This may be one of the most popular recipes in The Healing Kitchen so far! Pizza is a universally loved food. Have you ever met a person who said, “I don’t like pizza.” No. I’ve met people who say they don’t like cilantro (weird), or beer (extra weird), or cake with frosting (psychotic). BUT PIZZA? I’d send them straight to the neurologist to get their brain right. I spent all of college deciding how I could procure pizza while just the right amount of drunk. Not so intoxicated that it came back up 45 minutes later and not so sober that I had any guilty feelings about sitting on a curb with two slices of cheese that only cost $1.95 each. It was a delicate balance.
Now, no guilty feelings of excessive pizza consumption exist. Mostly because I can’t eat gluten, dairy or nightshades, so what’s the point? Or so I thought. I have tried gluten-free pizza without cheese (dumb), gluten-free pizza without nightshades but with cheese (about as satisfying as frosting-less cake), and gluten-free pizza without nightshades or cheese (also called bread). But when I developed this thin, crispy, flatbread-like pizza crust awhile back, it re-sparked my love for holding a triangular-shaped object topped with something yummy. Because us AIP-ers are fairly limited with the traditional pizza toppings like tomato sauce, cheese, and pepperoni, I had to create something that was bursting with flavor to make us forget our previous taste memories. The first time I had my first bite of AIP Pesto Chicken Pizza, I squealed. It didn’t leave me wanting anything else in the world besides another bite. My brother-in-law came home a few minutes later and I made him try it and he couldn’t believe it either (Paleo skeptic in the house).
Please don’t leave off the olives. It’ll make me so sad. But if you do include olives, don’t use those nasty canned, soggy, tasteless ones. If that’s all you can get, then yes leave them off. Seek out an olive bar or at least a jar of oil-cured olives. I’m an olive snob. I admit it. It’s one of my biggest faults (sarcasm). Well, I’ve just used up all my parenthetical inclusions, so I’ll wrap this up fast because I can’t communicate without parenthesis. They’re my world.
Enjoy real PIZZA! And check out three more PIZZA recipes in The Healing Kitchen including Prosciutto & Fig Bistro Pizza, Spinach & Garlic Lover’s Pizza & Ham and Pineapple Pizza!
Print
Pesto Chicken Pizza
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
Crust:
- 2/3 cup arrowroot starch
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or truffle salt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup warm water
Pesto :
- 2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
- 3/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
- 1/3 cup mashed avocado
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Pesto Chicken Pizza:
- 1 recipe Crust
- 1 recipe Pesto
- 1 1/4 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1/4 cup sliced black olives
- 1/4 cup sliced canned artichoke hearts
- 1/4 teaspoon truffle salt or fine sea salt
Instructions
Crust
-
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a cookie sheet or pizza pan with parchment paper.
-
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Slowly pour in the olive oil, continuously stirring the mixture as you pour. Mix in the warm water thoroughly. The dough will be slightly crumbly, but once you roll it out in Step 3, it will bind together well.
-
Place the dough on the prepared cookie sheet or pizza pan. Lay another sheet of parchment paper on top of the dough and use your hands or a rolling pin to smooth the dough into a crust about ¼ inch thick. You may roll it into the desired shape, such as a circle, oval, or rectangle.
-
Bake for 12 to 13 minutes, until light golden brown and crisp. Use immediately in one of our pizza recipes, or let cool and store as directed
Pesto
Place all the ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor and blend until the herbs are finely chopped. While the food processor is running, slowly pour in the olive oil to make a smooth pesto sauce. Pesto is best served after the flavors are allowed to marry for at least 1 hour.
Pesto Chicken Pizza
-
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
-
Place the pre-baked pizza crust on a cookie sheet or pizza pan. Spread the pesto evenly on the crust, reserving a few tablespoons for garnish, if desired. Top with the chicken, olives, artichoke hearts, and salt.
-
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the crust is crispy and the edges of the toppings are lightly browned. Let rest for a few minutes, then slice the pizza using a rocker knife or sharp pizza cutter. Garnish with a drizzle of the reserved pesto, if desired.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
47 Responses
could you sub almond flour here? Coconut flour doesn’t agree with me…
Almond flour is not nearly as absorbent as coconut flour so you would need a lot more than what this recipe calls for!
That seems like a large amount of starch. Is there another substitute?
It is more than a typical Paleo meal and I would consider pizza to be a special treat once in awhile rather than a weekly event. Moderation is important when it comes to flours which is why most of my recipes do not contain them. You can search for cauliflower crusts that use cauliflower and eggs for lower carb.
Just tried it tonight and it was amazing!! Thanks for the recipe!!
You are welcome! It’s really one of the best AIP replicas I’ve made!!
Thank you! The crust was better than I thought it would be! It was so nice to have something bread-like after 4 months of AIP. The pesto was delicious too!
You are so welcome! It’s important to have treats like these on AIP!
I find it that arrowroot turns gummy like and almost like rubber. Would you suggest making the dough with green plantains and cassava flour? I use plantains + cassava for wraps and they turn out amazing! I just wanted to know if they would make good ingredients for a pizza crust . Thank you !
Yes that would be an entirely different recipe, but you can find recipes on other blogs for plantain crust and cassava crust. This crust is not gummy even though there is arrowroot in the recipe though. The coconut flour helps absorb some of that gumminess.
Any substitutions you could think of for avocado? I’m also low fodmap and avocado really doesn’t bode well for me. Trying to think of a substitution but I got nothin!
In the pesto sauce, I would actually just leave out the avocado! It’s there to make it creamier, but you can also make it without it.
Thank you this was delicious! Made enough for 2 smallish pizzas though, not sure about serving 4.
A serving would be 1/4 of the pizza when served with a big salad but if you eat it by itself, 1/2 a pizza is definitely a serving too!
Hi Alaena, I made a pesto this weekend that I would like to use up – about how much does your recipe above make? I’m looking to know how much I should be using in this recipe! Thanks!
It makes approx. a cup but you don’t need the full amount for the recipe 🙂 Enjoy!
This crust is amazing! The only thing I felt deprived of for the last year and a half was pizza. This crust is the classic thin and crispy crust. I haven’t made the chicken pesto topping because my hubby is not a fan of pesto but I use the AIP BBQ sauce that I make as the base and have made a meat lovers, chicken, and pulled pork pizza. The ideas are endless!
That sounds delicious! Glad I could help fill the void!
Wonderful recipe which we keep coming back to. Also works well with heart of palm instead of artichoke. Thank you so much!
One of my favorites too, Sally! I love how tender hearts of palm are as well!
Thanks for the recipe. Thanks for all your advice to heal the body. As soon I eliminated eggs from my diet my psoriasis improved. I will continue with your recommendations.
I’ve made this recipe once before and it was a hit with me AND my non-AIP family. I’m craving it again! Do you think the dough would freeze well? I’d love to make a bunch ahead of time.
Yes I would wrap it tightly in plastic wrap once cooled, then in parchment paper layers in a ziploc bag!
What would be a good substitute for the cilantro in the pesto? Maybe parsley? Or more basil? Looks delicious and it’s the first AIP crust I’ve seen without cassava, which I can’t eat. Thanks!
Yes either herb will work! I just have a cilantro addiction so I like to add it to everything. Yes, I don’t do well with cassava and I was reminded of that this weekend myself!
This crust is amazing! 🙂 thank you!
You are so welcome – I make it quite often – so many toppings options!
This crust is amazing!! I love your recipe. If I’m out of arrow root could I sub tapioca starch instead?
Yes you can it’ll be a little chewier but I love the texture too!
Finally made this recipe. Fantastic!!
I can’t find how to store the blank crusts. I would like to do that please advise thank you.
Once pre-baked, let cool completely, wrap in freezer-safer plastic wrap (yes, I know plastic isn’t the best option, but you can’t use glass here lol) and you can store for up to 3 months. I would defrost then top and bake.
is there a do- ahead over night option…sorry to be a pain and thank you in advance
I’ve made this recipe at least 4or 5 times and it is DELICIOUS (even with canned olives). I use a different pesto and add a different veggie (bell pepper or zucchini). Thank you. It hits the “pizza spot for me.
However, the edges seem to get too hard. How do I avoid this texture in this otherwise amazing recipe??
Thanks!
Made this today, it was delicious!
If you could provide links to artichoke hearts and black olives that are AIP compliant, that would make my day. I have looked at probably 20 brands of artichoke hearts and they all have citric acid. I’ve found kalamata olives that are compliant, but not black olives. Thanks!
Same here…. ?
Can I use coconut oil instead of the olive oil for this recipe?
I would not in the pesto but it should be okay in the crust (just will change the flavor and texture slightly)
LOVED this recipe! I made 2 crusts, one where I forgot the extra 2 Tbs coconut flour and the other following directions. We actually liked the one with less coconut flour best; the crust was more tender, crisp and chewable. I used one recipe of pesto sauce to cover a double recipe of crusts. I meant to add onion to the toppings and forgot. We really liked this recipe and will definitely make it again!