Pizza is a very popular food among adults and children. However, when topped with various meats and loads of cheese, a pizza turns into a rather unhealthy food choice. A pizza can easily be transformed into a healthy menu item by making a few simple yet effective changes.

The first change you can make to create a healthier pizza is to begin with the pizza dough. Whole wheat pizza dough and whole wheat flat bread circles make a good foundation for a healthy pizza.

By making your pizza at home, you have control over the ingredients that go on top of your pizza. While a tomato-based sauce isn’t essential for a pizza, it is one of the most familiar types of pizza sauce. There are numerous homemade pizza sauce recipes available online. You should allow your taste buds the experience of enjoying a pizza with non-tomato based sauces such as white sauce or barbecue sauce. Homemade pesto also makes a good base for your pizza toppings.

When it comes to healthy toppings for a pizza the list of options is almost endless. Unhealthy meat choices can be replaced with toppings such as grilled chicken, grilled turkey or turkey bacon. Meat substitute crumbles can be used to replace ground beef as a pizza topping.

And why not go “green” when it comes to topping your pie? Explore various vegetable topping for your healthy pizza. If you have fresh vegetables from a garden or farmer’s market, use those on your pizza. Wash, peel and slice or chop vegetables of your choice.

Saute the vegetables in olive oil before using them as a topping. Peppers, onions, garlic, diced tomatoes, mushrooms, and olives are typical pizza toppings. Spinach, squash, eggplant, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower also make good, healthy toppings for your pizza.

If your schedule doesn’t allow time for preparing fresh vegetables to use on your pizza, a good alternative is frozen vegetables. You can purchase frozen vegetable packages that have an assortment of vegetables in them that can be steamed in the microwave in less than ten minutes. All you have to do is cook and drain these vegetable packs, arrange vegetables on top of pizza and bake.

Don’t fall into a rut with your pizza creations. Mix up the toppings. Try spinach with tomatoes and turkey bacon. Add an element of surprise to this pizza by mixing in a few mandarin orange slices with your vegetable toppings. Use barbecue sauce and grilled chicken with peppers and onions. For an unusual twist, add pineapple slices to this pizza. Broccoli, cauliflower and carrots make a good topping combination. Grilled or roasted vegetables taste great on a pizza.

You can still add cheese to your pizza without making it as unhealthy. Simply be selective with your choices. When constructing a healthy pizza you should choose a low-fat, low-sodium variety.

Pizza can be enjoyed as a breakfast food. Toppings such as crumbled turkey bacon, tomatoes and low-fat mozzarella cheese make a great breakfast pizza. Grilled chicken, broccoli, and Parmesan cheese make a good breakfast combination. A few slices of pepperoni or Canadian bacon can be added to your morning pizza.

Just remember that moderation is the key to creating any type of healthy dish.