This vegan jackfruit pizza features delicious BBQ jackfruit for an amazingly flavorful and satisfying meal. I always make homemade pizza crust, but you can use store-bought options to make things easier.
Top the jackfruit pizza however you like, but the toppings I use (pizza sauce, cheese, red onion, green bell pepper and cilantro) truly create the ultimate vegan pizza!
BBQ Jackfruit Pizza Ingredients
Pizza is super customizable, so use any toppings and sauces you’d like. I use:
- Pizza dough: This recipe starts with a delicious, homemade vegan pizza dough. I have a full post detailing how to make this, but the full recipe is also provided in the recipe card below. You’ll need yeast, sugar, flour, olive oil and salt for this pizza dough. Store-bought pizza crust is also an option (or use flatbread or pita bread) for a super easy and quick meal.
- Jackfruit: You’ll need jackfruit for this recipe, specifically, jackfruit canned in brine or water. Don’t use jackfruit canned in syrup as it’s far too sweet for this savory recipe. In most grocery stores, jackfruit in brine is sold in the international isle as opposed to being with the other canned fruits or vegetables. It’s more easily found at Asian grocery stores or online.
- BBQ sauce: Use any BBQ sauce you like for this recipe. A vegan buffalo sauce would also be delicious. If you like things spicy, toss the jackfruit with BBQ sauce and some of your favorite hot sauce.
- Cornmeal: To prevent the pizza crust from sticking (and to create a nicely crisp crust) sprinkle cornmeal on the baking tray. You can skip this if using parchment paper on the baking tray, but the crust won’t crisp quite as nicely.
- Pizza sauce: Use any pizza sauce you like for this recipe! I use a basic tomato sauce but often use white sauce, cheese sauce, avocado or homemade Caesar salad dressing as the base for BBQ pizza. These creamy sauce options pair wonderfully with BBQ jackfruit.
- Vegan cheese: Any shredded vegan cheese should work well on pizza. Vegan cheese is notorious for not melting well without steam, so put your cheese directly onto the sauce to help it melt.
- Other toppings: I kept things simple for this recipe using sliced red onion and green pepper to top the pizza, along with cilantro once the pizza was out of the oven. You can use any pizza toppings you like – that’s the best part about making pizza at home!
How to Make BBQ Jackfruit Pizza
Pizza is fun to make at home because you can load it with all your favorite toppings! It shouldn’t be too intimidating either; all you need to do is prepare pizza dough, prepare your toppings, assemble and bake.
Step 1: Prepare Pizza Dough
I like homemade pizza dough, but you can use a premade/ store-bought option. You can also use a pita bread or flat bread for a super quick and easy meal since most of the effort involved in this recipe is making the crust.
To make your own pizza dough, mix sugar with lukewarm water, then sprinkle active dry yeast over the top. Let this sit until the yeast is foamy, about 5-10 minutes depending on your room’s temperature.
Then add salt, olive oil and about 2 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir until a ball of dough starts to form. When you can no longer stir, switch to using your hand and turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface.
Begin kneading the dough, aiming for a smooth texture that’s slightly sticky but doesn’t stick to your hand (when you touch the dough, pieces shouldn’t stick to your hand and rip off).
Add extra flour, 1-2 tablespoons at a time, until you reach this texture. It takes 3-5 minutes to get a smooth dough.
Lightly oil the mixing bowl and add the ball of dough into the bowl, then gently coat the dough in oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let rest for at least 20 minutes.
Step 2: Prepare Toppings
While your dough rests, prepare the pizza toppings.
To make BBQ jackfruit, drain a can of jackfruit packed in brine (or water). Canned jackfruit typically comes in triangle-shaped pieces, each with “stringy flesh” and a “solid core”. Cut the core pieces away from the stringy part of the fruit.
With your hands, pull apart the stringy fruit. Then finely dice the core pieces. There’s absolutely no need to waste the jackfruit cores as they make up a significant portion of what’s in your can.
Toss the stringy fruit and core pieces in your favorite BBQ sauce. Use enough sauce to evenly coat the fruit.
Then prep all other ingredients you want to use. For this recipe, I typically like tomato sauce, shredded vegan cheese, red onion and green peppers, but use what you like or have on hand.
Step 3: Assemble
When ready to assemble, preheat your oven to 425 °F.
You can make 2-4 pizzas with this recipe, but I typically make 2 medium-sized pizzas.
Gently shape one piece of pizza dough into a circle, then place onto a lightly floured surface. Begin rolling the dough out, working in all directions to keep it as circular as possible.
Dough will nearly double in thickness when cooked, so keep this in mind as you decide how thin to roll yours. I like a fairly thin crust pizza, so I roll the dough until it’s as large as will fit on my baking tray (but you can make a thicker crust if you like).
Gently sprinkle cornmeal onto your baking tray to prevent the crust from sticking and provide a nice crunch on the bottom.
Carefully transfer the rolled dough to your baking tray. Fold the crust down and underneath itself, creating a raised crust edge.
Then, top the pizza however you like!
If using vegan cheese, which is notorious for not melting well, place directly onto your sauce. This moisture provides steam and helps vegan cheese to melt as best as it can.
So start with your sauce, then add vegan cheese, any other toppings you like, and finish with the BBQ jackfruit on top.
It’s optional, but I highly recommend lightly brushing the crust edge with some olive oil before baking. This makes for a deliciously irresistible crust that turns a beautiful golden brown in the oven.
Step 4: Bake and Serve
Bake the jackfruit pizzas one at a time, on your oven’s center rack, for 10-12 minutes or until the crust edge is golden brown and the toppings are cooked to your liking.
If you don’t brush olive oil onto the crust, it won’t turn golden brown (just a pale brown color).
While the first pizza cooks, work on rolling the dough and assembling your second pizza.
Once out of the oven, carefully transfer to a cutting board, then slice and serve.
For this jackfruit pizza, I like to sprinkle fresh chopped cilantro on top before serving.
Vegan Pizza Variations
There are endless ways to make vegan pizza at home. In my pizza crust recipe, I list every possible vegan pizza topping I could think of, so check that out if you want ideas!
You can also make vegan calzones using the same pizza crust recipe and fill those with whatever you like!
If you want a tasty vegan pizza without the effort of making dough, check out my BBQ pita bread pizza recipe. This recipe uses BBQ chickpeas and avocado sauce for a delicious meal!
How to Refrigerate and Reheat Leftovers
Pizza is best eaten the day it’s made, but if there’s leftovers, cool them to room temperature before transferring to an airtight container. This recipe should be fine refrigerated for up to a week.
Leftover pizza can be eaten cold or reheated in a microwave. If using the microwave, pizza crust is likely to become soft.
To reheat your pizza with a crust that’s still crisp, use an oven set to 350 °F until the pizza is warmed through.
I don’t have an air fryer, but this could be a good way to reheat jackfruit pizza.
If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below to help others benefit from your experience!
Vegan BBQ Jackfruit Pizza
Equipment
- Kitchen towel
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
Ingredients
Pizza Crust
- 1 cup lukewarm water *
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar (or maple syrup)
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast (14 grams)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (370 grams) + extra for rolling
BBQ Jackfruit and Other Toppings
- cornmeal , about ¼ cup
- 1 can pizza sauce (200 milliliters/ 7.5 ounces)
- 1 bag vegan cheese shreds (200 grams)
- 1 can jackfruit in brine (500 grams/ 17 ounces)
- ½ - ¾ cup barbecue sauce
- ½ large red onion , sliced
- ½ large bell pepper , sliced
- ¼ cup cilantro , chopped
Instructions
Step 1: Prepare Pizza Dough
- Stir sugar into lukewarm water, then sprinkle in active dry yeast. Let this mixture sit for 5-10 minutes, until the yeast is foamy across the top of the water.1 cup lukewarm water, 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- Add olive oil, salt and about 2 cups of flour. Stir until a ball of dough starts to form.1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes. The dough should feel smooth and slightly sticky, but when pressed, it should hold together and not stick to your hand. Add extra flour as needed to reach this texture.
- Lightly oil the mixing bowl, add the ball of kneaded dough and lightly coat the dough in oil. Cover your bowl with a kitchen towel and let rest for 20 minutes while you prepare the toppings.
Step 2: Prepare Toppings
- While your pizza dough rests, prepare any toppings you’ll use.
- To make BBQ jackfruit, drain the liquid from the can of jackfruit packed in brine (or water).1 can jackfruit in brine
- Cut the jackfruit cores away from the stringy flesh. Pull apart the stringy part of the jackfruit with your hands, then finely mince the core pieces.
- Toss the stringy part of the jackfruit along with the chopped core pieces with barbecue sauce until the jackfruit is evenly coated with sauce. Adjust the sauce amount to your preference.½ - ¾ cup barbecue sauce
- When the toppings are prepped and the dough has rested, preheat your oven to 425 °F.
Step 3: Assemble Pizzas
- Cut the dough in half and shape one half into a rough circle. Place it onto a lightly floured surface.
- Roll the dough to your desired thickness. The dough doubles in thickness when baked; you can make thin or thick crust with this recipe.
- When rolled to your desired thickness, lightly sprinkle cornmeal onto a baking tray.cornmeal
- Carefully transfer the dough to your baking tray.
- Fold the edge of the dough under itself to create a raised crust edge.
- Then, top the pizza however you like. I recommend starting with sauce then vegan cheese shreds (do not put vegan cheese on top of the pizza as it’s unlikely to melt).1 can pizza sauce, 1 bag vegan cheese shreds, ½ large red onion, ½ large bell pepper
- Add BBQ jackfruit as the top layer of your pizza.
- It’s optional but highly recommended to lightly brush olive oil onto the pizza’s raised crust edge.
Step 4: Bake and Serve
- Bake in an oven preheated to 425 °F for 10-12 minutes, until the crust edge is nicely golden brown (if you don’t brush the crust edge with oil, it will turn a very light brown when done).
- Remove from the oven and serve hot, topped with any garnishes you want (like cilantro).¼ cup cilantro
- It’s best to cook one pizza at a time, on a center rack of the oven. While your first pizza cooks, assemble the second. This recipe makes 2 medium-sized pizzas, but you can make them smaller or larger as needed.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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About Nicole Stevens
Nicole is a vegan Registered Dietitian (RD) and founder of Lettuce Veg Out.
She helps people thrive on a vegan diet with balanced recipes and easy-to-understand nutrition science.
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