Caesar Salad Pepperoni Pizza
Caesar Salad Pepperoni Pizza – Main dish and salad all in one fantastic pizza. Make one large family size or individual servings.
There used to be a little restaurant down in Albany, Georgia, called Leslie’s. It was tucked into a quaint shopping area surrounded by unique stores, interior designers, and an upscale produce market. It was one of those places frequented by both the “ladies who lunch” and professional women from the surrounding area.
On most any weekday Leslie’s was busy as a beehive from about 11:30 until about 2:00. It was a favorite lunch spot for me and my co-workers at the time. The menu was quite different and varied.
I had two favorites at Leslie’s. The chicken salad plate which came with a mound of the most delicious freshly made on the premises chicken salad, fresh fruits including several different melons, and a slice of Leslie’s banana nut bread with sweetened cream cheese to spread on top. Yum.
My other favorite was her Caesar Salad Pizza. That was a single serving pizza with warm, gooey cheese topped with a generous amount of Caesar salad. Double yum.
Sadly, Leslie’s closed years ago and Leslie herself passed away a few years later. I don’t know why I started thinking about that Caesar Salad Pizza and Leslie’s little restaurant after all this time, but I suddenly decided that I had to try to recreate that pizza. And here’s my best effort. It’s pretty dang close to Leslie’s, too, even though I took a lot of shortcuts that I’m sure she never did.
If you want to go all out and make the pizza dough from scratch, along with some homemade pizza sauce, and your own Caesar dressing, please be my guest. I took a shortcut and purchased a pizza dough from my local grocery store, bought a jar of pizza sauce and a bottle of Caesar dressing. It all worked out.
How to Make Caesar Salad Pizza
Prepare and Pre-bake the Crust
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
You can divide the dough into halves or fourths to make single serving pizzas or leave it whole to make one large family-sized pizza, Roll or stretch the dough and place it on a well-oiled sheet tray. Brush lightly with olive oil. Place in the preheated oven and cook for approximately 6 minutes.
I like to pre-cook my pizza dough for a few minutes before adding the toppings. I find the pre-cooking prevents an undercooked center of the dough that sometimes happens otherwise.
Remove the par-cooked dough from the oven. Top with pizza sauce, grated Parmesan cheese, mozzarella, and pepperoni. Brush the edges with olive oil.
Return to oven and cook for 10-15 minutes or the until crust is browned and the cheese is bubbly.
While the pizza cooks, prepare the Caesar salad topping. Combine the romaine, grated Parmesan cheese, and dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Now, if you want to make a homemade Caesar dressing, by all means please do, but I think most of the bottled dressings are very good. Plus, it helps me get dinner on the table that much faster.
Remove the pizza(s) from the oven and allow it to cool just slightly. Top each warm pizza with cool, crisp Caesar salad. Sprinkle with the shaved Parmesan.
Substitutions
One of the easiest substitutions to make with this recipe is in the crust. You can easily substitute flatbread, naan, or flour tortillas and skip making and rolling the dough altogether!
Variations
- Leave off the pepperoni and add grilled chicken to the salad for a Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza.
- Spice it up by adding a sprinkle of red pepper flakes to the pizza sauce.
- Lighten it up with a lite salad dressing.
- Change the creamy Caesar dressing for an oily Italian dressing. Yum!
Scaling the Recipe
You can easily satisfy a crowd with this recipe. Just double or triple it to make as many pizzas as you need.
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Caesar Salad Pepperoni Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 lb. purchased pizza dough (or make your own if you prefer)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup pizza sauce (purchased or make your own)
- ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 ¾ cups grated mozzarella cheese
- 40 slices pepperoni
- 4 cups hearts of romaine lettuce
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ⅓ cup Caesar dressing
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Divide the pizza dough in half or quarters for individual serving-size pizzas. Don't divide the dough if making a large family size pizza.
- Roll or stretch out the dough and place on a well-oiled sheet tray. Brush each half lightly with olive oil. Cook for approximately 5 minutes. Remove from oven.
- Top each half with pizza sauce, grated parmesan cheese, mozzarella and pepperoni. Brush the edges with olive oil.
- Return to oven and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese is bubbly.
- While the pizza cooks, prepare the Caesar salad topping. Combine romaine, grated parmesan cheese, dressing and salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove pizza from oven and allow to cool just slightly. Top each pizza with half the Caesar salad.
Notes
— Spice it up by adding a sprinkle of red pepper flakes to the pizza sauce.
— Lighten it up with a lite salad dressing.
— Change the creamy Caesar dressing for an oily Italian dressing. Yum! Scaling the Recipe: You can easily satisfy a crowd with this recipe. Just double or triple it to make as many pizzas as you need.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
Looks great. The shaved parmesean really makes me drool.
Miss P
wow! this sounds amazing! I love pizza.. I love caesar salad, but I never would have thought to combine the two
Ahh this looks awesome!! I have a buffalo chicken pizza on my menu for dinner tomorrow, but this look pretty awesome and now I want to make 2 different pizzas!!
Nobody says you can’t have two pizzas to choose from :-)
Mmmmmm. I used to have this salad-on-a-pizza dish at (shameful head dip) California Pizza Kitchen. But seriously, it was really good. That with *Caesar* salad?! Yum.
You know, I’ve never been to California Pizza Kitchen. I’d probably really like it. Like a bunch.
great pizza dear, and yes to the shortcuts …. somedays life just seems to be in a hurry, thanks to these kind of recipes, I might be able to slow down…
You know, Drick, I’m getting more and more into the shortcuts for week nights and saving the involved cooking for the weekends. Just not enough hours in the day any more.
What a neat idea.
A salad and a pizza all in one bite! Perfect!
My kind of dish!!! We made a caesar pizza earlier this year that was loads more complicated. Can’t wait to try this one! Thanks :-) Kate@ kateiscooking
What a great idea! My bf will love this!
Whoa, Lana. Did you make this just for me? Given my proclivities — I consider Caesar salad the most wonderful dish ever created by mankind and I always make pizza from scratch — you couldn’t have given me a better gift than this recipe. Must make soonest! Wish I didn’t already have dinner on the stove and in the oven right now! Thanks so much for sharing!
Barbara – So glad I could provide a recipe that is exciting enough that you’d want to make it right away! Do let me know how you like it.
excellent recipe! :D