Tomato sauce gets swapped out for a puree of roasted roots in this cheese pizza with spicy roasted carrot and red onion sauce.
cheese pizza with spicy roasted carrot and red onion sauce

I’m freeing pizza from its tomato sauce clutches.

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Crazy, I know, but here me out:

Tomatoes have had a monopoly on pizza sauce for, like, eternity.

Monopolies are illegal in the US.

DOWN WITH TOMATOES.

Totally sound logic, am I right?

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To be honest, I’ve never felt very strong ties to tomato sauce, my Italian ancestry notwithstanding. Even as a child, I would tolerate it if there was cheese involved, but otherwise I wanted nothing to do with it. I’ve come around to it a little bit over time, but it’s still not my favorite. Probably never will be.

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Instead I propose: CARROT SAUCE.

Really. CARROT SAUCE.

Just roast up a pound of carrots along with a sliced red onion and then puree to a spreadable consistency. DONE.

It’s sweet, it’s savory, it’s spicy, it’s orange, and it just feels right to smother it in-between carbs and cheese. (<– all selling points)

That first bite tastes a little weird because you expect tomato sauce, but on the second bite you really get into it, and by the third you’re hooked.

Four slices in and you’ll be all like tomato who? Exactly right.

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Cheese Pizza with Spicy Roasted Carrot and Red Onion Sauce
 
Tomato sauce gets swapped out for a puree of roasted roots in this cheese pizza with spicy roasted carrot and red onion sauce.
Yield: 8 slices
Ingredients
For the pizza dough
  • 1 tbsp active dry yeast
  • pinch of sugar
  • 1 cup lukewarm water, divided
  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 2 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
For the pizza
  • 1 lb carrots, cut into ½-inch cubes
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp gochujang
  • salt, to taste
  • 8 oz sliced part-skim mozzarella
  • 4 oz pepperjack, grated
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, combine the yeast with a pinch of sugar and ¼ cup lukewarm water, stirring to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes. If it becomes foamy, then the yeast is alive and raring to go! If not, then the yeast is probably dead or too old and your dough won't rise, so go buy more.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the bread hook attachment, combine the flour, yeast/water mixture, remaining ¾ cup water, olive oil, and salt. Stir on medium speed until dough comes together. Stir on medium-high speed for five minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
  3. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Heat oven to 400F. In a large bowl, toss the carrots and red onion slices with the olive oil, gochujang, and salt, to taste. Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes, or until tender.
  4. Let the roasted vegetables cool for 5 minutes. Then, put in a blender along with ¼ cup water. Blend until smooth, adding more water as necessary so that it can form a spreadable puree.
  5. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
  6. Raise oven temperature to 500F.
  7. Rub a 12-inch pizza pan with olive oil. When the dough has risen, spread it out over the prepared pan.
  8. Spread the carrot sauce over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges. Arrange the mozzarella slices in an even layer over the sauce. Sprinkle the pepperjack cheese on top. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the bottom of the pizza starts to brown. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
Notes
An Eats Well With Others Original
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 2 slices

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cheese pizza with spicy roasted carrot sauce
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46 Responses to Cheese Pizza with Spicy Roasted Carrot and Red Onion Sauce

  1. Kathryn says:

    Totally intrigued by this idea! My boyfriend is not a huge fan of tomato sauce at all but carrots? He’d absolutely be into this. Can’t wait to try it!

  2. Wow that’s bold, Joanne! Pizza with no tomatoes?!?! Can’t wait to try this x

  3. my sister hates pizza sauce and I always thought she was crazy — guess that’s a thing! You know I love this pizza. A pizza actually worthy of being considered a vegetable 😉

  4. Sues says:

    What an AWESOME idea!! I rarely put tomato sauce on my pizza since I love garlic and olive oil (and CHEESE) best. But carrot sauce? I’d totally try that!!

  5. Funny, my sister used to really dislike tomato sauce too. Meanwhile, this pizza looks amazing. Carrot onion sauce is pure genius!

  6. Yours is the one blog I’ve continued to follow regularly since baby came along a few months ago, and it’s recipes like this that are why! Love it! So creative.
    And of course, I love your blog because of you 🙂

  7. I am totally sold. I’m a glutton for any kind of roasted veg, and the idea of pureeing them up for pizza sauce is pure genius!

  8. Mmm I bet this makes cheese pizza anything but ordinary. Reminds me of your pumpkin pizza sauce!

  9. Joanne, this is freaking brilliant!!! you made a spicy roasted carrot and red onion sauce?!!! oh my gawd, I love it and it makes perfect sense! and you added gochujang?!! I am in love with this recipe. . seriously going to try this one!! Brilliant!!

  10. Holy girl – that sauuuuuce!! Such a neat creation and definitely fabulous with pizza. I love it!

  11. Sounds delish! We made pizza last night – but this is even better !

  12. Hell to the YES- everything should be roasted!!

  13. Wow! You let your creativity shine with this one, Joanne. I love the idea of a spicy carrot sauce. Great job!

  14. Heather says:

    One of my favorite tomato sauce recipes has a lot of carrots in it, and I love the flavor, but I never thought about just removing the tomatoes entirely!

  15. Lori R. says:

    So I have to confess that I’m actually tomato sauce’s biggest fan. What the lowly tomato lacks from your support as a pizza topping, I most certainly make up for. BUT, that’s not to say that this isn’t an awesome idea! This I could definitely do!

  16. What a great idea of using carrot and onion to make the sauce! The pizza looks great.

  17. i looove a good tomato sauce but this one sounds super intriguing! 🙂

  18. You little minx you! I LOVE the idea of using carrot – just a teeny bit sweeter and less acid.

  19. Kate says:

    I’m all for variety in sauces. Just last night we used hummus on our pizza!

  20. Pam says:

    Well, this is different and that cheese on it looks awesome. Whatever sauce floats your boat, and this is a good one!

  21. Kelly says:

    Spicy roasted carrot and onion sauce with gochujang sounds absolutely amazing! Love this idea!

  22. I absolutely love the sound of this sauce! I think I’d put it on everything! It combines two of my husband’s favourite vegetables too (and there aren’t that many of those…) so I imagine it would help entice him to eat dishes he might usually look over 😀

  23. Sippitysup says:

    You’re crazy, girl. Crazy. They said it couldn’t be done, but you didn’t listen. The tomato mafia will get you if you’re not more careful. GREG

  24. Pizza deserves to be shaken up, and what a great way to do it! I’d love to taste a slice right now. Or, maybe four, just to be sure!

  25. cheri says:

    Now this is fantastic, I am not a fan of red sauce on pizza, usually I order pizza plain. Very clever!

  26. Krista says:

    Mmm, this sounds lovely, Joanne. I make a pureed carrot dip that I love, so it makes perfect sense to use it as a sauce. 🙂

  27. mjskitchen says:

    One of my favorite soups is a roasted carrot and onion, so your pizza sounds just downright awesome to me! Your crust looks perfect and the gochujang in the sauce was a great addition.

  28. Beautiful pizza, Joanne! Love this flavor combo!!

  29. Reeni says:

    Love it! I’ve done a carrot sauce with pasta so pizza makes perfect sense. Especially when it’s spicy! All the better.

  30. Gorgeous pizza, Joanne! This flavor combo looks so flavourful!

  31. What a great idea! This sauce sounds so good!

  32. Beth says:

    You’ve posted lots of brilliant recipes, but this is the most brilliant of all. Can’t wait to try it.

  33. Outstanding Joanne – roasted carrots are so sweet and full of deliciousness that I know this pizza would taste fabulous and a great winter alternative when fresh tomatoes aren’t in season.

  34. What a great alternative for people who can’t eat tomatoes. My stepson will appreciate this 🙂

  35. Carrots in sauce?! A must try and I’m intrigued 🙂

  36. Danguole says:

    I saw this on your Instagram and went “whatwhatwha… BRILLIANT.” My feelings on this remain such. Want now!!

  37. Eileen says:

    Oh, nice! This is such a great plan for winter, when all the tomatoes are either white and mealy or canned (not that canned tomatoes are bad, but still). Now I’m wondering what toppings would be best with carrot sauce…

  38. Betty says:

    I do love carrots, so why not? Tomatoes have never been my favorite anyway. 🙂

  39. Oh man carrot sauce sounds so great! I am kind of indifferent about tomato sauce but I love all things carrot!

  40. I am so completely with you on carrot sauce it is by far my most favourite thing. Gosh you make an amazing looking pizza!

  41. Johanna GGG says:

    yep I’m there on the carrot and cheese bandwagon – I love tomato sauce but a change is always welcome and I have tried carrot on pizza before with success but not as a sauce – must change that

  42. Azu says:

    I’m intrigued with this pizza. I’m not fan of tomato sauces, especially the ultra processed types. I would like to try a slice of this pizza … I think I’ll have to prepare it lol. I was looking around and you have some amazing pizza recipes.

  43. Jovana says:

    My family is Serbian Orthodox, so fourty days before Easter and Christmas, we fast. Fasting basically consists of eating vegan.

    I make some mean pizzas but I have always, always felt that tomato sauce goes better with cheese. So when I make vegan pizzas (no vegan cheese, I prefer just veggies…) I always try to make a different sauce.

    I make an absolutely to die for onion pizza sauce that is pretty much “brothers and husband” safe (all three are CARNIVORES of NOTE) but I wanted to change it up this round. Fall in your recipe.

    It was dead simple to make and prepare in advance. I got raveeeee reviews and my brother licked the rest of the sauce from the bowl. This is a 6’2, big, gym dude who considers a burger a “salad” because it has lettuce, tomato and onion in it. Give him carrots any other day and he’ll hide for WEEKS.

    Awesome idea and awesome simple recipe! I made a separate batch with two spare bell pepepers that were unloved – it made a nice addition to the sauce!

    Nom!

  44. Kelly Teague says:

    Thank you for this great recipe which I’ll be making tomorrow. My daughter’s allergic to tomatoes & cheese and while I can substitute soy cheese for her pizza, I’ve been at a loss re: a veggie base. (Though I did do puréed roasted red bell peppers which was good.) This will come in handy for sure!

  45. […] 20. Cheese Pizza with Spicy Roasted Carrot and Red Onion Sauce from Eats Well with Others […]

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