Here is a vegan pizza recipe as promised. I love homemade vegan pizza, really love it. This crust is the best and anything you put on it will be delicious! The crust is easy, versatile, and tender. The addition of Italian seasoning, while simple, really takes the crust to the next level. If you have fresh herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary) add those instead! I use this crust for pizza, calzones, pizza burritos, and for a yummy garlic butter breadstick recipe that I’ll think about sharing.
I have been without cheese long enough that the vegan cheese tastes exactly how it is supposed to and I miss nothing about “real” pizza. With that said, my husband uses real cheese on his pizza and sometimes pepperoni! We each make our own and end up happy as can be.
This recipe is adapted from Simply Recipes.
Homemade Vegan Pizza
Makes 2 10-12-inch pizzas
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 3-4 1/2 cups flour (I use a mixture of whatever I have on hand; whole wheat, bread flour, white flour, I have even used a few cups of Buckwheat flour mixed with wheat flour with success.)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 TBL Italian seasoning
- 1 TBL olive oil
- Pizza sauce of choice, as much as you like
- Vegan Cheese, as much as you like (I use Daiya mozzarella)
- Toppings of choice (onions, peppers, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, olives…)
Instructions
- Stir the sugar into the warm water in the large bowl of a heavy duty stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. After 5 minutes stir if the yeast hasn’t dissolved completely. The yeast should begin to foam, which indicates that it is still active and alive.
- Using the mixing paddle attachment, mix in 3 cups of flour, salt, and Italian seasoning on low speed for a minute.
- Replace the mixing paddle with the dough hook attachment.
- Knead the pizza dough on low to medium speed using the dough hook and adding flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Make sure to let the dough continue to mix until all the flour in incorporated before adding more flour.
- If you don’t have a mixer, you can mix the ingredients together and knead them by hand.
- Once the dough is smooth and elastic drizzle the olive oil over the dough turning it to coat all the dough with a thin layer.
- Cover the dough (I use a damp kitchen towel) and let sit in a warm place until it doubles in size, at least 1 hour. You can let it sit for several hours if you want. You can also put it in the refrigerator for another day before rising, and let it rise the day you are using it.
Preparing the Pizza
- Once the dough has risen preheat your oven to 400.
- Divide the pizza dough into as many pieces as you are making pizzas. We usually do two large with this recipe.
- Roll out the dough to your desired thickness, we do about 1/4″ thick and try to make them fairly round.
- Put the dough in the pan of your choice; I use a pizza stone for one and my biggest cast iron skillet for the other.
- Spoon pizza sauce onto crust and spread out in a thin layer.
- Add the cheese and toppings of choice.
- Back in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the crust golden brown.
- Consume as soon as it has cooled to a safe temperature.
Happy Food Ninja 