Veggie Pizza Appetizer
For all of the new recipes that I make, I love going back and making the recipes that I grew up eating. They’re the recipes that come from my mom’s old plastic recipe books that have index card inserts. They’re stained, handwritten and come from a variety of sources – friends, family members and church books. This veggie pizza appetizer is one of those gems.
On the surface, it doesn’t look like much – the crust is made of refrigerated crescent rolls, topped with sour cream that has been mixed with a seasoning packet, and then finished off with shredded cheese and chopped carrots, broccoli and olives.
What you can’t see from the pictures or the written recipe is a house full of people on New Year’s Eve… raucous laughter… kids running around and food everywhere. People gather around the island in the kitchen, where a sea of appetizers and snacks are on display to help keep the hunger at bay until the clock strikes midnight and the pork, sauerkraut and barbecued beans are brought out.
That was the scene at my parents’ house every single New Year’s Eve where our family and all of my parents’ friends, along with their kids, gathered for food and fun to ring in the new year. Not one New Year’s Eve went by without this veggie pizza appetizer sitting on that kitchen island. My mom always made it, and it was one of the things I most looked forward to eating. I was never a veggie eater, but if you throw golden crescent rolls and ranch-flavored sour cream underneath them, I almost didn’t realize they were there ;-)
This veggie pizza is incredibly easy, doesn’t require many ingredients and can be made ahead of time. You can top it with whatever combination of cheese and vegetables you’d like. It’s one of those time-honored recipes that always shows up at family parties, and always disappears without leftovers to worry about. Do have any of those “diamond-in-the-rough” family recipes that you’ll always love?
One year ago: Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
Two years ago: Creamy, Lighter Macaroni Salad and Date, Rum & Pecan Ice Cream
Three years ago: Oven-Fried Onion Rings, Take II and Southern Banana Pudding
Four years ago: Seven-Layer Bars
Five years ago: Eclairs and Cream Puffs
Veggie Pizza Appetizer
Ingredients
- 2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
- 16 ounces (453.59 g) sour cream
- 1 ounce (28.35 g) Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning packet
- ½ cup (56.5 g) shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup (64 g) chopped carrots
- ½ cup (45.5 g) chopped broccoli
- ¼ cup (33.75 g) chopped black olives
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Unroll the crescent rolls and press into a 10x15-inch pan (or place on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet), making sure to seal any seams. Bake for until puffed and golden brown, 11 to 13 minutes. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
- In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream and seasoning packet until completely combined. Spread in an even layer over the cooled crust. Top with the shredded cheese and chopped carrots, broccoli and olives. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Are the veggies raw?
Hi Dawn, Yes they are raw!
I make this I use it as a meal. I don’t like the cream cheese in this I have always used the sour cream I love the taste and tangy taste. I change up the veggies depending on what I am in the mood for. I don’t make up the entire pizza though, I bake the crescent crust and then I cut a piece of crust as big as I want and individually make a piece of pizza at a time, because I am the only one in my House that will eat it and I don’t want it to get soggy as it sits.
I had this at an Home interiors party, many years ago, Â and the hostess shared this recipe with me as I could not get enough. I love this vegetable pizza. I make it relatively often. Â I only change is , while I love olives, I cant have them.
OMG, I made this from memory the other day (I forgot the cheddar) because I was in the mood for it, having grown up eating it at picnics and the like. I introduced my boyfriend to it, and was like “they always just used to call this ‘veggie pizza’ but I don’t know if that’s accurate or not”.
Good to see I’m not the only one who remembers this! The version I made was a bit different.
1.) it uses cream cheese instead of sour cream
2.) It uses whatever vegetables you have around.
3.) They now made a flat sheet of the crescent roll dough specifically for projects like this. You don’t have to worry about the seams anymore!
I’ve found if you use red pepper, orange carrots, yellow pepper, broccoli, & red onion you get this pretty rainbow effect. (I’ll have to try it with olives sometime.)
I also made this years ago in Canada. You can’t get the HV ranch powder there (at least not in my local grocery store) so instead I used some taco seasoning, and it was different but equally yummy.
Thanks for sharing! :-D
I also make this with cream cheese, a little sour cream and I use the homemade ranch dressing powder from browneyedbaker! Also use any veggies I have…zucchini and yellow squash, tomatoes from my garden in the summer! It’s the one way I get my boyfriend to eat vegetables!
My mom has been making these every holiday and baby shower and bridal shower and every other function I can think of for years! Since I was 5!(which may or may not be 28 years ago). Glad to see an actual recipe for it again so I can re-write it for her. Hers is handwritten from a magazine and nearly faded!
Oh yum, I might try this with puff pastry
Love this recipe! It is also great because it so seasonal – broccoli, red peppers and cauliflower for Christmas, black olives and orange peppers for Halloween, and the list goes on! I also use cream cheese with powder ranch dressing with a bit of mayo.
Dramatic pictures ! Fun recipe !
Two thumbs up idea ! Loved it :)
The veggie pizza looks so yummy! This weekend I am going to try this for my kids. Thank you for the recipe!
Great Idea for an appetizer! Really looks so delicious. Even the colors of the veggies jive. This could be a great appetizer for a garden wedding reception. Especially between the ceremony and the reception where the couple take their pictures and the guests go for a cocktail. Will definitely try this!
My mom used to make this recipe too! Sooo delish. Thanks for reminding me of it! :)
Lovely work! Would you be happy to link it in to the current Food on Friday which is collecting snacks and treats? This is the link . I do hope to see you there. Cheers
This is so freshly recipe about the perfect party of pizzas.all the food very tasty and much people favourite slad.both taste flavour very nice many people like this tasty dish for all the time.
Talk about a perfect party appetizer! So easy to prepare but looks like it took lots of preparation.
Wowow loooong time I have made this .. totally forgot about it. Could not have been reminded at a better time. Thank you! Yes I too use to spread cream cheese :). Thank you!!!
Also thank you Terri for the tip of cutting the squares first and then pilling on the veggies :)
I loved your New Years Eve story! My parents’ parties always featured this hot cheesey queso dip with rotel tomatoes and spicy sausage. My mom’s best friend would bring it in this tiny portable crockpot. Anytime I have a dip even vaguely resembling that one, I am instantly eight years old again.
I love this pizza. Such a great app.
Well, this makes me cry… In a good way.I had a dear friend who made this ALL. The. Time. But I moved away and never got “her” recipe. Sadly she passed away from breast cancer a few years ago, and every once in a while I miss this and then I miss her, and well… yeah.
As soon as I saw this, I was just SO excited. So thank you for bringing a little of my friend back to me today. Just goes to show you that even a recipe can make a difference!
Hi Christine, I’m so sorry to hear about your friend. I hope that you’re able to fondly remember her through this recipe!
I used to make this 20+ yrs. ago when I sold Pampered Chef. I mixed cream cheese with sour cream & Italian dressing mix, which is a little drier & won’t get the crust soggy as fast. It is an easy appetizer to transport & inexpensive to make. I highly recommend it.
Mmm what an awesome recipe!!
This is a sure way to get me to eat my veggies!
Ooh! I haven’t had this since I was a kid! I also remember it having cream cheese so I’m excited to try it with sour cream.
So great that you used crescent rolls for the crust…and I love that it can be made ahead of time!
New Years Eve, family picnics, reunions, birthdays, the list goes on. We would have this at many occasions. Thanks for stirring up old memories! I love it!
This couldn’t come at a better time. Just this morning, I was going through a bunch of recipes trying to figure out what to make for my heavy apps/wine party for friends on Friday night. I’ll definitely make this and Dorie Greenspan’s Peanut Butter Torte (which you introduced me to!). Thanks!!
This looks very yummy! Can’t wait to make it! I have had it at church potlucks but never made it myself….now I have no excuse! ;-)
This looks really good and healthy. What a great way to get all of your veggies in:-)
Forgot about these. I also remember these with cream cheese but the sour cream sounds better. My diamond in the rough? Those sausage/cheese mixture on cocktail rye things—-always a good party food, especially with beer.
This looks really yummy!
I have always used cream cheese instead of sour cream and you can put whatever veggies you like. I include diced red peppers and onions. The broccoli is a must. It’s even good the next day.
I love this appetizer! I’ve had it so many times and it’s fantastic. We use a bit of cream cheese in our version. Delish!
Yum! I can see this being a definite crowd pleaser!
I haven’t had this in years… Almost forgot about it until now. I’m going to make this some night and sit on our deck and indulge in it with a glass or two of wine :)
I haven’t made this in a long time but it is a favorite. However I use cream cheese instead of sour cream. Here is a little tip – after spreading the sour cream or cream cheese mixture on the cooled cressant roll cut it into squares (but leave in the pan). Then top it with the veggies and cheese. If you cut it before you top it the toppings don’t go flying everywhere.
Awesome tip for cutting first, ours always looks a little messy when cutting, due to the amount of toppings. Thanks for the tip
Such a fun, easy and delicious recipe!! I love the cream cheese ranch flavor!
This looks so good. Now if I could only get my family to love broccoli as much as I do ;)
Love this! It’s great that’s super easy to make! Plus, it’s so beautiful too!
The best recipes are the ones that evoke memories, such as your parents’ New Year’s Eve parties. What a fun and easy party recipe!
Crescent Rolls? I love it! What a beautiful pizza!!! I would eat this for dinner, not just as an appetizer!
Love the colors! And crescent rolls make anything good turn awesome.
This looks so good and I agree – crescent rolls are amazing and so versatile. And ranch-flavored sour cream, I’d love that on anything! I made a snack mix with a packet of ranch mix. That stuff is also so versatile!