopped tomatoes

Toppings: any veggie you love, olives, tiny meatballs, bacon, ham, sausage, pineapple--whatever you love, it's your call.

Herbs/Spices: salt, garlic, basil, oregano, crushed red pepper for classic Italian flavors. But you can make Mexican, curry, Thai style...I'm not going to judge!

Cheese: Mozzarella or whatever you want. Again, not here to control your pizza jam.

Cooking:

Air fryers: you'll need to know the ins and outs of your personal machine. Use 375° for 15 minutes as a starting point and adjust to your fryer. If the cheese is melty and golden, it's done! Note: if you like a crispier crust, just air fry the dough a couple of minutes before adding all your toppings.

Oven: start with the guideline for air fryers, and see how it goes. Depending on the size of your pizza, it will probably take 20-25 minutes.