Name: This dietitian's mini pizza recipe is under 400 calories a serving and only takes 15 minutes to make — Recipe
Yield: Serves: 4

By Lou Mudge

published 5 October 2024

in Recipes

If you're looking for an easy meal to make in a hurry that packs in a range of health-boosting veg, these mini pizzas from registered dietitian Laura Buxenbaum fit the bill perfectly.

Mini naan breads are used as a pizza base and all the ingredients can be bought either in a jar already chopped or take seconds to prep. It's not quite a no-chop recipe because you will need to halve the cherry tomatoes, but it's close. The base stays nice and doughy, making naan mini pizzas superior to its cousin, the pita pizza.

I also like this recipe because it doesn't use the same toppings on each mini pizza, adding more variety to your diet. It's also a very kid-friendly recipe because you can easily adjust the toppings on each mini naan to suit different tastebuds.

Mini pizza recipe

Method

Preheat oven to 350℉/170℃
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and place the naan flatbreads on it at even intervals.
Spread marinara sauce on four naans and pesto sauce on the remaining naans.
Top two of the marina sauce naans with artichoke hearts, pancetta and shredded mozzarella.
Top the final two naans with marina sauce with Kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes and mozzarella pearls.
Top two of the pesto naans with cherry tomatoes topped with mozzarella pearls.
Top the final two pesto naans with bell peppers and shredded mozzarella.
Bake the pizzas for 10-12 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the bread is toasted.
Remove from the oven. Add arugula to the pesto, bell pepper and shredded mozzarella naans, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Ingredients

8 mini naan flatbreads
1 cup marinara sauce
½ cup pesto
1 cup mixed cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup quartered artichoke heart, drained
½ cup pancetta
½ cup roasted bell peppers, drained
¼ cup Kalamata olives, chopped
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
⅛ oz fresh mozzarella pearls
1 cup arugula
Salt and pepper to taste

Nutritional information

Here's the nutritional information for two mini pizzas of each topping combination. Two mini pizzas equals one serving.

Pesto with cherry tomatoes topped with mozzarella pearls

Calories: 260
Protein: 5g
Carbs: 14g
Fat: 20g

Pesto with bell peppers and shredded mozzarella, topped with arugula after baking

Calories: 340
Protein:13g
Carbs: 16g
Fat: 25g

Marinara with artichoke hearts, pancetta and shredded mozzarella

Calories: 280
Protein: 15g
Carbs: 22g
Fat: 14g

Marinara with Kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes and mozzarella pearls

Calories: 150
Protein: 4g
Carbs: 22g
Fat: 5g

About our expert

Laura Buxenbaum

Laura Buxenbaum, MPH, RD, LDN is the senior director, health and wellness for The Dairy Alliance, a nonprofit with the mission of proactively promoting and protecting the interests of the Southeast dairy farm families. She joined the Alliance in 2004, after graduating with a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 2001.

Lou Mudge is a Health Writer at Future Plc, working across Fit&Well and Coach. She previously worked for Live Science, and regularly writes for Space.com and Pet's Radar. Based in Bath, UK, she has a passion for food, nutrition and health and is eager to demystify diet culture in order to make health and fitness accessible to everybody.

Multiple diagnoses in her early twenties sparked an interest in the gut-brain axis and the impact that diet and exercise can have on both physical and mental health. She was put on the FODMAP elimination diet during this time and learned to adapt recipes to fit these parameters, while retaining core flavors and textures, and now enjoys cooking for gut health.