Pizza for breakfast: 3 Tasty recipes

Switch up your routine: Eat pizza for breakfast! These flavorful recipes contain protein, whole grains and fruit or vegetables to treat the most important meal of the day with the nourishment it deserves.

You’ve probably had breakfast for dinner before, but have you ever had dinner for breakfast? I don’t mean eating last night’s leftovers, but eating foods in the morning that have been traditionally relegated to afternoon and evening fare. Fueling yourself with pizza in the morning may sound strange, but these variations are lighter than your typical cheese, sauce and meat version, yet just as satisfying. One batch of whole-wheat pizza dough makes six personal pizzas, so try all three combinations throughout the week!

Pizza dough

Makes 6 personal pizzas

This whole-wheat dough puffs and crisps in the oven — the perfect textural contrast to your breakfast pizza toppings. Bonus: It keeps for days in the fridge and weeks in the freezer. Just bring the dough to room temperature before baking.

Ingredients:

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided use
• 1 cup very warm water (The water should not be so hot that you can’t hold your finger in it.)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups whole-wheat flour, divided use, plus more for kneading

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add the yeast, honey and olive oil. Stir in the water and let the mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes to activate the yeast, which should begin to foam or bubble.
2. Sprinkle the salt over the activated yeast and stir in 2 cups of the flour. Begin adding more flour — you may need to switch to using your hands at this point — 1/4 cup at a time until the dough is firm but still slightly tacky. You may not need to use all of the flour. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic for 5 to 10 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and coat the bottom and sides. Add the pizza dough, cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1-1/2 hours.

Egg and greens pizza

Serves 1

Like egg and toast, but better, this pizza combines a crunchy crust with drippy egg and nutmeg-kissed spinach.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 cup loosely packed baby spinach
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/6 pizza dough recipe, above
• 1 large egg
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. In a medium pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the spinach and nutmeg and saute until bright green and wilted. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pizza dough to about 1/8-inch thick. Place the pizza on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 3 minutes.
3. Add the cooked spinach, creating a nest in the middle of the pizza for the egg. Crack the egg into the center of the pizza and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Return the pizza to the oven and bake until the egg is solid and the yolk is runny, about 8 more minutes. Alternately, for a solid yolk, bake for about 11 minutes.

Pineapple breakfast pizza

Serves 1

The breakfast take on ham and pineapple pizza! Creamy and slightly salty cottage cheese pairs beautifully with the sweet pineapple and a hearty yet crispy pizza crust.

Ingredients:

• 1/6 pizza dough recipe, above
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh pineapple

Directions:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pizza dough to about 1/8-inch thick. Place the pizza on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until golden brown and crispy, 8 to 10 minutes.

Once cool enough to handle, spread the cottage cheese over the pizza crust and top with the pineapple.

Mediterranean breakfast pizza

Serves 1

Chickpeas replace eggs for protein and tomatoes and parsley fill in for orange juice for vitamin C in this Mediterranean pizza. The juicy tomatoes, creamy hummus and crunchy fried chickpeas make it delicious and texturally exciting.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup cooked chickpeas
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/6 pizza dough recipe, above
• 1/4 cup hummus (store-bought or make your own)
• 1/4 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped parsley leaves

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Place a medium pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chickpeas, cumin and salt to the pan and fry, stirring frequently, until the chickpeas are golden and crispy. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pizza dough to about 1/8-inch thick. Place the pizza on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until golden brown and crispy, 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Once the pizza crust is cool enough to handle, spread the hummus evenly over it and sprinkle with the fried chickpeas, tomatoes and parsley.

More nontraditional pizzas

Healthy nibbles: Quinoa pizza bites
Meatless Monday: Zucchini ribbons and raisins pizza
How to make upside-down pizza