Brussels Sprouts Pizza with Balsamic Red Onions
Delicious Brussels sprouts pizza topped with balsamic caramelized onions (or opt for marinara sauce) and mozzarella, baked to crispy, golden perfection.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 2, 2024
This pizza has been exasperating me for the past week. I knew I wanted to put Brussels sprouts on it, but what else?
After several prototypes, including red onions on top, pesto on bottom and a failure of a creamy spinach sauce, it finally occurred to me to use balsamic, caramelized red onions as the base. That’s the ticket!
I visited Italy in college and the absence of red sauce on pizzas over there totally shocked my young American self.
Like, time out, Rome! You forgot your marinara! Then I conceded that Italians know their pizza and that maybe my quintessential pizza concept was a little off.
Up until then, I thought that pizza consisted of dough plus marinara plus ample amounts of cheese, baked to bubbly perfection. In Italy, though, pizzas are more broadly accepted as baked flatbread with toppings. Maybe marinara, maybe not. Maybe cheese, maybe not. Maybe cooked onions instead, or pesto, or veggies.
It’s all fair game. They bake their pizzas on big rectangular pans and sell them on the street. So good.
This pizza may not be for everyone, but I’m a fan. Boldly flavored, semi-caramelized onions with reduced balsamic vinegar, topped with mozzarella and Brussels sprouts (sliced two ways for maximum crispiness and texture) and a sprinkle of Parmesan for good measure.
I took a short-cut with whole wheat dough from Trader Joe’s, but my easy whole wheat dough would be even better!
More Pizzas to Enjoy
- Arugula-Almond Pesto Pizza
- Broccolini Almond Pizza
- Butternut Ribbon Goat Cheese Pizza
- Greek Pizza
- Kale Pesto Pizza
- Ultimate Veggie Pizza
Brussels Sprouts Pizza with Balsamic Red Onions
Brussels sprouts pizza topped with balsamic caramelized onions (or opt for red sauce, just eyeball the amount) and mozzarella, baked to crispy, golden perfection! Recipe yields one large, 12-inch pizza (or two smaller, 9-inch pizzas).
Ingredients
Balsamic red onions
- 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium or 1 extra-large red onion
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
Brussels sprouts
- 8 ounces (½ pound) Brussels sprouts
- 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pizza
- 1 batch easy whole wheat pizza dough or store-bought whole wheat dough (I used Trader Joe’s)
- 1 ½ to 2 cups grated low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese (6 to 8 ounces), depending on how cheesy you like your pizza
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and place a pizza stone on the middle rack if you have one. Slice your onions into thin rounds (the thinner you slice them, the faster they will cook).
- Prepare the Brussels by slicing off the tough ends and discarding them. Use your fingers to pull off the individual leaves around the outside, then trim off the newly exposed tough end, and continue until you have broken the sprout into leaves. Repeat for about half of the Brussels sprouts, then slice the rest into thin slices from top to bottom. Drizzle the sprouts with 1 ½ teaspoons olive oil and toss well. Rub the oil into the sprout leaves so they’re all lightly coated in oil, adding another dash of oil if necessary. Toss with a pinch of salt and pepper and set aside.
- To prepare the red onions, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, a pinch of red pepper flakes and salt. Toss to combine. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until the onions are nice and soft. The thinner you sliced them, the sooner they will cook. Pour in the balsamic vinegar and stir to combine. Continue cooking, uncovered, for a few more minutes, until the balsamic vinegar has condensed and mostly absorbed into the onions. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Prepare the pizza dough as directed. If you’re using store-bought dough like me, I’d roll it out into one pizza. If you’re using my pizza dough recipe, I’d make two pizzas. I like to roll out the dough on pieces of parchment paper for easy transfer to the oven. For best results, roll the dough out as thin as reasonably possible while maintaining an even surface level.
- Top the dough with an even layer of red onions, followed by mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle the Brussels on top, then finish with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.
- Transfer one pizza to the oven at a time (if you don’t have a baking stone, bake your pizza on a cookie sheet). Bake until the crust is golden, the cheese is bubbly and the Brussels sprouts are crispy on the edges, about 10 to 14 minutes. Repeat with the remaining pizza, if you have one. Top the pizza(s) with a light sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper (trust me!) and red pepper flakes if you’d like, then slice and serve.
Notes
Make it vegan: Trish says this pizza turned out great even without the cheese.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This looks delicious. I love the balsamic onions!
This was delicious! We decided to spritz lemon on top..added brightness that it needed. Also will try again with bacon. We cook in wood fire oven with homemade crust..delicious!
Oh my yum! How creative!
Um yeah, I have no qualms with forgoing marinara when pizza looks this good. I’m seriously drooling over here!
And congrats to Erin on her baby boy!!
Thank you, Kathryne! I’m so glad we had a couple opportunities to hang out this past fall (I’m still thinking about the fun we had drinking wine in Lodi too, given that was one of the last times!) And when we were asked in one of our baby classes about one thing we we’re looking forward to doing with baby, I may have mentioned taking him to the Ferry Building :)
This pizza looks just perfect and I’ve been all about using TJ’s whole wheat pizza dough (it really is perfect in a pinch!)
Me too! Can’t wait to meet your babe. Congrats, Erin!
Why haven’t I put brussels sprouts on a pizza yet?! I love a good red sauce, but I think you could convince me otherwise with this beautiful pizza pie : ) By the way, the light in your photos is gorgeous, so jealous!
I’m partial to red sauce, too, but these onions were a nice change! Thanks, Abby!
Love how pretty this pizza looks! And am always looking for a way to use brussel sprouts – my favourite veggie :)
Oh goodness, do I love that photo with the sun streak coming over the pizza slice. This combo also sounds phenomenal. Thanks for participating in the shower!! xo
Thank you, Ashley! And thank you so much for organizing it for all of us!
All the yummy noises, this looks delicious! I rarely eat pizza anymore but this could turn me back…..
Oh, yum! Two of my very favorite things used as pizza toppings. I can’t wait to try this one out. Congratulations to Erin, too! Big fan of her blog.
Hope you love the pizza, Susan! Erin is so great.
My boyfriend LOVES pizza and brussels…so why not combine?!
Oh my this looks sooooo good! I can’t wait to try! It is so fun cooking for friends with new babies. Y’all are so sweet and all those recipes look delicious!!
YUM! I love brussels on pizza. Especially when they get those crispy little edges. This looks great and like the perfect way to celebrate Erin and her new arrival!
Yum!! My mom and I were just talking this morning about what you could do with brussels sprouts besides roast them. This sounds delicious!
Put ’em on a pizza, definitely! :)
Yay for brussels sprouts! They’re so good just roasted by themselves — I can only imagine how great they’d be on this pizza. Clearly, pretty great. :)
Yum! I love the Brussels and red onion combo!
Jillian
Congrats to Erin!
This is so my kind of pizza! I could seriously eat it every day. We are on the same page with Brussels sprouts today :)
I think I will stick to your recipe for your pal’s virtual baby shower? I think this recipe is the best of the lot (pardon my bias). I love pizza, and this is the first one I have seen using brussels sprouts – genius! Cheers to your friend
I want to go to a real party with all of those dishes! Bet you’ll love this pizza, PL.
My favorite Brussels sprout pizza is with a little mozzarella on bottom, heaps of shredded leaves and thin lemon slices that burn and caramelize as they bake. It is heaven, simple and pure.
Having made it a million times though, I will need to try your new combination! Thank you!
Oh my, your lemon version sounds amazing. I’ll try that next! Hope you love my balsamic onion version, too!
I love brussel sprouts! And pizza! :D
Hey Kate! This pizza looks and sounds awesome!! Italy {so not surprisingly} does pizza right. The best pizza of my life was eaten there and it was gluten-free, I still dream about it. Luckily my mother in law lives there so I always have an excuse {as if I need one} to visit. Also, hello from STL! I just moved to Midwest from the east coast, so from one MO girl to the next, hayyy!
Heyyyy Sherrie (waving hello from KC). Do you have Spin Pizza in STL? They make a great GF crust. I just read on your blog that you moved to St. Louis and meant to say something about it… I’m 100 percent confident that the tab is still open somewhere. I’m the world’s worst blog commenter these days. :( Come visit sometime, I’d love to meet you!
So we took a road-trip out to KC about a month ago and loved it so much, we’re headed back via train {love train travel, so stoked for this} in early June. Keep you posted :)
I love everything about this pizza!!!
I love the sound of this pizza; although I’m a big fan of the red sauce pizza options, there’s definitely a soft spot in my heart for the ‘white’ options too and this one with its dreamy toppings sounds so good.
Think this could turn out ok without the cheese as I’m vegan, or do you have any suggestions? This looks so up my alley …
Hey Trish, I actually think it would be great without the cheese. Please let me know if you give it a shot.
This pizza is so good with Miyoko’s vegan mozzarella!
This is one delicious and gorgeous looking pizza babe..Seriously!! Obsessed with all the little leaves stuck into it. Xo
Thank you, Sarah B.! Always means a lot coming from you! xoxo
Perfectly timing, my husband just text me asking what’s for dinner. Looks like I know what he’ll be making me tonight. Thanks Kate, you always come through!
Xo Ally
http://www.allysoninwonderland.com
Perfect! Thanks, Ally! Hope you guys enjoy it.
This is such a pretty pizza! Balsamic onions sound unbelievable!!
I was so excited to read this recipe Kate!!! Ah, yay… another amazing vehicle for brussels sprout consumption :) Love the idea of the caramelised balsamic onions. Deliciously sweet but tangy, perfect with the greens and that gorgeous layer of cheese.
I’ve missed so much inspiration on here lately Kate (I still have no computer. Sad face). Now going to rove the rest of your blog (whilst on my work PC!) for dinner inspiration!
P.S Hope you are doing well! x
Hello sweet Laura, it’s so nice to hear from you! I’m sorry about your computer. :( Glad you appreciate this one!
While I’m not big on balsamic, I know that a lot of people are, and this pizza certainly LOOKS delicious! I hope Erin et al love it!
I made this last night, using Trader Joes whole wheat pizza crust. I don’t have a pizza stone so I used a cookie sheet, as suggested. It was incredible!
Thank you, Ronda! So glad you enjoyed it! I just polished off my last slice for a late lunch. :)
My go-to pizza recipe has pesto, brussels sprouts, green onions and cheese. I knew I would love this one, too, and I did. Thanks for my great lunch today.
Hooray! Thanks, Sophie. So glad you enjoyed the pizza. Your go-to recipe sounds fantastic!
I’m pretty sure this post has made me way more excited for my Italy trip in two months…I am SO ready to eat all the pizza if it’s like this!
This is pizza perfection, love those balsamic onions!
Made this pizza for dinner this week and can’t wait to make it again! Fabulous! I have followed your blog for a couple of years now, and SO MANY of your recipes have become family favorites (I’m married with 3 kids). Just finished eating your morning glory oatmeal, and getting ready to make one of your beet salads. Thanks for keeping life in the kitchen so fun! I ALWAYS look forward to your postings!
Martha, thank you! Your comment made my day. So glad you all are enjoying my recipes!
I just tried this recipe tonight and absolutely loved it, but the wax paper stuck to the pizza dough, making serving extra difficult. However, it tasted amazing and I absolutely loved the recipe!
Thanks, Emily! I’m sorry you had trouble with your paper. I wouldn’t recommend baking with wax paper for that reason. Parchment paper is different (it’s uncoated) and works great!
I prepared this pizza for friends and family last night, and wow! It easily zoomed to the top of my pizza recipe list. Only modification was to caramelize the red onion for longer (maybe 30 minutes). Don’t be afraid of the red pepper flakes, they played really nicely with the balsamic and onion sweetness.
Thank you, Leslie! Great idea to cook the onions longer. I got impatient. :)
Ooph this looks delicious! I am in a brussel sprout loving phase at the moment and also craving pizza!!!
Wow, had this for dinner, so delicious & very filling. I love your blog, the photos and the story behind each meal is wonderful.
Thank you, Candice! I’m so glad you found my blog. Have a great day!
KATE!!! :) Made this pizza Friday night without the cheese. I added baby portabellas whilst cooking the onions and added that mixture on top of the pizza before adding the brussels. Needless to say, I’m making this pizza again!!!! Super tasty … really, really good! Thank you SO much! So, you can tell all your vegan followers that this pizza without cheese is fabulous. THANK YOU again for a super recipe! :)
Awesome! Thanks so much for getting back to me, Trish! I will add a note about your results. :)
Made this pizza tonight for my wife. I “cheated” and found a package of shaved Brussels sprouts which reduced my prep time. Brussels sprouts are my current fav veggie and we loved this pizza! Found package of Weisenberger’s pizza dough at our local store (just add water) and it came out fabulous. Adding this recipe to my list. Thanks.
Great idea! Thank you again, Jim.
Squash has risen in my garden now! How about using that on this recipe? I thouught the yellow neck would be fine. What do ya’ all think? ‘Tis the season so, it’s time to share some squase recipes.
Oh, I bet yellow neck would be great! Hope your pizzas turn out great!
I have been following your food blog and several other food blogs for a few years now. During that time I have tried several recipes, but have never posted any comments. However, I just tried your pizza crust recipe this past weekend and wanted to let you know it was a big hit. I have tried many other whole wheat pizza crust recipes, but they have not been very good or very easy. Yours was excellent and easy! My husband even said, “This is good. It doesn’t taste like cardboard.” That is the ultimate compliment coming from him. Thank you so much for an excellent recipe!
Thank you for saying hello, Andrea! I appreciate it! So glad you enjoyed this crust. It’s my favorite, too!
I came across this looking for a brussel sprouts pizza recipe. I tried a couple before that were not great. But what isn’t great with carmelized onions! I made this a 2nd time for an informal dinner with friends. They loved it. I will definitely be making this again (and again) but I think next time I am going to try tossing on a chopped apple or two.
Signing up for your blog – the other recipes look great, too.
Thank you, Jennifer! Really happy to hear it.
Made this last night for dinner with leftovers for lunch today. Let me tell you – DELICIOUS. Honestly, Kate, your blog is the only one that makes me want to comment to tell you how tasty your food was. You’re constantly churning out healthy, reliable, amazing recipes and I get so excited when you post. Definitely one of my favorite food blogs out there – even got my roommate hooked. Keep it up! So pumped for your cook book!
Side note: I SO appreciate that you have alternative ingredients in your notes and that your so quick to respond to comments. I live in a fifth floor walk up in NY so the less walking and carrying groceries I can do, the better!
Thank you, Alyssa! That means a lot. :D
Making this pizza tonight for probably the sixth time. I make it with vegan cheese and it has been a huge hit each time, even with my diehard meat eating friends.
Thanks, Sarahem! Glad to hear it!
I’m loving your blog! You just saved me from using marinara sauce on my Brussels sprouts and prosciutto pizza… and to think I was only looking for your easy pizza dough recipe! If it turns out great I’ll be sure to post it to IG…
Thanks, Brook! Glad you enjoyed the red onion sauce! I’ll go look for your photo on Instagram!
I made this for our Monday Night Vegetarian Potluck and it was a huge hit! Several people asked for the recipe and one lady asked me to make it again…soon!
The one thing I did that was different, I used a recipe for a cauliflower pizza crust instead of your whole wheat one (which I’m sure is amazing).
I really enjoy your blog. It’s my favorite food blog on the net.
Thank you, Larry! Delighted to hear it. :)
First recipe I tried from you and it turned out amazing! I added a little balsamic glaze on top, which brought in a pop of flavour! Look forward to trying some more recipes!
Hooray! Thanks for saying hello, Brianna. So glad you enjoyed the pizza! Happy cooking!
I made this for a party, it was an absolute smash!!! So, so delicious. Thanks for posting, Kate!
This is delicious!! Made it last week and making it again now!
This pizza is the best thing — The Best Thing — that I have eaten all year. It is delicious! And the layering is what makes it perfect: (1) dough, (2) onion/balsamic, (3) soft cheese {I used vegan mozz}, (4) Brussels Sprouts in leaves, (5) Dry cheese {I used vegan parm}. Heaven. {I followed this recipe exactly except used two kinds of vegan cheese.}