Garlic Mushroom Pizza is a flatbread-like pizza with tender, meaty mushrooms, a delicious, homemade roasted garlic oil, and briny parmesan cheese. Using our homemade whole wheat pizza dough, we've created a delicious and heart healthy pizza from scratch that everyone will love, and you can feel good about feeding them!
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Pizza time is any time with this healthy version! The whole wheat pizza dough can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen, to make preparation a snap on tired weeknights.
If you're not into yeast dough, and are looking for some pizza shortcuts, try this version with a Greek yogurt crust, or these mini pizzas using pitas as the crust!
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Heart Health Benefits of Garlic Mushroom Pizza
Our garlic mushroom pizza resembles a healthy Mediterranean diet meal in almost all ways! We start with a whole grain base, add a heart healthy oil, sprinkle on anti inflammatory herbs and spices, and top it all with lots of veggies (mushrooms in this case) and a little bit of parmesan cheese.
Ingredients in this recipe are known for their various heart health promoting abilities, like lowering blood pressure, reducing cholesterol, protecting against heart attacks and strokes, and reducing oxidative stress.
Since cheese can be high in salt and saturated fat (two nutrients that can contribute to heart disease), we go light on that to reap the flavor benefits without going overboard.
Macronutrients
With 220 calories per slice, our pizza is similar in calories to many other pizzas of similar size. That's where the comparison ends, though! Since we use an olive oil sauce, our pizza is packed with heart healthy monounsaturated fats, instead of saturated fat. This version is also a good source of fiber and protein. And we are able to keep the sodium content low as well, despite using a bit of cheese and salt in the oil.
Micronutrients and Bioactive Components
Bioactive compounds are substances that have effects within the body that promote good health. Here are some of the most abundant bioactive compounds in garlic mushroom pizza:
- Hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein - (in olive oil) polyphenols that may be preventative against high blood pressure, stroke, and heart attack (1).
- Monounsaturated fats - (in olive oil) type of fat molecule that can help lower LDL cholesterol, and provides nutrition to maintain and build you body's cells (2);
- Insoluble fiber - (in crust and mushrooms) type of fiber that does not dissolve in water, and helps add bulk to the stool, reducing constipation risk (3);
- Allicin - (in garlic) organosulfur compound that, along with other garlic compounds, boasts antioxidant and antiplatelet effects. It may also improve oxidative stress and lower blood lipids (4);
- Ergothioneine - (in mushrooms) a modified amino acid with antioxidant and anti inflammatory properties that may support heart health (5); and
- Beta-glucans - (in mushrooms) a polysaccharide that may protect the cardiovascular system by helping to manage blood sugar, and lower blood pressure and cholesterol (6).
Ingredients
Here is what you'll need for this recipe, along with some applicable substitutions and notes.
- Whole wheat pizza dough - make it up to 3 days ahead, or freeze for up to 6 months!
- Olive oil
- Garlic - lots of it!
- Dried oregano
- Ground black pepper
- Salt (just a little!)
- Mushrooms - any combination and variety of mushrooms will do
- Parmesan cheese - get a block of it and thinly shave it with a knife. The sprinkle cheese doesn't melt well. You could also use feta cheese or mozzarella cheese.
- Red pepper flakes - optional
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
We start by making the roasted garlic oil, which takes some time, but is easy. Then it's a quick mushroom sauté and assembling and baking! Here's how!
- Step 1: Slice the top off of a head of garlic.
- Step 2: Place the head of garlic on a piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with a little olive oil.
- Step 3: Wrap the garlic in the foil. Roast the garlic in the oven for about 30 minutes.
- Step 4: Remove the garlic from the oven, and unwrap the foil. Allow it to cool to the touch.
- Step 5: Squeeze the cloves of garlic out of the head, and into a small blender or food processor. Add the rest of the garlic oil ingredients.
- Step 6: Blend on high until completely smooth. Set aside.
- Step 7: Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the mushrooms. Sauté until the mushrooms release their liquid, and most of it has been simmered away.
- Step 8: Add the garlic and pepper flakes.
- Step 9: Sauté another few minutes, until the garlic is cooked, but not burned. Remove from the heat.
- Step 10: Roll out the pizza dough to 10-12 inches in diameter, and place on a baking sheet. Add the garlic oil.
- Step 11: Spread out the mushroom mixture over the pizza.
- Step 12: Add the parmesan cheese shavings.
- Step 13: Bake until the crust is done and the toppings are nicely browned.
Hint: Brushing the crust with the garlic oil amps up the flavor even more!
Variations
Here are some great ways to change it up a little!
- Vegan - to make the pizza vegan, simply omit the parmesan cheese, or replace it with your favorite vegan version
- Add greens - take the nutrition and flavor up a notch by adding a handful of spinach or arugula to the sautéing mushrooms!
- Extra garlicky - use 2 heads of garlic in the sauce instead of just one. You can also use 6 garlic cloves with the mushrooms instead of 3. YUM!
- Lower calorie - instead of using the garlic oil, use a tomato based pizza sauce or a light smear of pesto sauce to lower the calorie content
Try this no yeast pizza crust if you're in a rush!
Equipment
For this garlic mushroom pizza you will need measuring cups and spoons, a cutting board and knife, a small blender or food processor, a sauté pan, a rolling pin, and a large baking sheet or pizza stone.
A smoothie blender would work well to make the garlic oil if you have one.
Storage
After it's made, this pizza should be eaten within a few days. Pizza in general doesn't always reheat well, and the crust will absorb much of the garlic oil, making it kind of dry.
Store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in a toaster oven or under the broiler for just a few minutes.
Healthy heart pro tip
Most pizza is drowning in cheese. And, while delicious, cheese is high in both salt and saturated fat; two things that will not do your heart any favors. That's why we go really light on the cheese in this recipe. We use just enough to add a delicious briny flavor to the pizza without going overboard. Stick to the amount stated in the recipe, and enjoy the complement of flavors and textures this healthy flatbread pizza has to offer!
FAQ
Definitely cooked mushrooms! You can use raw mushrooms if you really want, but raw mushrooms tend to get dry on pizza. Cooked mushrooms remain tender and juicy.
For this recipe I used a combination of baby portabella, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms, and it was delicious that way. Any combination will do though, and because the recipe uses 8 ounces of mushrooms, cost may come into play. White button mushrooms will be great, as well as any other variety or combination of varieties.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Garlic Mushroom Pizza:
📖 Recipe
Garlic Mushroom Pizza
Equipment
- Smoothie Blender or other small food processor/blender
- Pizza Stone or large baking sheet
Ingredients
- ½ recipe Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
- ⅓ cup Parmesan Cheese thinly shaved pieces
Roasted Garlic Oil
- 1 head Garlic
- ½ cup Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- ½ teaspoon Ground Black Papper
- ¼ teaspoon Salt optional
Mushroom Topping
- ½ tablespoon Olive Oil or use the garlic oil made above
- 8 oz Mushrooms any combination and variety, sliced
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes or to taste, optional
Instructions
- Make sure the pizza dough is made ahead of time. It requires about an hour and a half prep time.
- Preheat the oven to 425° F.
- Slice the top off the head of garlic, place it on a sheet of aluminum foil, and drizzle with a bit of olive oil.
- Wrap the foil around the garlic, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove it from the oven and unwrap the foil. Cool to the touch.
- Squeeze the garlic cloves out of the head, and into a small blender or food processor. Add the olive oil, oregano, black pepper, and salt. Blend on high until smooth. Set aside and make the mushroom topping.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat with oil. Add the mushrooms, and sauté until the mushrooms release their liquid and most of it has cooked off; about 10 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and red pepper flakes, if using, and sauté an additional few minutes, until the garlic is cooked but not burned. Remove from the heat.
- Roll out the crust to 10-12 inches in diameter, place on a large baking sheet, and pour about 5 tablespoons of the garlic oil onto the dough. Use a spoon to spread it evenly to within an inch of the edges.
- If desired, use a pastry brush to brush some of the oil on the edges of the pizza crust. Optional, but delicious!
- Evenly spread the mushroom mixture over the top of the crust, followed by the shavings of parmesan cheese.
- Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the crust cooked through and evenly browned.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle with minced parsley or chiffonade basil, if desired.
Nutrition
*Nutrition information is an estimate, and will change based on the brand and individual ingredients and amounts you use. This is provided for your convenience only.
Food safety
These are important safety tips for this pizza:
- Wash hands before beginning, whenever they are soiled, and after touching face, hair, pets, etc.
- Cook foods completely through
- Do not taste the raw dough. Even without raw eggs in it, raw flour is not a ready-to-eat product and can harbor illness-causing bacteria. Live yeast is also not safe to consume.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for longer than 2 hours (or 1 hour if the weather is hot)
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
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