Homemade pizza offers a healthier, more affordable alternative to what you will eat out at a chain pizza restaurant. If you want to continue to enjoy homemade pizza, but would like to cut the sodium content, there are a number of steps you can take.
Pizza Dough
Most pizza dough recipes call for salt. But one of the benefits of making your own is that you can adapt it to suit your particular needs and requirements. Omit the salt, or reduce the quantities called for in the recipe, and replace it with garlic powder, fresh herbs and spices.
Pizza Sauce
Jars of pizza sauce can contain high levels of sodium. The more you slather onto the base of the pizza, the higher the sodium content will be. Choose a healthier alternative, such as a no salt added variety of tomato puree. Choose double concentrated, for an even richer tomato taste.
Cheeses
Cheese is a staple pizza ingredient, but if you cover the pizza in mountains of cheese, you will not only have a super cheesy pizza you will also have a very salty one. A 28g serving size of cheese can contain 180mg or more of sodium. Look for cheeses that are low in sodium and go easy on the cheese if you are trying to create a pizza that is low in sodium, by using cheese sparingly. Another way you can reduce the sodium content is by using strips of mozzarella cheese instead of bagged grated cheese.
Toppings
Pepperoni, salami and olives are common toppings that are used to add flavour to pizza. However, these ingredients are also high in sodium, which is not good news if you are trying to cut the sodium from your homemade pizza. Choose cuts of home cooked roasted chicken or turkey breast instead, along with sliced onion, tomato, mushrooms, a sprinkling of sweet corn and green pepper.
Creating your very own signature pizza recipe allows you to adapt it and tweak it as necessary, until you come up with a dish that you will want to make again and again. Homemade pizza can be a lot healthier, as you are in a position to control what goes in it. If you are trying to create a low-sodium homemade pizza, you will need to adapt each step for a healthier pizza, from the pizza dough, all the way up to your choice of toppings.