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.
Get the Veg Out newsletter for vegan recipes + nutrition content!
This post contains affiliate links (including Amazon Associates) and I earn from qualifying purchases.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below to help others benefit from your experience!
Vegan BBQ Pizza
Equipment
- Silicone baking mat (or parchment paper)
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)
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
Nutrition
More Vegan Main Meal Recipes
Like this recipe? You should also try:
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.
Aubree
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.
Nicole Stevens
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!