This white pizza has a super tasty roasted garlic cashew cheese sauce with sautéed spinach and chicken, plus more roasted garlic. Everything is baked on the best easy paleo pizza crust for a fun, filling and delicious paleo and dairy free pizza.
This is the first time I’ve made a vegan cheese sauce with cashews. Seriously, even if you decide NOT to make this recipe – consider making the “cheese” sauce alone – you will be eating it with a spoon right out of the blender, trust me!
I am ridiculously happy about and proud of this cheese sauce because I honestly didn’t think cashews really had that amount of YESSSS in them. Forget the cashew cheesecakes (for a sec!) because right now the savory cashew cheese vibes are soooo strong.
But alas, this pizza is actually a lot more than a damn good vegan cheese sauce. For one thing, it starts with my easy paleo pizza crust that’s loved by everyone who takes a bite! Even the non-paleo peeps – really, they all love it!
Check out the paleo pizza crust recipe here and make sure to scroll all the way down to the reviews because they will sell it more than I can now. Long story short, it’s a paleo crust you won’t regret one bit.
And then, of course, we’re going to top it! Above and below, you can see the various stages of toppings: cheese sauce (above)…
…Chicken and spinach (above)…
Plus more roasted garlic and cheese sauce to top it off. And I say “more” roasted garlic because it’s hiding right there in the cheese sauce already! Told you it was gonna be a good one!
I do admit that this pizza has several steps, although none of them are anything actually difficult. The first step is to roast the garlic, since you will blend it into the cheese sauce.
While the garlic roasts, you’ll prepare the crust. This pizza crust really only takes 10 minutes of prep time plus 10 minutes to pre-bake – it’s totally quick and easy! After prepping the crust, you can blend up the cheese sauce.
It helps to soak the cashews before blending for at least 2 hours, but, honestly, if you have a good food processor or blender the soaking isn’t super important. Along with the cashews you have half the roasted garlic, lemon, salt, olive oil, and nutritional yeast for cheesy flavor.
You’ll make enough cheese sauce to go wild if you really want to, but if you want to use less that’s fine too. Any extra can be refrigerated for later use.
Once the cheese sauce is prepped and the crust is pre-baked, it’s time to cook the chicken and spinach. You can use leftover chicken if you happen to have it as well. Once that’s done, it’s time to assemble the pizza and bake again.
The second time around you’ll only need to bake about 10 minutes to brown the crust and get everything heated through. I loved this with some crushed red pepper on top to for an extra kick.
After baking, it’s time to devour! And make sure you dig in fast, because once anyone takes a bite it’s as good as gone. I will definitely be doubling the recipe myself for the next time I make it since it was gone so soon. I’d say it serves six people, but realistically it’s just so good it might not go that far!
I hope you’re geared up for a paleo white pizza so delicious that it might just blow your mind, make you question all previously held beliefs, and receive approval from unsuspecting, not-so-paleo family members. Are you ready? Let’s go!
Roasted Garlic, Spinach, + Chicken White Pizza {Paleo, GF, DF}
Roasted Garlic, Spinach, and Chicken White Pizza {Paleo, GF, DF}
Ingredients
Cheese sauce:
- 1 cup cashews soaked for 2 hours
- Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
- 4-5 Tbsp water
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 bulb of the roasted garlic
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
Other Ingredients:
- 2 bulbs garlic
- Olive oil and salt for the garlic
- 1 paleo pizza crust recipe click the link
- 1 chicken breast about 2/3 lb
- Olive oil and salt for the chicken
- 4 oz fresh baby spinach roughly chopped
- Crushed red pepper to taste
Instructions
Roast the Garlic:
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Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Place a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet and place the 2 garlic bulbs - unpeeled - on top. Drizzle with a Tbsp of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Wrap foil around the bulbs, then roast in the preheated oven for 20-25 mins or until soft and fragrant. Remove and allow to cool.
Pre-bake the Crust:
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Meanwhile, prepare the pizza crust according to instructions. Once garlic is done, raise oven temperature to 450 degrees. Bake the plain crust for 12 minutes or until set and just barely turning light brown. Remove from oven and set aside; lower oven temp to 400 degrees.
Cook Chicken and Spinach:
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Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add olive oil. Pound chicken to 1/2” thickness and sprinkle all over with sea salt and crushed red pepper, if desired. Add chicken to skillet and cook on each side about 5 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from skillet to a plate to cool.
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Turn heat to medium and add spinach to the skillet, stirring to wilt. Cook about 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside.
Blend the Cheese sauce:
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A high powdered blender or food processor can be used for the sauce, just make sure it’s on the smaller side since you aren’t blending a huge amount.
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Add the cashews, water (start with 4 Tbsp), lemon juice, olive oil, and cloves from 1 bulb of the roasted garlic to the blender. Blend on high until smooth. Add in the nutritional yeast and salt and continue to blend to combine. If too thick, add in the additional Tbsp water. Cheese sauce should be thick and creamy but not pasty. Taste and adjust any seasonings to your preference.
Assemble the Pizza
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Spread 2/3 of the cheese sauce over the pre-baked crust. Cut chicken into bite size pieces and arrange over sauce, followed by the spinach and remaining roasted garlic cloves. Dollop the remaining cheese sauce over the top of the pizza, scattered around, then sprinkle crushed red pepper over the top if desired.
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Bake in the 400 degree oven for about 9-10 minutes or until crust is browned around the edges and pizza is heated through. Cut into 6 slices to serve. Enjoy!
Shop Products and Ingredients:
Want More Paleo Pizza Recipes? Try One of These!
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Loved this as did my husband. The vegan cheese sauce is incredible! The roasted garlic on the pizza really kicks it up a notch. We added roasted tomatoes and used arugula as we had it on hand. Just delicious!
Is there a substitution for nutritional yeast at all? I don’t have any on hand but this sounds delicious!!
This was amazing! That cheese sauce omg…yes eating it out of the bowl.
Husband loved it.
Took awhile to prepare..but thats probably because it’s the first time making it. Next time will make base in advance earlier in the day. I added mushrooms m roasted capsicum to the spinach n omitted the whole cloves on top. Winner!
I would love a nut free white sauce recipe. My daughter is allergic to nuts and peanuts, except for almonds. This looks so delicious!
This blog is officially my favorite pastime, especially under our current circumstances. I have been experimenting away with you and just made this recipe. The crust is DELICIOUS! I love how it doesn’t fall apart. You can hold it just like “regular” pizza.
I did not have the cashews to make the sauce, so I went out on a whim and used vegan alfredo sauce I had in the cabinet. I was nervous but it turned out GREAT! Can’t wait to make this with your white sauce next time. 🙂
There are so many variations I am now inspired to try. Thank you for the awesome recipe!
It’s baking now, and I can’t wait to try it! Question, though: I ended up using only about half the cashew sauce. Do you have any ideas for other uses? And, can you freeze it?