You don’t have to give up pizza to be heathy! We show you how to transform your favourite Friday night takeaway into a more nutritious meal.
Pizza is universally loved, but how healthy it is depends on what’s on top and what you have it with. With a few dietitian-approved tweaks, you can create pizzas at home that are nutritious and delicious. A high-fibre base, lean meat, colourful vegies and less cheese help create a tasty, balanced option.
+ WHOLEMEAL BASE
Deep pan and stuffed crusts are made from low-fibre refined carbs, and pack in extra kilojoules.
- Swap: Deep pan pizza for a thinner wholemeal crust to provide a lighter option with a boost of fibre.
+ LEAN PROTEIN
Processed meats like pepperoni and bacon are high in saturated fat and sodium which are linked to heart disease and some types of cancer.
- Swap: Processed meats for leaner heart-healthy proteins like chicken breast, tuna or salmon.
+ VEGIES
Takeaway pizzas typically have few vegetables, missing out on essential vitamins and minerals.
- Add: Eat the rainbow by loading your pizza up with colourful vegies like pumpkin, capsicum, eggplant, tomato, rocket and mushrooms.
+ LESS CHEESE
Takeaway pizzas are traditionally topped with a generous layer of gooey melted mozzarella.
- Reduce: Halve the amount of cheese on top of your pizza to cut back on sodium and saturated fat.
+ PORTION CONTROL
It can be tempting to finish off a whole pizza in one sitting, which can lead to consuming excess kilojoules.
- Swap: Fill have your plate with 2-3 slices of pizza and the rest with fresh salad. Save the rest of your pizza for the following day.
Classic takeaway pizza
Deep pan supreme: bacon, ground beef, pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, capsicum, pineapple and mozzarella.
Per pizza: 6193kJ (1480cal), 67g protein, 50g fat, 20g sat fat, 180g carbs, 19g sugar, 3648mg sodium.
Upgraded pizza
This upgraded version of a classic takeaway pizza is a more balanced and nutritious meal. We’ve cut the kilojoules by two thirds, saturated fat and sugar by more than half, boosted fibre and reduced the sodium by a whopping 400 per cent!
Half a pizza topped with chicken breast, pumpkin, capsicum and mushroom with mozzarella cheese and rocket, on a wholemeal base, with 2 cups of mixed salad and a drizzle of olive oil.
2000kJ (480cal), 32g protein, 23g fat, 8g sat fat, 32g carbs, 8g sugar, 9g fibre, 690mg sodium.
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