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Home > Vegan Recipes

Vegan BBQ Pizza (High Protein Toppings)

5/29/22 by Nicole | 2 Comments

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5 from 3 votes. Leave a review!

This vegan BBQ pizza is loaded with delicious, high protein toppings. Along with a base of creamy avocado sauce, this recipe makes the perfect homemade pizza that’s completely customizable!

While you could use regular pizza crust, I keep things incredibly easy by using pita bread. This saves time and lets each person build their own perfect barbecue pizza.

Two pizzas on cooling rack, topped with corn, tofu, chickpeas, green pepper, red onion and avocado sauce.

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Is BBQ Pizza Vegan?

Most BBQ pizza recipes use barbecue chicken as a topping, along with other non-vegan ingredients like cheese.

If you’re vegan and looking for a delicious, cheeseless option for homemade barbecue pizza, this is the recipe for you. Barbecue chickpeas are the perfect, super quick replacement for BBQ chicken. Along with smoked tofu, this pizza has plenty of protein and smoky flavor.

While you can use vegan cheese, I find the creamy and flavorful avocado sauce adds plenty of richness on its own.

Pile on some vegetable toppings and you’ll have a savory, crowd-pleasing meal!

Three small pizzas with a bowl of avocado sauce.

Vegan Barbecue Pizza Ingredients

Pizza is the perfect customizable meal, so get creative and use whatever toppings you like! I chose toppings that compliment the avocado sauce and barbecue chickpea flavors.

For this recipe, you’ll need:

  • Pita bread: Making personal pizzas using pita bread is a quick and tasty way to enjoy pizza at home. Pitas become crisp in the oven, making for a tasty base to hold all your favorite toppings. I use whole wheat pita bread but use whatever you like.
  • Avocado sauce: You could use any sauce for the base of this pizza, but nothing compares to whipping up a quick batch of avocado sauce. This creamy, flavorful sauce pairs perfectly with flavors from the barbecue chickpeas, smoked tofu and other vegetables.
  • Barbecue chickpeas: The quickest and easiest vegan alternative to barbecue chicken is to make BBQ chickpeas. This 2-ingredient recipe is the perfect topping for barbecue pizza! If you want to skip this step, use cooked chickpeas, then simply drizzle barbecue sauce over the pizza before baking it.
  • Smoked tofu: If you can find it, smoked tofu is a fantastic topping on pizza. It can dry out in the oven, so add it as the first topping on your sauce. If you can’t find smoked tofu, vegan pepperoni, vegan ham, or another type of vegan meat alternative could work instead.
  • Bell pepper, red onion, corn, tomato: Top your pizza with whatever vegetables you like! Bell pepper, red onion and tomato are classic pizza toppings that work great for barbecue pizza. Corn is a less common pizza topping, but I love the taste of corn combined with avocado and barbecue sauces.
  • Pickled hot peppers (optional): Banana peppers or pickled jalapeno peppers add a great spicy kick to these pizzas. This ingredient is optional and the pizza’s are still delicious without!
Ingredients to make vegan BBQ pizza (smoked tofu, pita bread, BBQ chickpeas, avocado sauce, vegetables).

How to Make BBQ Pizza Vegan

This recipe is easy to make especially when using pita bread as the crust!

Step 1: Prepare Ingredients

Always start by preparing the ingredients you’ll need!

In this case, you’ll want to make a batch of avocado sauce and a batch of barbecue chickpeas. Neither takes too long.

Beyond that, thinly slice the smoked tofu. I like to cut each slice in half, so the pieces are about the size of pepperoni.

Slice some bell pepper, onion and tomato. I use frozen corn and simply microwave it for about 2 minutes to thaw.

If you use pickled hot peppers, remove them from their jar and place onto paper towel to drain excess liquid.

Four images showing tofu, pepper, tomato and corn being prepped and sliced.

Step 2: Assemble Pizza

Line 2 baking trays with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Place 2 pita breads onto each tray. If you only have one baking tray, just cook the pizzas in 2 batches!

Spread a generous layer of avocado sauce over each pita bread. I typically divide the sauce into 4 and use it all on the base, but you can save some to drizzle on top too!

Next, I recommend adding smoked tofu to prevent it from drying out in the oven.

Placing smoked tofu onto avocado sauce-covered pita bread pizzas.

From there, add your toppings. It’s best to leave the “wetter” ingredients (tomatoes and pickled hot peppers) on top. This way, excess water can evaporate easily, and you won’t have a watery pizza.

Placing tomato slices onto loaded BBQ pita bread pizza.

Step 3: Bake and Serve

When you’ve assembled the pizzas, place into an oven that’s preheated to 350 °F. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the pita bread is crisp.

If using 2 pans at once, it’s best to rotate the pans halfway through baking. Take your tray from the higher rack and move it to the lower rack (and vice versa).

Once out of the oven, you can serve right away. If you have extra avocado sauce, drizzle some on top! This is also tasty with a sprinkle of fresh herbs. Cilantro, parsley or dill are great choices.

Drizzling avocado sauce onto BBQ pizza from a squeeze bottle.

These pizzas are loaded with toppings and may be hard to pick up. This is more of a fork and knife type pizza!

How to Create a Balanced Vegan Meal

I consider a balanced meal one that contains a good source of plant-based protein, carbohydrates, fats and lots of vegetables or fruits. This recipe covers all those bases!

Pita bread and chickpeas provide carbohydrates, while there’s also plant-based protein in the chickpeas and smoked tofu. There’s also plenty of satiating and satisfying fats in avocado sauce and smoked tofu.

Beyond that, the pizza is loaded with veggie toppings, plus the avocado itself is a great fruit for this pizza.

If you’re looking for something extra to serve with this meal, a side of vegan Caesar salad would be delicious. Or a side garden salad with honey mustard dressing!

Arrangement of whole pizzas and pizza slices that are topped with vegetables, BBQ chickpeas and green sauce.

Vegan Protein Pizza Toppings and Variations

While it’s easy to add lots of veggies to vegan pizza, finding higher-protein toppings can be tricky. This recipe uses BBQ chickpeas and smoked tofu for some tasty protein. If you’re looking for other ways to add protein to vegan pizza, why not try:

  • Tempeh
  • Tofu (plain or marinated/ cooked tofu)
  • Black beans
  • White beans
  • Vegan pepperoni
  • Vegan ham
  • Sliced vegan sausage or sausage crumbles
  • Vegan bacon strips or bacon bits
  • Vegan ricotta cheese

Have other ideas? Leave them in the comments below!

Two barbecue chickpea pizzas with avocado sauce on a cooling rack.

How to Store Leftovers

These pizzas are best to eat the day they’re made. If you need to store extra pizza, cool completely before transferring to an airtight container. You could also store on a plate covered with plastic wrap. It should last in the fridge for 2-3 days.

The pita bread will likely become soggy in your fridge, so it’s best to reheat this recipe using an oven. Set the oven to 350 °F and reheat until the pizza is warmed through.

Letting the pizza cool on a wire cooling rack is the best way to keep the pita bread crisp, especially if you’re storing leftover pizza.

Small pieces of vegan BBQ pizza on a wood board with a bowl of avocado sauce.

If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below to help others benefit from your experience!

Close up of a pizza with avocado sauce, tomato, red onion, green pepper, BBQ chickpeas, corn and smoked tofu.

Vegan BBQ Pizza

This delicious vegan BBQ pizza is made on pita bread with a base of avocado sauce. It’s loaded with tasty, high protein toppings like BBQ chickpeas and smoked tofu, along with lots of colorful veggies!
5 from 3 votes. Leave a review!
Prevent screen going dark
Prep Time 35 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 50 mins
Servings 4 Pizzas
Calories 578 kcal
Cuisine Vegan

Equipment

  • 2 Baking tray
  • Silicone baking mat (or parchment paper)
  • Cutting board
  • Knife
  • Measuring cups and spoons
  • Food processor
  • Large pan
  • Paper towel

Ingredients
  

Base Ingredients

  • 4 medium pita bread (6-inch; 15 cm)
  • 1 batch avocado sauce
  • 1 batch barbecue chickpeas

Recommended Toppings

  • ½ block smoked tofu (100 g)
  • ½ medium bell pepper (70 g)
  • ½ small red onion (50 g)
  • 1 cup corn (160 g)
  • 1 Roma tomato , sliced (80 g)
  • Pickled hot peppers (optional)
Prevent screen going dark

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare Ingredients

  • Begin by preparing a batch of avocado sauce, then prepare a batch of BBQ chickpeas.
    1 batch avocado sauce, 1 batch barbecue chickpeas
  • Thinly slice some smoked tofu and cut each slice in half (or smaller if desired).
    ½ block smoked tofu
  • Thinly slice the bell pepper, red onion and tomato.
    ½ medium bell pepper, ½ small red onion, 1 Roma tomato
  • I use frozen corn and defrost it in the microwave (about 2 minutes).
    1 cup corn
  • If using pickled hot peppers, remove them from their jar and place onto paper towel to drain excess liquid.
    Pickled hot peppers

Step 2: Assemble pizza

  • Cover 2 baking trays with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
  • Lay pita breads on the baking trays.
    4 medium pita bread
  • Cover the pita bread with a layer of avocado sauce. You can use all the sauce on the base or save some to drizzle on top later.
    1 batch avocado sauce
  • Next, assemble the pizza by adding the prepared toppings. If using smoked tofu, I recommend putting this on first so it doesn’t dry out. It’s also best to put the tomato and pickled hot peppers on top.
    1 batch barbecue chickpeas, ½ block smoked tofu, ½ medium bell pepper, ½ small red onion, 1 cup corn, 1 Roma tomato, Pickled hot peppers

Step 3: Bake and Serve

  • Place your pizzas into an oven preheated to 350 °F for 12-15 minutes.
  • Rotate the pans halfway through cooking (move the pan on the higher rack to the lower rack and vice versa.
  • The pizzas are done when your pita bread is crisp. Remove from your oven at this point.
  • As an optional step, drizzle extra avocado or barbecue sauce onto the pizza before serving.
  • Serve using a fork and knife to eat this protein-packed, topping-loaded pizza!

Video

Notes

Accuracy of nutrition information cannot be guaranteed (certain ingredients may not have all nutrients listed in the database); amounts may vary (and will vary depending on brands of ingredients used); all nutrition fact values rounded to the nearest whole number.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 Pizza (¼ of recipe)Calories: 578 kcalCarbohydrates: 77 gProtein: 23 gFat: 24 gSaturated Fat: 3 gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3 gMonounsaturated Fat: 11 gSodium: 1308 mgPotassium: 948 mgFiber: 18 gSugar: 15 gVitamin A: 1330 IUVitamin C: 45 mgCalcium: 81 mgIron: 4 mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

More Vegan Main Meal Recipes

Like this recipe? You should also try:

  • Close crop of seitan turkey roast with slices cut on wood serving board.
    Seitan Turkey Recipe (Vegan Turkey Roast)
  • Close up of a baking dish filled with vegan enchiladas topped with red sauce and cilantro garnish.
    Vegan Enchiladas Recipe (Sweet Potato and Black Bean)
  • Close up of a bite of orange tofu on a fork over more orange tofu, broccoli and rice.
    Vegan Orange Chicken Recipe
  • Close up of a large pot of tofu green curry with zucchini, snow peas and potato with cilantro garnish.
    Green Curry with Tofu

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.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Aubree

    January 21, 2021 at 4:18 am

    The full size ads on your site make it really hard to read the post/recipe, just an FYI (it’s even preventing me from commenting every time the ad pops up). I hope to try this recipe though, looks delicious.

    Reply
    • Nicole Stevens

      January 21, 2021 at 8:01 am

      So sorry your having difficulty with that, there certainly shouldn't be full sized ads popping up and I'll look into why that's happening. Otherwise I hope you enjoy this recipe!

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Nicole! As a vegan Registered Dietitian, I empower vegans to live a balanced life and gain confidence in the kitchen.

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