The Best Cold Veggie Pizza

Thin and chewy pizza dough topped with a creamy everything bagel cream cheese spread, minced fresh veggies, and shredded cheese. Skip the tubed stuff and make this from scratch for a pizza that’s perfect for any occasion!

I’m sure about some point in almost everyone’s life you’ve had the crescent roll version of this recipe. From any PartyLite, Pampered Chef, Tupperware party to I swear every bridal or baby shower, some variation of this pizza has made an appearance. I get it, it’s a great bite and it’s easy!

However, truth be told, while I love crescent rolls, for me they do not make a good pizza. It’s too soft and flimsy. It may stay firm enough to pick up when you cut it into small pieces but once you refrigerate it, it tends to turn super soft and pliable.

This, unfortunately, is where the pizza snob in me comes out. Pizza, cold or not, should have a crust that is firm enough to stand up to the toppings and not flop over.  It shouldn’t matter if it’s hot, cold, or 3 days old. The flop shouldn’t happen.

Thus I decided to put my own spin on that classic recipe. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever make that crescent pizza again because I am OBSESSED with this version. And when I shared it with some friends we had over, they too went crazy over it.  Plus this stays perfect in the fridge for days – no soggy bottoms!

Grab your Ingredients

What I love about this recipe is the base is super straight forward:

• 1 Prepared Pizza Dough ball (about 400 grams)
• 1 Batch of Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Spread

Toppings

This is where you can get creative or stick with the standard toppings as I did:

• Shredded Carrots
• Cubed Broccoli, Cauliflower, Bell Peppers
• Shredded Cheese

Pan The Dough

1. Oil up your 16×12″ pizza pan and punch down your dough that has performed its first rise in the bowl
2. Using your fingertips, dimple the dough out towards the edges as far as you can get it. DO NOT FORCE IT. Cold dough will not stretch.
3. Cover and repeat every 30 minutes or until the dough stretches to the edges of the pan.
4. Once at the edges of the pan, cover with sprayed plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes – 2 hours or until the dough puffs up

Bake The Pizza

1. Preheat the oven to 550 F (for gas) or 500F (for electric) with the rack on the lower third with a pizza stone on the rack.
2. Using a fork or pizza docker, poke holes into the dough. You really don’t want the pizza to rise much as you want it on the thin side. However, you can choose not to do this and you’ll get a puffier dough. It won’t alter the flavor in the slightest.
3. Bake the pizza for 6-8 minutes or until the pizza shell is golden brown and cooked through.
4. When done, immediately remove from the oven and transfer the pizza crust from the pan to a cooling rack. Allow it to cool completely.

 

Make the Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Spread

While the pizza crust is baking, make the cream cheese spread

1. To a bowl, add whipped cream cheese (alternatively, you can use softened block cream cheese) and the Everything Bagel Seasoning Blend. *If using block cream cheese you’ll need to thin it out with some heavy cream.

 

2. In a bowl gently stir together the whipped cream cheese and the Everything Bagel Seasoning Blend.
3. Cover and place in the fridge for an hour for the flavors to marry while the pizza crust is baking.

Let’s Assemble The Pizza

This is where the fun starts!  This is where you get to be creative in how you top it and even get the little ones involved!

1. Place the cooled pizza crust on a board or serving tray *NOTE: I do recommend chilling this before serving to allow the flavors to meld together.
2. Using an offset spatula, knife, or spread, add the everything bagel cream cheese spread and spread it out over the entire crust. Yep, all the way to the edges.

Top The Pizza

Now the beauty of this pizza is you can top it with whatever veggies (and even protein) you like!

1. Sprinkle on the shredded carrots and then gently press them down into the everything cream cheese spread. You want the toppings to stick to the pizza and not fall off when you bite into it!
2. Next, add bell peppers, cauliflower, and broccoli. Again, making sure between each veggie addition to gently press them down into the cream cheese mixture.
3. Lastly, sprinkle on the cheese, and yep, press down again.
4. What I do and it’s totally optional is sprinkle on another 1-2 teaspoons of Everything Bagel Seasoning over top. Not only does it add more flavor but it also looks pretty.

Chill

I recommend you then wrap the pizza (and serving platter) with plastic wrap snuggly and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

I like doing this as it helps all of the veggies and cheese set into the cream cheese mixture and it helps the flavors to marry together.

Slice It Up and Serve

When you’re wanting to serve it, remove it from the fridge about 10 minutes before serving, slice it up (I recommend using a pizza rocker or sharp knife), and serve.

Freezing The Pizza

As with most cream cheese recipes, I do NOT recommend freezing this pizza assembled. Cream Cheese tends to separate when frozen and thawed. Plus raw veggies lose their crispness and can turn soggy.

However…

I do recommend you make up a few of these pizza crusts, cool them, then freeze them plain. They can last up to 4 months in the freezer if wrapped properly in plastic wrap and then freezer bags.

Other Pizza toppings

This is a truly versatile pizza. You can use fresh or roasted veggies, cooked proteins, or just cheese. Some of my favorite combinations are:

• Roasted Veggie – grill or roast up zucchini, mushrooms, sauteed spinach, caramelized onions. Top with feta and sesame seeds
• Asian – add carrot, cucumber, and zucchini strips, chopped baby corn, broccoli, and bamboo shoots. Top with toasted peanuts and feta cheese
• BLT – Yep, you read that right. Top the cream cheese mixture with crispy pieces of bacon, minced tomatoes, chopped lettuce, and shredded mozzarella
• Crack Chicken – Top the cream cheese mixture with shredded chicken mixed with a few tablespoon of powered ranch mix, crispy bacon, shredded cheddar, and green onions

Perfect Anytime Pizza

As I mentioned earlier, this style of pizza is awesome for bridal or baby showers, game night with friends and family, BBQs and cookouts, graduation parties, poker night, movie time…

You get the idea. You guys know me well enough to know that pizza is a daily thing so I will always find a way to have pizza for an event of 1-100.

How to Store Leftover Pizza

Once the pizza is assembled, store any leftovers on a plate or serving tray wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. As mentioned, I do not recommend freezing it.

This pizza, if you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, will last about 3-5 days in the fridge. That’ll honestly depend on how hungry you are (or others in your house) and what veggies you use. The more watery the veggies (i.e., mushrooms, zucchini, etc) the less time it will last as they can weep and make the pizza soggy. And we want no soggy bottoms.

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