Cheddar Potato Pizza

It’s dinnertime, UH-gen. The family has communicated no so subtly that they’d rather just order pizza. But your brain is weighing all the options. You’ve been trying to build in a habit of whole foods whenever possible but you’re often short on time so convenience foods and fast food are appealing for speed, effort, and family morale. What if you could meet both demands? Give them pizza before the delivery driver could make it to your doorstep? This recipe will save your bacon. It’s got family-friendly flavors of potato and cheese and the entire meal, with salad, can be ready in 35 minutes.

This pizza is definitely a fan favorite. It even made my vegetable-fearing sister and potato-fearing niece happy; probably because it’s, you know, pizza. It began its life as a Real Simple recipe, but as usual, I’ve tweaked it just a bit. I think it would work nicely cut up into small squares as an appetizer, too, if you find yourself headed to a last-minute potluck or party.

If you’d like to see how this recipe fits into a full week’s menu from Trader Joe’s, take a peek at A Week’s Worth of Trader Joe’s Dinners for Less than $100. And for help with shopping, you’ll find a grocery list included below the recipe.

Cheddar Potato Pizza

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With ready-made dough, this pizza comes together in a cheesy jiffy.

• Author: Veg Girl RD
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 35 mins
• Yield: 4 1x
• Category: Pizza

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 pound pizza dough
• Flour for sprinkling
• 1 large leek, (white and light green parts), halved and thinly sliced into half-moons (about 3 oz. or 1 cup) or 2 medium shallots, chopped
• 3–5 medium red or Yukon Gold potatoes (about 11 oz.), sliced very thinly
• 1 teaspoon fresh or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper or to taste
• 2½ tablespoons olive oil, divided
• Cornmeal for sprinkling
• 4 oz. sharp cheddar, grated

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450° and if you have one, place pizza stone on center rack.
2. Remove dough from wrapper, set on a floured surface and let rest for 20 minutes.
3. While dough is resting and oven is preheating, slice leeks (or shallots) and potatoes and toss them in a bowl with thyme, salt, pepper, and 1½ Tbsp. of the olive oil.
4. Roll dough into a ¼-inch-thick circle or to match the size of your pizza stone or pizza pan. Place dough on pizza peel or large baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal to keep it from sticking.
5. Brush remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over top of dough. Spread potato mixture over dough, separating pieces with your fingers to make a single layer covering the dough. Sprinkle with cheese.
6. Use peel to scoot pizza onto stone or place baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese and crust are both golden brown. Cut into 8 slices.

Notes

Nutrition Information Per Serving with suggested Caesar Salad accompaniment (1 serving on salad label):
Calories: 590 Fat: 28 g Saturated Fat: 9 g Carbohydrate: 66 g Sugar: 1 g Sodium: 1565 mg Fiber: 4 g Protein: 21 g Cholesterol: 30 mg cholesterol.

Adapted from Real Simple’s Potato Leek Flatbread with Greens.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 2 slices
• Calories: 458
• Sugar: 0 g
• Sodium: 1245 mg
• Fat: 21 g
• Saturated Fat: 7 g
• Carbohydrates: 53 g
• Fiber: 2 g
• Protein: 15 g
• Cholesterol: 25 mg

This shopping list was prepared for a trip to Trader Joe’s, but any grocery store should have similar items. It was updated in 2020 with current prices and product names.

Cheddar Potato Pizza Shopping List

1 lb. Trader Joe’s (TJ’s) Plain Pizza Dough ($1.29)
6 oz. TJ’s Trimmed Leeks ($2.99) (This package contains 2 leeks.)
1.5 lbs. Melissa’s Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes ($2.49)
4 oz. Kerrygold Dubliner cheese ($1.99)
0.75 oz. TJ’s Organic Fresh Thyme ($1.79)

Recommended Accompaniment:

15 oz. TJ’s A Complete Salad Kit, Caesar Style ($3.49)

Pantry Staples:

16.9 fl. oz. TJ’s Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Mediterranean Blend ($3.99)

TOTAL $14.04 with accompaniment

$18.03 if you need to buy pantry staples

Nutrition notes:

 – Processed foods are high in sodium!  Utilizing convenience foods in recipes and running the nutrition analysis has been a fascinating process for me. I’m definitely learning my lesson on sodium. In this case, the big contributors were the crust, the added salt, and the cheese. To meet the recommendation of 1500-2300 mg/day, you’d want a low sodium breakfast and lunch on this day.

 – Can I trim anywhere to save calories?  You could use less salad dressing or cut back on the amounts of potatoes or cheese that you layer on the pizza. It will still be quite a satisfying meal, but you’ll have shaved off a bit here and there.

– What about protein? Each slice of pizza provides about 7 grams of protein, so for a meal of 2 slices and salad, you end up with 21 grams altogether. For reference, the recommended amount of protein for a 175-pound man is about 64 grams a day.

I’d love to know if you successfully satisfied your family with this homemade pizza instead of delivery. If so, this might be a recipe to keep close at hand for the next time the 5:30 pm whole foods vs. convenience foods battle starts anew in your brain.

Do you have any creative pizza toppings you’d like to recommend?

This is not a sponsored post. I bought all the groceries on my own and happily consumed them.

Kristine Duncan, Registered Dietitian

I’m a Registered Dietitian, the author of Veg Girl RD, and a vegetarian who loves to eat. I’m a nutrition nerd who teaches at the University of Washington and Skagit Valley College. I also write about nutrition professionally for magazines and books. If you want to know more, check out my About page.