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Gluten-Free Beet Pesto Pizza with Kale and Goat Cheese is a nutrient-dense healthier pizza recipe, packed with vitamins and flavor! This colorful superfood pizza is packed with antioxidants!

Pizza cut into slices on a sheet of parchment paper with beet pesto sauce, kale, and goat cheese.

I know…a vegetable-forward pizza may sound like a snooze, but heavens-ta-Betsy, it’s good.

We simply whip up our favorite pizza dough, pre-bake it, then slather it in my amazing superfood Roasted Beet Pesto sauce.

Topping the pizza with kale is our insurance policy and justification for eating the entire thing and using two cheeses instead of just one because we know how to party.

Due to the micronutrient density of kale and the pesto recipe, we can call this a healthy pizza, right? Right. 

Speaking of two cheeses…

The goat cheese. Have you ever eaten baked goat cheese?

Something magical – nay, fantastical – happens to goat cheese in the oven.

It gets an outer layer of crisp and becomes bombastic on the inside. There are no words to describe the magnanimity that is baked goat cheese. 

It is truly a wish granting factory.

I use a gluten-free pizza dough for the crust because that’s how I roll, but you can go with any kind of pizza dough, be it store-bought or homemade.

All of this to say, the fresh ingredients in this gluten-free pizza recipe bring us a flavorful, uplifting experience. Beets lift us up where we belong. 

Spatula pulling a slice of pizza away from the full pizza with cheese coming with it.

Let’s discuss the wholesome ingredients for this delicious gluten-free pizza.

Beet Pesto Pizza Ingredients:

Pizza Dough: Pick your favorite pizza dough and whip it up! You can make homemade pizza dough or buy pre-made pizza dough from the store.

I like using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix, but any store-bought or homemade crust will do. See more crust options below!

Beet Pesto: Rather than going with traditional red sauce or even traditional pesto sauce, we’re whipping up a superfood sauce using beets.

This sauce is comprised of red beets, garlic cloves, walnuts, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and lemon juice.

This combination of ingredients makes a rich, sweet and savory sauce that is perfect on anything from sandwiches to pizzas. 

Fresh Kale: Because incorporating leafy greens into pizza is our ultimate excuse to go to town on it, we add fresh chopped kale leaves to the pizza.

There’s no need to sauté them first, although you can if you’d like. You can use baby spinach or Swiss chard instead of kale, or leave out the leafy greens altogether. 

Goat Cheese and Mozzarella Cheese: The combination of goat cheese and mozzarella cheese really makes a swoon-worthy pizza!

Four large slices of beet pesto pizza, fresh out of the oven.

It’s ultra creamy, tangy, and cheesy, with so much flavor your mouth will hardly know how to behave. Swap this cheese combo out for any of your favorite pizza cheeses.

Recipe Adaptations:

  • Make my Beet Green Pesto using beet greens instead of roasted beets.
  • Switch out the cheese for any of your favorites. Feta cheese and raw milk cheddar are great here too.
  • Omit the kale or replace it with spinach or chard.
  • Add any of your favorite pizza toppings, such as olives, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, etc.

Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients, let’s make this amazing homemade pizza recipe!

How to Make Beet Pesto Pizza:

Prepare the Roasted Beet Pesto and the pizza dough.

Chop the beet and wrap it in a foil packet. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, or until the beets are very soft when poked with a fork.

Cooked beets after roasting

​Allow the beets to cool enough to handle. Once cool, remove them from the aluminum foil packet.

Transfer the cooked chopped beet to a food processor along with the rest of the sauce ingredients (walnuts, parmesan, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and black pepper).

Transfer all of the ingredients for the pesto sauce to a food processor

Process until a thick, smooth spreadable sauce forms. Taste the pesto for flavor and add more parmesan, lemon, or salt to your personal taste.

Finished creamy beet pesto in a food processor

Preheat the oven to 415 degrees F.

Dust gluten-free flour (or cornmeal) on a baking sheet and press or roll the dough to desired thickness.

Bake the dough for 5 to 7 minutes with no toppings.

Pizza dough spread out onto a baking sheet with flour beneath it, ready to go into the oven to prebake.

Remove the crust from the oven and spread the beet pesto over it.

Hand spreading beet pesto over pre-baked pizza crust.

Add the kale leaves, followed by the goat cheese and grated mozzarella.

Pizza crust with beet pesto and chopped kale on top.
Pizza crust with beet pesto sauce, chopped kale, goat cheese, and mozzarella cheese on top, ready to go into the oven.

Note: the kale will cook down in the oven so don’t be alarmed by its volume. If you’d like, give the pizza a drizzle of olive oil before baking it. This makes the crust extra crispy. 

Bake pizza for 20 to 25 minutes or to desired crisp.

Homemade pizza fresh out of the oven with beet pesto, kale and goat cheese.

Allow pizza to cool 5 minutes before serving.

Store leftover pizza in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Pulling a slice of pizza off of the full pizza to enjoy, with a cheese pull.

Looking for recommendations for pizza crusts? I’ve got your back when it comes to gluten-free and grain-free options. 

Crust Options:

You can prepare your favorite pizza crust to be the caravan of this superfood pizza. Whip up an Almond Flour Pizza Crust , Cauliflower Pizza Crust , or even a Kale Pizza Crust.

I use Bob’s Red Mill’s Gluten-Free Pizza Crust mix which is a real pleasure cruise given its simplicity. 

If you don’t need the crust to be gluten-free, make Sally’s Homemade Pizza Crust Recipe

​Pizza stone owners, now is a great time to utilize your pizza stone!

Love homemade pizza recipes? Also try out these gems.

More Pizza Recipes:

Put this bombastic pizza in your face trap!

Beet Pesto Pizza with Kale and Goat Cheese

4.56 from 25 votes
By Julia
Prep: 1 hour
Cook: 30 minutes
Total: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 1 (12-inch) pizza
Gluten-Free Beet Pesto Pizza with Kale and Goat Cheese is a vibrant, superfood pizza recipe!
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Ingredients 

  • 1 lb gluten-free pizza dough
  • 1 cup beet pesto
  • 2 cups kale leaves, thinly sliced*
  • 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
  • 2 to 4 ounces goat cheese, to taste

Instructions 

  • Prepare the beet pesto and the pizza dough.
  • Preheat the oven to 415 degrees F.
  • Dust gluten-free flour (or cornmeal) on a baking sheet and press or roll the dough to desired thickness.
  • Bake the dough for 5 to 7 minutes with no toppings.
  • Remove the crust from the oven and spread the beet pesto over it. Add the kale leaves, followed by the goat cheese and mozzarella. Note: the kale will cook down in the oven.
  • Bake pizza for 20 to 25 minutes or to desired crisp.
  • Allow pizza to cool 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

*I used lacinato (dino) kale

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice of 8, Calories: 259kcal, Carbohydrates: 39g, Protein: 10g, Fat: 15g, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 2g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

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Meet the Author

Julia Mueller

Julia Mueller is a cookbook author, recipe developer and owner of TheRoastedRoot.net. She shares quick and easy recipes for all occasions, from nutritious weeknight meals to holiday recipes. Dinner recipes, side dishes, desserts, appetizers, and more, can all be found on her website. Go to Julia's about page to learn more about her.

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4.56 from 25 votes (25 ratings without comment)

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105 Comments

  1. Theresa says:

    How much of the beet pesto recipe do I need to make to get 1 cup? Is it just one serving of the recipe? Or will I need to double it?

    1. Julia says:

      Hi Theresa, you’ll have enough beet pesto for the pizza (and will likely have some leftover), if you follow the recipe as is 🙂 Let me know how you like the pesto and the pizza!

  2. Aryane says:

    Wow, this might just be the most beautiful pizza I’ve ever seen! I’ve been putting beets in everything lately, this was just the icing on the cake! I didn’t make the pesto because I was a bit lazy, just used sliced beets instead, but I’ll definitely give it a try soon! Thanks again!! 🙂

  3. Sujatha says:

    i tried this out a couple of days ago for a simple supper. The only additions I made were bacon and red pepper chile flakes. it turned out great! Thanks for sharing! I now know another new use for beets 😀

    1. Julia says:

      OOF Bacon sounds amazing! So glad you liked the pizza and thanks for the note, Sujatha!

  4. Kelly says:

    This looks delicious…along with the pizza recipe to which it was attached. Silly question – will the beets permanently stain the inside of my food processor bowl?

    1. Julia says:

      So glad you like the beet pesto idea. As long as you don’t let your food processor bowl sit too long before washing it, the color should come out completely. I’ve put all sorts of pigment-y vegetables in my food processor and haven’t had a problem 😀 Let me know how you like the pizza!

  5. Alyssa says:

    I ate this for dinner tonight, and it was killer!! I used beet greens instead of kale, because I had them leftover from the pesto-making. That pesto is stellar! I’m going to have the leftover pesto spread on some toast topped with avocado tomorrow. So great and colorful and delicious, and, please, anything with goat cheese is the bomb.

  6. Emily {Jelly Toast} says:

    My mind is blown with this combo! It’s like all of the foods that I once hated but now can’t live without have teamed up to make the pizza of my dreams! It’s a super pizza 🙂 And I giggled because my 4 year old is always walking around saying heavens-ta-betsy!

  7. Joanne says:

    I am a huge proponent of putting as many superfoods as possible on my pizzas! So YES to this. In a major way.

  8. Laurie {Simply Scratch} says:

    BeetpestosayWHAT?! Seriously could this ‘za be any more gorgeous?! CONGRATS to you and your second book!!! I CANNOT WAIT TO HAVE IT IN MY HANDS!! sorry to shout, just super excited! Xxo

  9. Jennie @themessybakerblog says:

    Book number two–how exciting. I’m extremely giddy about this book. I love me some greens. This pizza looks amazing. That beet sauce is so pretty.

  10. Isadora says:

    I need this pizza right now! It is funny because when I was a kid, I think I disliked all of the toppings on this pizza and now they are three of my absolute favorites! This is going to be my weekend project and I think I need to make about 10 of them because I know I won’t be able to stop eating it! Congrats on your book coming out soon 🙂

  11. Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness says:

    I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS COOKBOOK AND THIS PIZZA. Goat cheese is my current life obsession, and my fridge is packed with it. Pizza, goat cheese, kale….gettin’ NOM CENTRAL up in hur’ girl! Pinned!

  12. Stefanie @ Sarcastic Cooking says:

    Thank you for this recipe!!!! I got a whole bunch of beets in my door to door organics box and have no idea what to do with them! I just bought some goat cheese and am thawing out the dough. This is on the menu for tomorrow!

  13. Francesca says:

    So I made one, because you know… what if I didnt like it?

    Then I made another.

    And now I’m eating this beet pesto with a spoon.

    sooo… success!

    1. Julia says:

      Wahoooooooooooooooooooooo! I can’t tell you how happy I am you made the pizza! Isn’t the pesto amazing?! I always eat the majority of beet pesto with a spoon right up until some lucky bread gets smeared with it.

  14. Alexis @ Hummusapien says:

    Holy molyyyyy. What a beaut!!! I may have to make this first when I get my little paws on your cookbook. I’m gonna be like that one girl who cooks her way through Julia Child’s cookbook except it’ll be YOUR fantastical cookbook!! WEEEEEE!

    1. Julia says:

      I would die if you became the Julie Powell of Let Them Eat Kale. I would just die. 🙂 xoxo

  15. Jovana says:

    Beet pesto on pizza with Kale?!

    WON. OVER.

    Will your book ship internationally? 🙂 I wants it!

    1. Julia says:

      Amazon ships internationally!! But you can email me your mailing address, and I’ll have one shipped to you. 😀

  16. francesca says:

    So I’m going to pop some major cherries when I get home today.
    1. Beet pesto. gotta have it.
    2. Goat cheese on pizza. need to try it.

    I fully plan on photographing this journey.
    (!) excitement!