• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Splash of Taste - Vegetarian Recipes
  • Home
  • Food
    • All Recipes
    • Air Fryer Recipe
    • Appetizers
    • Easy Casseroles
    • Desserts
      • Desserts
      • Cheesecake
      • Cookies
      • Crumble
      • Pies
    • Dips, dressings, & sauces
    • Main Courses
    • Pasta
    • Pizza
    • Side Dishes
    • Soup
    • Under 30 Mins
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegetarian curries
    • Vegan
  • Drinks
    • Cocktails
    • Gin Cocktails
    • Tequila Cocktails
    • Vodka Cocktails
    • Mocktails
  • About Us
Splash of Taste – Vegetarian Recipes

Splash of Taste - Vegetarian Recipes

Easy veggie recipes

  • Home
  • Food
    • All Recipes
    • Air Fryer Recipe
    • Appetizers
    • Easy Casseroles
    • Desserts
      • Desserts
      • Cheesecake
      • Cookies
      • Crumble
      • Pies
    • Dips, dressings, & sauces
    • Main Courses
    • Pasta
    • Pizza
    • Side Dishes
    • Soup
    • Under 30 Mins
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegetarian curries
    • Vegan
  • Drinks
    • Cocktails
    • Gin Cocktails
    • Tequila Cocktails
    • Vodka Cocktails
    • Mocktails
  • About Us
Home / Vegetarian

Pesto pizza recipe

Published September 9, 2022 | Updated November 1, 2022 | By Mandy & Jane

  • Facebook
Jump to Recipe

Looking for an easy and delicious way to step up your pizza night? This homemade pesto pizza recipe is your answer! Ready in under 10 minutes, it’s packed with flavor and is a real crowd pleaser!

Someone helping themselves to a slice of pesto pizza.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate if you purchase through those links I earn a small commission. Thank you!

It would be an understatement to say we love pizzas, Greek pizza, Caprese pizza, Margharita pizza, you name them, we LOVE them.

And we think you’ll love this pesto pizza – let us know!

Why you’ll love this delicious pizza recipe

  • A great cost efficient way to use up pesto in your fridge.
  • Quick and easy, it can be made in as little as 5 minutes.
  • It tastes as good as it looks and adults and kids all love it.
  • The ingredients are 100% vegetarian.

Ingredients you’ll need

You’ll need all the ingredients in the photograph below.

Ingredients needed, basil, flour, salt and pepper, pizza crust, vegetarian Parmesan cheese, basil pesto sauce, tomatoes, mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese.

The moment you bite into that crispy crust and taste the delicious cheesy herby flavor of pesto, you’ll know, and when you know, you know.

How to make our pesto pizza recipe with step by step instructions

It’s easy to make pesto pizza recipe is easy if you follow our simple instructions.

If using a pizza oven

Preheat your pizza oven to 650°F/340°C.

Lightly dust your pizza paddle with flour and place your pizza crust.

Spread pesto over your pizza crust, leaving ½ inch border, then add mozzarella cheese, vegetarian Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper.

Place your pizza in the oven and cook for approximately 2 – 3 minutes, use a pizza turning peel to turn the pizza every 20 seconds to ensure an even cook.

When cooked, your pizza crust should look charred and the pizza toppings perfectly cook.

Remove from the oven and garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Pizza crust with pesto sauce spread on it resting on a pizza peel.
Spread basil pesto over the crust leaving half an inch border.
Uncooked pizza on a pizza peel.
Add mozzarella cheese, veggie Parmesan, mushrooms, and tomatoes.
Cooked pizza on a metal pizza peel.
Cook until crust is charred and toppings perfectly cooked, then garnish with basil.

If you are using a kitchen oven

Preheat your oven to 500°F/260°260C.

If you are using a pizza stone, put it in the oven so it heats up.

Place your pizza crust on a lightly floured surface or on your pizza pan, and spread pesto over your pizza crust, leaving ½ inch border, then add mozzarella cheese, vegetarian Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper.

Place your pizza in the oven and cook for approximately 8 – 10 minutes, turning halfway to ensure an even cook.

When your pizza is ready, the crust will be a lovely golden brown, and the toppings perfectly cooked.

Remove from the oven, garnish with chopped fresh basil leaves and serve immediately – enjoy!

We hope that you enjoy making and eating our pesto pizza and would love to hear how you got on with making it.

Please leave a comment below and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

A pizza paddle with a fresh pesto pizza on, a pizza cutter, basil pesto sauce, vegetarian Parmesan in a grater, and tomatoes.

Recipe notes and expert tips

  • Don’t overload
    The more topping you have on your pizza, the more you risk a soggy crust, just remember, less is more.
  • Storage
    Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
  • Important
    Different pizza ovens, pizza stones, or pans all cook in different ways. Watch your pizza as you may have to increase or reduce the cooking time.

What do you serve with pesto pizza?

You don’t always have to serve it with something as it’s great on its own but you could dip it in pizza aioli, garlic dip, or max out on pesto with pesto aioli.

It would make a great sharer starter for pasta dishes such as penne arrabiata, spaghetti Aglio e olio, or penne alla vodka.

What is pesto?

Pesto is a sauce made from crushed basil leaves, garlic, Parmesan cheese (we use a vegetarian version), pine nuts, and olive oil, we love to make pesto pasta with it.

Pesto sauce is traditionally used as a pasta sauce, but can also be used on pizzas, in soups, or as a dip.

Basil is the key ingredient in pesto and gives it its signature flavor. The other ingredients simply enhance the taste of the basil and complement its earthy notes.

A pizza that is sliced, with pesto, cheese, tomatoes, and mushrooms.

Homemade pesto or store bought?

There really is nothing like homemade pesto, the flavor is nothing like you can buy in a store.

We definitely recommend making it, it’ll take you just 15 minutes to make this classic basil pesto recipe and it freezes too, so make a batch for next time.

But we realize not everyone wants to make their own, so when shopping for pesto, look for a sauce that has a bright green color and a pungent aroma. Avoid sauces that are dull in color or have an overly sweet taste.

Do I have to make my own pizza dough?

No you don’t have to make your own pizza dough, naturally homemade pizza dough is going to be better, so if you have time, make it (dough recipe coming soon)

You can buy store bought pizza dough and use that or buy a good quality pizza crust, the choice is yours!

What’s the best way to cook pizza?

There are three ways to cook a pizza.

In a pizza oven, on a pizza stone, and on a pizza pan.

Pizza ovens get our vote every time, the pizza oven we use cooks in as little as 60 seconds – it’s phenomenal and you get that classic charred crust.

After a pizza oven, a pizza stone is your next best bet. It’s cost efficient and you can fit it in your kitchen oven and the heat ensures that you get a good crispy crust.

Our final recommendation would be a pizza pan, this is a round pan but it has holes in the bottom which allows some of the heat to reach the crust, and will give you a better pizza than using a baking sheet.

Pizza going into a pizza oven.

Recipe variations

One of the best things about making homemade pizza is that you get to choose what goes on it.

We’ve used grated mozzarella cheese, but you could use fresh mozzarella cheese instead if you prefer.

Just make sure the fresh mozzarella is drained from any water it comes in or it’ll make the pizza soggy.

Add fresh tomatoes, cherry tomatoes are a good choice.

Trying to cut down on meat but love chicken pesto pizza? Simply sub the chicken for vegetarian chicken!

A pesto pizza on a wooden board, pizza cutter, basil pesto, tomatoes, and vegetarian shredded Parmesan cheese in a cheese grater.

How to store leftover pesto pizza

Our pesto pizza will store for up to 3 days when kept in the fridge in an airtight container.

You can either choose to reheat it or eat it cold.

You can also freeze it for up to 3 months.

More easy pizza recipes for you to try at home

Margharita pizza – the easiest pizza you’ll ever make

Cheese pizza – loaded with cheesy flavor

Mushroom pizza – you can never have too many mushrooms – right?

Pineapple pizza – our take on a Hawaiian pizza

Nutella pizza – hazelnut chocolate and strawberries, perfect dessert pizza!

Homemade Margherita pizza freshly made.

Homemade Margherita Pizza Recipe

Someone helping themselves to a slice of cheese pizza.

Cheese pizza recipe

A homemade pineapple pizza sliced and ready to eat.

Pineapple pizza recipe

Delicious mushroom pizza fresh out of the oven and ready to eat.

Mushroom pizza recipe

Delicious Nutella pizza with fresh sttrawberries and a jar of Nutella spread in the background.

Nutella pizza recipe

Somebody taking a slice of homemade pesto pizza.
Print Share on Facebook Pin Recipe

Pesto pizza recipe

What's better than pizza? Pesto pizza! This recipe is easy to follow and packed with flavor. The best part? It can take less than 10 minutes from start to finish. So what are you waiting for? Let's get cooking!
Prep Time3 mins
Cook Time2 mins
Total Time5 mins
Servings2
Calories869
Course: Appetizer, Lunch, Pizza
Cuisine: Italian
Author: Mandy Applegate | Splash of Taste
Prevent your screen from going dark

Utensils

Shop all of Ooni’s Awesome 60-Second Pizza Ovens!
Ooni Karu 16
Pizza oven
Shop The Ooni Baking Pizza Stone
Pizza stone
or pizza stone

Ingredients

  • All purpose flour to coat your work surface
  • 1 12 inch pizza base
  • ¼ cup Basil pesto
  • 4 oz Mozzarella cheese shredded or sliced
  • ⅛ cup Vegetarian Parmesan cheese finely grated
  • ¼ cup Mushrooms sliced
  • 1 Vine ripened tomato cut into chunks
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • ⅛ cup Basil leaves torn
US Customary – Metric

Instructions

If using a pizza oven

  • Preheat your pizza oven to 650°F/340°C
  • Lightly dust your pizza paddle with flour, then place your pizza base on the flour
    All purpose flour, 1 12 inch pizza base
  • Spread pesto over your pizza crust, leaving ½ inch border, then add mozzarella cheese, vegetarian Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper
    ¼ cup Basil pesto, 1 Vine ripened tomato, ¼ cup Mushrooms, ⅛ cup Basil leaves, ⅛ cup Vegetarian Parmesan cheese, Salt and pepper, 4 oz Mozzarella cheese
  • Place the pizza in the oven and cook, using the pizza turning peel to turn the pizza every 20 seconds for an even cook, until the base has charred and the topping is evenly cooked approximately 2 – 3 minutes
  • Remove from the oven, garnish with fresh basil leaves, serve immediately and enjoy your pesto pizza!

If using a kitchen oven

  • Preheat your oven to 500°F/260°C
  • If you are using a pizza stone, put it in the oven so it heats up
  • Place your pizza crust on a lightly floured surface or on your pizza pan, and spread pesto over your pizza crust, leaving ½ inch border, then add mozzarella cheese, vegetarian Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper
  • Place your pizza in the oven and cook for approximately 8 – 10 minutes, turning halfway to ensure an even cook. When your pizza is ready, the crust will be a lovely golden brown, and the toppings perfectly cooked
  • Remove from the oven, garnish with fresh basil leaves, serve immediately and enjoy your pesto pizza!

Notes

Don’t overload
 The more topping you have on your pizza, the more you risk a soggy crust, just remember, less is more
Storage
 Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months
Important
 Different pizza ovens, pizza stones, or pans all cook in different ways. Watch your pizza as you may have to increase or reduce the cooking time

Nutrition

Calories: 869kcal | Carbohydrates: 103g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 52mg | Sodium: 1799mg | Potassium: 237mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1648IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 599mg | Iron: 6mg

Disclaimer

Please note that nutrient values are estimates only. Variations can occur due to product availability and manner of food preparation. Nutrition may vary based on methods of origin, preparation, freshness of ingredients, and other factors.

Follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram, for more tasty inspiration!

Instragram Icon

Did you make this recipe?

We love hearing how you went with ours recipes! Tag us on Instagram at @splash_of_taste_uk

You may also like…

Crispy air fryer mozzarella sticks freshly cooked.

Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks Recipe

Craving delicious mozzarella sticks but don’t want the added guilt from deep frying them? Try our air fryer mozzarella sticks recipe! This easy version of…

Homemade BBQ sauce with a spoon of it dripping into the jar.

Homemade BBQ sauce recipe

Experience the bold, smoky flavor of our homemade BBQ sauce recipe. Carefully crafted with a blend of spices, our sauce will take your BBQ to…

  • Facebook
mandy and jane

About Mandy

A vegetarian for over 35 years, Mandy has taught herself to be creative in the kitchen. Traveling extensively, Mandy loves learning and adapting vegetarian recipes from across the world. Read more...

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

We’re Mandy and Jane!

We love sharing our vegetarian food and drink recipes with you. If you’re cutting down on meat, going vegetarian or vegan, there’s something delicious to eat and drink for you here
Read More…

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

What’s Popular

Homemade Reese's peanut butter pie slice on a cake slice.

Reese’s pie

A collage of r photos of vegetarian thanksgiving food.

120+ Vegetarian thanksgiving recipes

A slice of lemon pie and a partially eaten pie in a pie dish.

Lemon pie recipe

Someone dishing up a cheesy potato casserole.

Potato casserole

Footer

Splash of Taste

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

SEARCH THIS SITE

Categories

  • Air Fryer Recipe
  • Appetizers
  • Baking
  • Bread
  • Breakfast
  • Cakes
  • Cheesecake
  • Christmas
  • Cocktails
  • Cookies
  • Crumble
  • Desserts
  • Dips
  • Dips, dressings, & sauces
  • Dressing
  • Drinks
  • Easy Casseroles
  • Featured Recipes
  • Food
  • Gin Cocktails
  • Gluten Free
  • Holiday Recipes
  • Ingredient substitutions
  • Lunch
  • Main Courses
  • Mocktails
  • Mousse
  • Nibbles
  • Outdoor cooking
  • Pasta
  • Pies
  • Pizza
  • Quick Recipes
  • Recipe collections
  • Sauce
  • Seasoning
  • Side Dishes
  • Soup
  • Tequila Cocktails
  • Thanksgiving
  • Thanksgiving Desserts
  • Thanksgiving Side Dishes
  • Under 30 Minutes
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
  • Vegetarian curries
  • Vodka Cocktails
  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • Food
  • Drinks
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Story Archives

Copyright © 2023 · Splash of Taste · Privacy Policy