Broccoli Pizza
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This broccoli pizza is a dreamy vegetarian pizza topped with creamy mozzarella, parmesan, onion, tender broccoli, and hints of garlic and lemon. Simple, seasonal, and delicious.
Published in May 2023/updated in Nov 2025
I shared this veggie pizza a couple of years back, but I thought it needed a little twist and new photos. And if you’ve never had broccoli on pizza before, you are in for a treat!
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First, every good pizza begins with a great pizza crust. I’ve used my stand mixer dough that we LOVE, but my easy no-knead recipe is just perfect if you don’t have a stand mixer. It’s also fine to grab your favorite store-bought dough if you’re not going the homemade route.
But let’s talk about the topping. This is a winter pizza loaded with flavors – tender superfood broccoli, creamy mozzarella, savory parmesan, and a brine made with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and herbs. I threw on some sliced white onion and red pepper flakes, too, because I love the extra flavor they add.
It’s a delicious combination of healthy vegetables, herbs, simplicity, and addictive carbs and cheese… who can resist? But it’s honestly so good for any time of year.
If you’re looking for a fantastic pizza with broccoli for your pizza night, this is the one!
List of the ingredients
- Pizza dough
- Fresh broccoli
- Mozzarella (fresh or pre-shredded)
- Parmesan cheese
- Onion & garlic
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Lemon
- Salt & pepper
How to make broccoli pizza
(Note: this is a quick description; the full recipe is at the bottom of the page)
- Dough: My stand-mixed pizza dough makes 2 round pizzas (10 inches/25 cm Ø each). The steps and method are explained here. Feel free to use your favorite recipe or a store-bought pizza crust if desired.
- Brine: Combine olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, dried herbs, and seasoning. This mixture adds just flavor (no soggy pizza, no worries!).
- Stretch each dough ball onto parchment paper (make sure it’s at room temperature!), then add the brine and the sliced onion.
- Topping: Add mozzarella, parmesan cheese, onion, and tender broccoli, and season with salt and pepper. No tomato sauce here! : )
- Bake in the preheated oven until golden and crusty!
- Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil leaves, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Enjoy your broccoli pizza!
Recipe notes
Broccoli pizza ingredients
Pizza crust: I recommend my stand mixer pizza dough. Make sure you follow the recipe and tips here! But you can also use your favorite dough recipe or store-bought pizza crust if you wish.
Mozzarella: I love fresh whole milk mozzarella balls packed in water, but the shredded low-moisture option works too.
Parmesan cheese: This hard Italian cheese adds a rich, savory flavor. I also love grated provolone cheese or mature cheddar here; they are good substitutes.
Broccoli: not only broccoli soup and broccoli pasta, but the superfood broccoli makes an excellent pizza topping too! I used a large head of broccoli for the recipe. I separated the florets from the tough, thick center stem and cut them into small florets to cook quickly.
More flavor: Extra-virgin olive oil and onion add more flavor, while lemon juice brings a lovely citrus zing! Also, I recommend using a mix of dried herbs such as Italian seasoning and fresh basil.
Salt & pepper: Be generous with both.
Tips for a delicious broccoli pizza
Make sure you check out all the tips here, but below I listed the most important!
- Preheat the oven. A burst of initial heat from the hot oven is so important!
- Bake the pizza on the bottom rack of the oven, close to the heating element. This is the best spot in my oven to make the pizza bottom crispy. But since each oven is different, use the position that works best for you.
- Stretch the pizza dough with your fingers, trying to keep all those gas bubbles inside. Don’t use a rolling pin.
- Bake your pizza on a hot pizza stone or pizza steel. Alternatively, you can use a baking tray (see my tips in the recipe card!) and make sure the pizza stone is inside during preheating so it’s already hot when you bake your pizza.
- Transfer your pizza to the hot stone using parchment paper and a pizza peel. This helps significantly if you use a high-hydration dough like this no-knead dough.
More pizza recipes for you…
This collection of 17 veggie pizzas and 25 YUMMY pizza toppings or Focaccia toppings is truly delicious and a great inspiration!
- Greek pizza
- Mozzarella pizza
- Pizza with eggplants
- Fresh tomato pizza
- Pizza with peppers
- Quick Caprese pizza
- Sun-dried tomato pizza
- Lemon pizza
If you make this broccoli pizza or have a question, let me know by leaving a comment. I would love to hear from you and get your feedback! x
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Broccoli Pizza
Ingredients
Stand mixer dough (or 20oz of your fav dough)
- 1 cup (240 ml) luckewarm water
- ¾ teaspoon fine salt
- 3 cups (360 grams) Flour (00, all-purpose, or bread flour)
- ½ teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Broccoli topping
- 10oz (300 grams) Broccoli florets (1 head broccoli)
- 1 medium-sized onion, sliced
- 10 oz (300 grams) mozzarella, at room temp (quantity for 2 pizzas)
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- extra virgin olive oil and fresh black pepper, to serve
- fresh basil leaves, to serve
Brine
- 1 ½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon fresh garlic, grated
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon Italian herb seasoning or dried basil
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Pizza dough
- If you're making my the stand mixer dough, I recommend reading this post from start to finish before starting.
- Next, add 1 cup of lukewarm water (240 ml) and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. Start mixing on low speed with the dough hook attachment, gradually adding flour and yeast to the water. When you see the flour has been incorporated, add more, using a spatula to scrape down the flour. The dough should look perfectly pliable at this stage, but feel free to add a little bit of flour if it seems a bit sticky.
- When all the flour has been incorporated, add the olive oil, increase the speed to medium, and let the stand mixer mixing for 10 minutes until the dough forms a smooth, elastic ball that no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface (you need just a tiny amount of flour as the flour should be perfectly smooth and not sticky). Cover with a damp tea towel and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
- After the first rest, using a knife of a spatula, divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Now, take a each piece of dough, gently pull the edges and fold them over the center, or until the dough has tightened into a ball. Make a seam at the bottom to create tension. Repeat with the other dough piece.
- Cover the dough balls with a damp tea towel and let them rest at room temperature for about 2 hours (or let the dough rise until it doubles). You can also place them in separate bowls and cover with plastic wrap. Once they have doubled in size, they are ready to use to make your pizza.
Brine
- Add all the ingredients for the brine to a jar with a lid, and shake until well emulsified. The adds flavor, you don't need much.
Broccoli topping
- Preheat the oven (at least 230 ℃/450℉ – a hotter oven leads to a better pizza!).
- Add the broccoli florets to a large pot, cover with water (about 500ml), and add ¼ teaspoon of salt. Bring to the boil, cook for 3 minutes, then drain the broccoli and set aside.
- Use your fingertips to push the dough outward from the center, creating a circular shape (approx 11 inches/30 cm in diameter) and leaving about 1 inch of dough untouched around the edge. Try to keep the air bubbles if you can.
- Divide and spread the brine evenly between the two pizzas. Top with diced mozzarella, grated parmesan, sliced onion, and broccoli florets, and finish with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. I also loved adding some chili flakes.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 8 minutes (in a forced-fan oven) or until golden brown and with a crispy bottom. Serve with a drizzle with extra virgin olive oilfresh basil, and add more freshly ground black pepper, slice and serve warm. Enjoy!
