Celebrate autumn’s harvest with a sweet and tart Roasted Beet Pizza with Arugula and Cashew Cheese. A delicious and seasonal pizza pie for the whole family.
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I love beets. It took me about 28 years to figure this out but once I did, my-oh-my, did my life change. I mean, what’s not to love? Beets are sweet, earthy, delicious, and totally versatile.
Did you know I even have a beet dessert on the blog?!
And today I’m bringing back one of my oldest recipes from the archives, this Roasted Beet Pizza – a delicious autumnal pizza made with cashew cream, roasted beets, caramelized onions, fresh arugula, and toasted walnuts.
Sound good? Let’s take a closer look!
Recommended Ingredients & Equipment
This roasted beet pizza is made with cheesy cashew cream, sweet caramelized onions, and roasted beets all topped with fresh arugula and walnuts. Sweet, savory, and oh so good!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Pizza Crust – When I make pizza, I almost always opt for premade pizza dough. Most well-stocked grocery stores carry this in the refrigerated section. Premade dough provides the freshest pizza at the minimal amount of work. However, you can buy a store bought pizza crust or, if you want to make your own, you can follow these instructions.
- Beets
- Onion
- Olive Oil
- Salt
- Cashew Cream – Cashew cream is a mixture of raw cashews, nutritional yeast, miso, salt, and lemon juice. These ingredients are blended together in a rich and creamy sauce.
- Fresh Arugula – If you don’t have access to fresh arugula, swap it with fresh spinach.
- Walnuts
Recommended Equipment
For this pizza you will need, a high-powered blender (this is really important when making cashew cream. Regular blenders just can’t cream cashews in the same way), a baking sheet, sauté pan, and a pizza stone. In addition, a mandoline is nice to have on hand for slicing the beets. (<<affiliate links)
Check out the full list of my recommended kitchen tools and gadgets.
How to make Roasted Beet Pizza
Step One: Make the Crust
Follow these instructions to make your own pizza crust.
Most well-stocked grocery stores now sell pre-made dough in the refrigerated section. This is a freshly made dough that is ready to be shaped and baked. Pre-made dough provides the freshest crust at the minimal amount of work. However, if you are also a busy person and don’t have the pre-dough option, a store-bought crust works just fine.
Regardless of which pizza dough path you take, prepare your dough is the first step.
Step Two: Roast the beets
Wash and peel the beets. Thinly slice the beets about 1/8″ thick and toss in olive oil and salt. Place the beets onto a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 20 minutes, until beets are roasted and easily pierced with a fork. Remove from heat and set aside.
Step Three: Make the Cashew Cream
When it comes to cashew cream, you should use a high-powered blender. However, if you don’t have a high-powered blender, you can soak the cashews for about 6 hours ahead of time and they will blend up fairly well.
Add all the ingredients for the cashew cream to the blender and blend for about 30 seconds until you have a smooth, delicious cream. Set aside.
Step Four: Caramelize the Onions
Caramelizing onions is a method of slow cooking the onions to allow all the sweetness to come out. I sauté the onions with olive oil (you could also use non-dairy butter) over low heat until the onions are tender, golden brown, and super sweet, about 15 minutes (see photo above).
Step Five – Assemble and Bake
Place the prepared dough on a pizza stone. Top with a thin layer of cashew cheese, spreading evenly to cover the bottom, leaving about 1/2″ around for the crust. Evenly sprinkle caramelized onions over the entire pizza and cover with roasted beets, overlapping them so that they completely cover the top of the pizza.
Baked the pizza at 450F until the crust is golden brown, about 18 minutes.
Serving and Storing
Serve the pizza out of the oven. While the pizza is still warm, top with fresh arugula and toasted walnuts.
Store leftover pizza in an airtight container in the refrigerator 1-2 days. Gently reheat the pizza in the microwave or oven before eating.
Tips and Tricks
- To save on time, consider buying pre-made pizza dough or a pre-baked pizza crust. In addition, prepare your cashew cream ahead of time. This can be made a day or two in advance.
- If you don’t have a high-powered blender, soak the cashews for 6 hours prior to blending. This won’t get them quite as silky smooth but it works in a pinch.
More Vegan Pizza Recipes
- Vegan “Chicken” Alfredo Pizza
- Grilled Pizza Margherita
- Eggplant and Caramelized Onion Pizza
- Palak Paneer Pita Pizza
Roasted Beet Pizza with Arugula and Cashew Cream
Ingredients
Pizza Topping
- 2 large beets, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
Cashew Cream
- 3/4 cup raw cashews
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 tbsp yellow miso
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup water
Everything Else
- 1 pizza crust, homemade or store-bought
- 1 cup fresh arugula, loosely packed
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
Instructions
- Prepare your pizza dough. If you're making your own crust, follow these instructions. My preference is a pre-made dough that can be found in the refrigerator section at your local grocery store.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Wash and peel the beets. Thinly slice the beets about 1/8" thick. This is easiest done with a mandoline slicer. Toss in 2 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp of salt. Place beet onto the prepared baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 20 minutes, until beets are roasted and easily pierced with a fork. Remove from heat. Turn your oven up to 450 F.
- Meanwhile, in a medium cast iron skillet, heat remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium-low heat. Once the oil is hot, add onions and remaining 1/2 tsp of salt. Sauté slowly, stirring frequently, until onions are fragrant and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a high-powered blender, combine all the ingredients for the cashew cheese and blend until completely smooth.
- Place prepared dough on a pizza stone. Top with a thin layer of cashew cheese, spreading evenly to cover the bottom, leaving about 1/2" around for the crust. Top with a layer of caramelized onions followed by the beets, layering them so that they completely cover the top of the pizza.
- Place the pizza in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes, until pizza dough is golden brown.
- Remove from oven and top with arugula and walnuts. Serve immediately.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
sheenam | thetwincookingproject.net says
I love roasted beets on everything but never had the idea to make a pizza with them. This looks yum!!!
sarah says
oh man, i wish i could trade you some strawberries for rhubarb. I haven’t done much with fhubarb before, but here is a website with lots of GOOD looking rhubarb recipes.
Christa says
This looks beautiful! So glad you are tying recipes to your farm share. I got rhubarb in my CSA last week. Any ideas of what to make that don’t involve gobs of sugar?
cookingwithlysa says
Beets are so delicious.. it’s really a great idea on pizza. Your photos are really beautiful. It looks delicious and perfect for any summer night !
sarah says
Thank you! I love making seasonally appropriate pizza. It opens up all sorts of creativity.
Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies says
Well, if it took you 28 years to figure it out, maybe I should give them a try too. 😀 They’re one of my husband’s favorites, but I can never bring myself to try them. They are beautiful though, as is this pizza!
Sarah@thesweetlife says
Oh I hope you give beets another try! Perhaps on pizza? Or beetza, I should say.