Once a week our dinner is mini pizzas, one each. They’re easy to make, taste delicious, never top 300 calories, and best of all, often use up leftovers and other odds and ends out of the fridge. We love traditional pizza (it’s my all-time favorite food), but enjoying a mini-pizza once a week allows us to indulge without overeating or overspending.
What goes on our pizzas each week is only limited by our imaginations and what we have on hand. I often start at the beginning of the week thinking, “well, maybe we’ll just have cheese pizzas this week,” but by the end of the week I’ve almost always figured out other things that can be added to create something tasty.
Every pizza starts with a Stonefire mini naan bread (Indian flatbread) for the crust. They work well as because they can safely hold the toppings and the edges and bottoms crisp up nicely but still have= a nicely chewy middle. The size is perfect for one person. We buy the mini naan breads at Costco, but I’ve seen them in stores everywhere.
In my opinion, there are no limits when it comes to creating a pizza – all it take is imagination. We love a pepperoni pizza as much as the next person, but we also love to experiment and cheeseburger ingredients, pesto & feta, barbecue chicken, or seafood are equally as good as any of the traditional standards. I like that with mini pizzas they can be custom made for each diner.
Below are some of the sauces and toppings we’ve used over the years:
Sauces:
- Traditional pizza sauce or tomato sauce
- Pesto
- Alfredo sauce
- Barbecue sauce
- Salsa
- Enchilada sauce
- Spicy peanut sauce
- Hoisin sauce
- Steak sauce
Toppings:
- Leftover meat, including grilled or roasted chicken; steak; pork chops; ground beef, pork, or lamb; or grilled fish or shrimp.
- Any kind of sausage, from chicken to breakfast to Italian
- Pepperoni (of course!) or salami
- Bacon or ham
- Roasted vegetables of any kind
- Fresh vegetables of any kind, diced or very thinly sliced
- Dill pickles
- Chopped herbs
Cheeses:
- Mozzarella, either shredded or fresh
- Marinated mozzarella balls
- Shredded cheddar or smoked gouda
- Feta crumbles
- Brie
- Blue cheese
To create a pizzas, we let our imagination soar! Each pizza starts with a thin layer of sauce on the naan bread, layer on the toppings, and finish with some cheese in combinations that works for us. I’m careful about not going overboard on the sauce which only results in soggy pizza, cutting the toppings into small pieces or slicing them thinly. Finally, the pizzas are topped with cheese, placed on a baking pan, and baked in a preheated 425 degree oven. I know they’re done when the cheese is melted nicely and the edge of the naan bread is browned and crisp. The pizzas are cooled for at least two minutes before we eat them so we don’t burn our mouths.
Putting together some Thai chicken pizzas: 1) spread about 1 TBSP spicy peanut sauce on each naan bread; 2) top with some shredded carrot, diced onion, and diced cooked chicken; 3) then add some chopped peanuts and coarsely chopped cilantro; 4) and finally sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons of grated mozzarella cheese. Bake at 425 degrees until the cheese is melted and the outer rim of the naan bread is browned and crisp.
Below are a couple of other favorites – I love when I have everything on hand to make them:
- Barbecue chicken: Barbecue sauce; shredded barbecue chicken; diced red onion; chopped cilantro; shredded smoked gouda cheese
- Cheeseburger: Traditional pizza sauce; cooked, crumbled ground beef; diced tomatoes; diced dill pickle; diced red onion; shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
The Occasional Nomads 
I use naan bread as a pizza base as well. One of my favorites is tikka masala pizza. The naan bread is topped with tikka masala sauce, cooked & cubed butternut squash, canned chickpeas, spinach and feta cheese. The spinach can be substituted with kale and any squash can be used. Another favorite topping is carmelized onions that I usually add to a salami/pepperoni, mozza cheese, green peppers and mushroom. I’ve started making my own pizza dough which is much simpler than I first imagined but the naan bread is a quick go-to.
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I have made tikka masala pizza – love it! I used chicken, but love, love, love your topping of squash, chickpeas, spinach, and feta. It will be coming into rotation here (I’m planning to make chicken tikka masala next week). And cartelized onions – yum! I just saw a recipe the other day for a caramelized onion and goat cheese tarte tatin made with commercial puffed pastry dough, but pizza would be easier.
We used to make our own pizza dough but don’t have the room in our current kitchen to work with it. The naan bread is a good substitute, and the mini ones are the perfect size for individual pizzas.
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Pizza!! My homemade favorite is spinach and ricotta. I make my own dough and after rolling out my circle put a very light spread of olive oil, then chopped garlic, red pepper flakes, spinach (either an entire defrosted 16 oz box of chopped spinach or half a bag of fresh spinach), some blobs of ricotta, a small sprinkling of gorgonzola, and a topping of mozzarella. Heaven!
I love all of your creative suggestions.
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Oooh – spinach and ricotta! Spinach is hard to come by here but when I do see it I am going to remember this.
We don’t have the room now to make pizza dough from scratch. Brett is a pizza master, and can toss the dough like a pro, and I miss those pizzas (he used to make one every Friday evening).
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I have made pizza the same way and with any bread. It seems if there is tomato sauce and cheese, it’s pizza.
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We used to make French bread pizzas in the past, but the naan bread is easier and mimics actual pizza dough better as well. I’m with you though – sauce and cheese and you’ve got a pizza! It’s my all-time favorite food.
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I’ve often wondered what you used for crusts as they look homemade in your pictures! I wonder if I can resist eating all the naan bread lol?
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We keep the naan bread in the freezer, and I pull out two of them the day we’re having pizza. Otherwise I would find a way to eat them every day. The first thing our little group always did when we sat down to a meal in India was order a big basket of fresh naan bread. I love it, and miss the ones we used to get from Trader Joe’s.
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Glad to know that I am not the only one who has to put naan (and almost any bread) into the freezer.
Never thought of using naan as the crust! Great idea. Now on the list of “dinners for two in Idaho”.
Thanks for “loading on” the ideas.
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We cannot leave bread out here for more than a day – too warm and too humid and it molds quickly. Wish we had a bigger freezer though – bread takes up so much room!
While I love real, authentic pizza crust, the naan bread is perfect for the two of us, and the little pizzas just the right size for dinner.
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