This Applebee’s Spinach Pizza inspired recipe delivers a creamy, savory flatbread style pizza that feels familiar, comforting, and easy to recreate at home.
Photo by Mr. Ducke
Copycat Applebee’s Spinach Pizza
Applebee’s Spinach Pizza is a thin crust pizza topped with a creamy cheese base, spinach, and a blend of Italian style cheeses.
This copycat captures the casual dining favorite by focusing on the balance of creamy sauce, tender spinach, and crisp crust that made it a popular appetizer.
Quick Recipe Overview
- Best For: Appetizers, shared plates
- Flavor Profile: Creamy, savory, mildly garlicky
- Skill Level: Easy oven bake
- What Makes It Like the Restaurant: Creamy white sauce and spinach focused topping
Applebee’s
Applebee’s built its brand around approachable casual dining with a menu designed for sharing and familiarity. Over the years, flatbread style pizzas became part of that strategy, offering lighter alternatives to fried appetizers while still delivering comfort. Spinach Pizza stood out by leaning into creamy textures and mild flavors that appealed to a wide audience. It reflects Applebee’s focus on dependable crowd friendly dishes that work for both appetizers and casual meals.
The Creamy Flatbread Everyone Shared
Spinach pizzas gained popularity in casual dining as a bridge between classic pizza and appetizer flatbreads. Instead of tomato sauce, these versions rely on creamy cheese bases that highlight vegetables rather than bold acidity. The style emphasizes balance and approachability, making it suitable for sharing. Applebee’s Spinach Pizza fits squarely into this trend, offering familiar Italian inspired flavors in a lighter, sliceable format.
Applebee's Spinach Pizza Recipe
Make our Applebee's Spinach Pizza Recipe at home tonight for your family. With our Secret Restaurant Recipe your Spinach Pizza will taste just like Applebee’s.
Ingredients
- 2 whole Pita Breads
- 1 10 ounce package frozen Spinach
- 1/3 cup Nutritional Yeast
- 1 medium Onion
- 5 or 6 Plum Tomatoes
- 1 8- ounce package fresh Mushrooms
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Basil
- 1 teaspoon Parsley
- 1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- 1/2 cup Rice Milk or more, if needed
- 4 tablespoons Flour
Instructions
- Thaw spinach completely, press out all water.
- Heat rice milk in saucepan. When hot, but not boiling, stir in flour. Stir until sauce begins to thicken. Turn heat down.
- Add nutritional yeast and spinach.
- Stir constantly until thick and gooey, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- In separate pan, saute onion, garlic, until onion is tender.
- Stir in tomatoes, mushrooms, and spices.
- Saute until just done.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Using a very sharp bread knife, split each pita bread so that you have two round flat pieces instead of one thick one. Place each piece of bread on a cookie sheet or pizza pan.
- Spread spinach sauce over each.
- Top with tomato mixture, being careful to avoid the juice.
- Bake for 5 to 7 minutes. Watch closely so that the edges of the pita don't burn.
- Makes a nice crunchy crust.
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Questions People Ask
Does Applebee’s Spinach Pizza use tomato sauce
No. It is made with a creamy cheese based sauce rather than traditional tomato sauce.
Can I use frozen spinach
Yes. Thaw and squeeze it dry to avoid excess moisture on the pizza.
Is this pizza meant as an appetizer or a meal
It is typically served as an appetizer but can work as a light meal.
Can I make this pizza ahead of time
You can prep the toppings ahead, but bake just before serving for best texture.
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Photo of Spinach Pizza is by Mr. Ducke and is used by permission under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) License. Photo of “Applebee’s” is by <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeepersmedia/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Mike Mozart</a> and is used by permission under the Attribution 2.0 Generic Creative Commons License. Thank you, Mr. Ducke and Mike. Great Pictures. Photos may be representative of the recipe and not the actual finished dish. All photo licenses listed were correct at the time of the posting of the page. Recipe is our adaption of several recipes formally widely-circulated on the internet – courtesy of the Wayback Machine. Additional Information is from original research done by Secret Copycat Restaurant Recipes and/or courtesy of Wikipedia and is used by permission.