I’m starting a difficult challenge tomorrow where I’m going to attempt to eat only $4.50 worth of food per day. I remember how hungry I was last year during the SNAP challenge, so I kind of wanted to have one last indulgent hurrah just before I started the challenge. What’s the best indulgent food, IMHO? Pizza, of course. Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pizza, to be specific.
What’s In This Spinach Artichoke Pizza:
This isn’t just any pizza. This is a thick crust, crispy edged, pan pizza topped with a rich and creamy spinach sauce, chopped up artichoke hearts, and a final layer of melted mozzarella cheese. Think pizza topped with spinach artichoke dip, then baked to melty perfection.
What Kind of Pizza Dough to Use:
I decided to make this pizza with the no-knead pan crust, which needs to be started the night before, but you could always do this on a regular pizza crust, or even a super fast thin crust. The toppings on this pizza are so good that you can literally put it on any crust.
Do I Have to Use A Cast Iron Skillet?
No, that is only one option for this pizza. I used a 10-inch lodge skillet, but these toppings are enough for a 12-inch pan pizza, or even a 14-inch regular crust pizza. You can bake your pizza on a regular pizza pan, a pizza stone, or even on a square baking sheet.
Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pizza
Servings 3 (2 slices each)Ingredients
DOUGH
- 2 cups all-purpose flour ($0.30)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1/8 tsp instant yeast ($0.02)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 3/4-1 cup water ($0.00)
CREAMY SPINACH SAUCE
- 1/2 lb. frozen chopped spinach ($0.85)
- 1 Tbsp butter ($0.10)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.08)
- 4 oz. cream cheese ($1.00)
- 1/2 cup milk ($0.19)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
PIZZA
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.02)
- 1/2 15oz. can artichoke hearts ($1.30)
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper (optional) ($0.05)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella ($1.00)
Instructions
- Begin the dough the night before. In a large bowl stir together the flour, salt, and yeast. Combine the olive oil and 3/4 cup water, then pour it into the bowl with the flour. Stir until a single (slightly wet and sticky) ball of dough forms with no dry flour left on the bottom of the bowl. Add one to two tablespoons more of water, if needed, to form a ball of dough. Loosely cover the dough and let it sit at room temperature for 12-18 hours.
- The next day let the spinach thaw and then squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Preheat the oven to 450ºF and pour 1 Tbsp of cooking oil into a 10 or 12-inch cast iron skillet. Spread the oil around the skillet, including up the side walls.
- To make the sauce, mince the garlic and add it to a small pot along with the butter. Sauté the butter and garlic for 1-2 minutes over medium-low heat, or until the garlic is soft and fragrant. Add the cream cheese, milk, and salt to the butter and garlic. Whisk and cook over medium-low heat until the cream cheese has melted into the milk and a thick sauce forms (3-5 minutes). Finally, stir the squeeze-dried spinach into the sauce, breaking up any clumps as you stir. Remove the sauce from the heat and set aside.
- Use the excess oil from the skillet to coat your hands, then scrape the fermented dough out of the bowl. Gently press and stretch the loose dough into the skillet until it evenly covers the bottom.
- Spread the creamy spinach sauce over the dough, covering from edge to edge. Drain the artichoke hearts, give them a rough chop, then sprinkle over the creamy spinach sauce. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes, if desired. Finally, top the pizza with the shredded mozzarella.
- Bake the pizza in the fully preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are sizzling and the top is golden brown. Remove the pizza from the oven and slide a butter knife around the edges to loosen any melted cheese. Either slide the whole pizza onto a cutting board or carefully slice the pizza in the pan. Cut into six slices and serve.
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Equipment
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Spinach Artichoke Pizza – Step by Step Photos
If you’re using the pan pizza dough that I used above, begin the night before. In a large bowl (or pot) stir together 2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp instant or “bread machine” yeast. Combine 1 Tbsp olive oil and 3/4 cup water, then pour it into the bowl with the flour. Stir until a sticky ball of dough forms with no dry flour left on the bottom of the bowl. If needed, add one to two more tablespoons of water to help it come together in one single piece of dough.
Loosely cover the dough (that’s why I like using a pot, I just set the lid on slightly crooked) and let it sit at room temperature for 12-18 hours. As it ferments it will spread out and get very bubbly. It will still be quite sticky compared to most bread doughs.
On the day you’re making the pizza, take 1/2 lb. of frozen spinach out of the freezer to thaw (thaw at room temp, or in the microwave for a faster thaw).
Once the spinach is thawed, squeeze as much moisture out as possible. I just grab a handful and squeeeeze until no more liquid comes out.
Next it’s time to make the sauce (and begin preheating the oven to 450 degrees). Mince one clove of garlic. Add it to a small pot along with 1 Tbsp of butter. Sauté the garlic in the butter over medium-low heat until the garlic is soft and fragrant (about 1-2 minutes).
Add 1/2 cup milk, 4 oz. cream cheese, and 1/4 tsp salt to the butter and garlic. Continue to cook over medium-low heat, while whisking, until the cream cheese has melted in and a thick sauce has formed.
Add the squeeze dried spinach to the cream sauce and stir until it’s combined (break up any clumps of spinach as you stir). Remove the sauce from the heat and set it aside.
Spread 1 Tbsp vegetable oil in a 10 or 12-inch cast iron skillet (including up the sides). Use the excess oil in the skillet to coat your hands, then scrape the dough out of its bowl. Carefully stretch and press the dough into the skillet until it evenly covers the bottom.
Spread the spinach cream sauce over the dough from edge to edge.
Drain one 15oz. can of artichoke hearts. Take half of the can and give them a rough chop (the other half can be frozen or used for a second pizza).
Sprinkle the chopped artichoke hearts over the pizza. If you like things a little spicy like me, sprinkle on a few red pepper flakes.
Finally, top with one cup of shredded mozzarella.
Bake the Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pizza for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are sizzling and the top is golden brown. Use a butter knife to loosen around the edges where cheese may have melted onto the skillet. Slide the pizza onto a cutting board or carefully slice it while in the pan.
Cut the Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pizza into six pieces and serve! This is pretty rich and filling, so two pieces go a lot further than you think. ;)
Another winner. I have all the ingredients to make this pizza for the holiday. I have to check if my yeast is instant though.
I just completed a challenge to only spend $100 on food for the month. I think it would have been much more difficult if I had to start from scratch and didn’t have a bunch of staples on my shelves and in my freezer. I need to use that stuff up before it expires anyway. Good luck with your challenge.
A solid 5 star recipe. Everyone loved it! I only have a 10 inch iron skillet, so I cooked the dough on the stove top for about 5 minutes before adding ingredients and putting it in the oven. I thought it might be too thick to cook all the way through. It was fantastic.
I am really looking forward to your new challenge. I have found so many recipes to use for our budget cooking class and am looking for more! thanks for giving us permission to raid your site.
Looking forward to reading your challenge “challenges” again this year! I really enjoy your recipes and blog! Thank you!
Spinach artichoke pizza is one of our favorites, but this is a whole new level of yum! I love the idea of a no-knead pizza crust, too. Stretching regular pizza dough is super frustrating for me as it always seems to rip. Definitely giving this one a try!
Good for you for doing the challenge again! I also really enjoyed last year’s challenge and your chili mac is part of our regular rotation because it’s so delicious and filling.
Can’t wait to read the updates and find new inspiration!
Hi!!
I know you probably used a cast iron skillet for a reason, but is that totally nessecary? I have glass pie dishes or normal frying pans. Would either of those work?
Cast iron definitely works best for this one. It distributes the heat much better than glass or ceramic. A regular skillet is definitely too thin to heat it evenly.
Ooooh, I love your No Knead Pan Pizza and can hardly wait to try this version…will try this weekend. I’ll come back to give my rating but I bet if I could give it 10 stars, I would!
This looks absolutely amazing! I pinned it pretty much as soon as I saw it.
This looks all kinds of amazing!
Yum! This looks delicious.
This looks so delicious. I have already put the ingredients on my shopping list for this week. Thanks!!!
When I lived on foodstamps with two children I found that you can’t just shop weekly because you run out of most staples each month. To have all the materials you practically need as a base you must purchase with most of the month in mind, then buy fresh things like milk as needed. I hope that idea helps. I feel sorry that try to do the challenge for one week because with a one week budget you can’t buy enough staples to make it work well and not go hungry. I was never starving–I just didn’t always have a variety of food and it was heavily biased towards grains and beans and starches.
I’m chiming in rather late, but I totally agree with this. I’m not on food stamps (and they don’t even exist here in Canada), but I do feed my family of 6, including my bottomless pit long distance runner husband, 2 growing teens, an 11yo who sometimes tries to out eat her 16yo brother, and an 8yo, on a budget that is the equivalent of $4.40Cdn/day/person. It is a challenge, and one of the ways I do this is by thinking long term for purchases, not on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. When one of our staples is on sale at a great price, I buy enough to last at least a month or two. I resent having to pay regular price for things like pasta, butter, canned tomatoes, tuna, cheese, frozen vegetables, etc.
This pizza looks absolutely AMAZING, to where my mouth is watering right now. I LOVE spinach, artichokes, creamy stuff, and cheese. These ingredients will be perfect with ground Italian sausage (my sister likes meat, and anything that’s meatless, she’s NOT going to eat it).
I’m looking forward to see how the SNAP challenge goes this year. I really enjoyed the challenge from last year, despite the judge mental comments. You have my support, Beth!!! :-)
This looks amazing!
Your SNAP challenge posts from last year were some of the best things I’ve read about food insecurity in a long time. Also some of your best posts to date (IMHO!). I’m really looking forward to reading your experience this year.
This looks so good! I’m pretty much a fan of anything with artichokes though. And anything creamy. And anything cheesy. I’m easy to please.
Can’t wait to see how the challenge goes this year! Really enjoyed last year’s and thought you did an awesome job.