Avocado Tomato Pizza

Although this avocado tomato pizza may seem basic, it's anything but! Each bite is layered with flavors from the creamy avocado to the bright lemon zest to the spicy black peppercorns and bursting cherry tomatoes.

Watch how to make this

Ingredients

• Avocado: Topping the pizza with sliced avocado adds creaminess to the pizza, balancing the juicy tomatoes. Use ripe avocados for the best result.
• Cherry tomatoes: Cherry tomatoes have a more intense flavor than whole tomatoes, making them ideal for this pizza. However, you can use chopped tomatoes instead if you prefer.
• Fresh mozzarella: Unlike pre-shredded mozzarella, fresh mozzarella melts better, making it ideal for pizza. However, you can use pre-shredded if you prefer. Make sure to thinly slice the mozzarella and tear it into smaller pieces to allow it to melt evenly.
• Lemon zest: Adding lemon zest as a finishing garnish adds a lovely brightness to the pizza.

Substitutions and variations

• Herbs: Feel free to add other herbs such as fresh chopped parsley or oregano.
• Toppings: You can add extra toppings such as chopped green olives, toasted chopped pistachios, or thinly sliced red onion.

Recipe

Print Recipe

Avocado Tomato Pizza

1 12-inch pizza

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: pizza

Servings: 2

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

• 1 pound pizza dough
• ¼ cup pizza sauce
• 4 ounces fresh mozzarella
• ½ cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 avocado pitted and sliced
• 2 tablespoons basil
• zest of ½ lemon
• freshly cracked black pepper

Instructions

• Place a pizza stone in the middle rack of the oven and preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Heat the pizza stone for 1 hour. Alternatively, heat a baking sheet flipped upside down in the oven for 10 minutes.
• Roll pizza dough into a 12-inch circle. If using a baking sheet, roll the pizza dough on parchment paper dusted with flour. Spread pizza sauce on the dough. Tear the mozzarella and scatter on the top followed by the cherry tomatoes. Carefully transfer the pizza onto the baking sheet or pizza stone and bake for 7-8 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and the crust is golden brown.
• Remove the pizza from the oven and top with sliced avocado, basil, lemon zest and freshly cracked black pepper. Serve immediately.

Notes

Preheat your oven to the highest temperature it can reach. If it can heat to 550 degrees F, I recommend you do so and adjust the baking time as needed.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Prepare pizza

For the first time in a long time, this meal doesn't call for extra tips because it's so easy to make. Prepare or make your favorite pizza dough, roll it out into a 12-inch circle, and top it with pizza sauce, fresh mozzarella, and cherry tomatoes.

If you're looking for a pizza dough recipe, check out my spicy pepperoni pizza recipe, which includes details on how to make my favorite dough.

You can also use store-bought pizza dough or rather than making it from scratch. Either way, you want enough dough, roughly one pound, to make a 12-inch pizza. I always use my hands to roll out the pizza dough to avoid popping any air bubbles.

Spread pizza sauce evenly on top, followed by mozzarella and cherry tomatoes. Fresh mozzarella has a lot of moisture, so make sure to thinly slice the cheese and tear it into smaller pieces. You can also dry the cheese with paper towels before using it to avoid having pools of moisture.

Step 2: Bake

Now it's time to bake! If your oven can go higher than 500 degrees, go as high as you can go. You want it to be like a pizza oven where the crust gets slightly charred and the cheese gets nice and bubbly. You will have to adjust the time, however, if you're going above 500 degrees F. 

Instead of checking on the pizza by opening the door, use your oven light. Every time the oven door is opened, it loses about 50 degrees. You want to maintain the high temperature as best as possible, so peek through the looking glass instead of opening the door!

Once the pizza is ready, remove it from the oven and top it with sliced avocado, fresh basil, and lemon zest. Finish with some freshly cracked pepper, and there you have it! You can also add a squeeze of lemon for extra tang.

I admit, I even crave this avocado tomato pizza once in a while! So easy to make and delicious.

Make-ahead and storage

• Make-ahead: If making the dough from scratch, you can prepare it the night before and let it sit in the refridgerator until ready to use. However, I recommend assembling the pizza just before baking.
• Store: Keep leftover pizza in an airtight container up to 2 days. I recommend adding fresh avocado to the leftovers.

Frequently asked questions

More vegetarian pizza recipes

Looking for more vegetarian pizza ideas? Try these: