This homemade vegan pizza crust recipe is a staple in my house and something we make almost every week! Friday nights are usually pizza or calzone night which starts with this tasty and easy vegan pizza dough.
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Is Pizza Dough or Crust Vegan?
A majority of restaurant or store bought pizza dough and crust options are vegan friendly. To make pizza crust you basically only need flour, water and often some oil, salt and yeast.
All these ingredients are vegan which is great!
So why would you make your own pizza dough if you can just buy some? Because fresh, homemade vegan pizza crust is amazingly delicious and allows you to control the ingredients and thickness to get it just how you like!
Also, you can use this pizza crust to make calzones or panzerottis!
Be aware of crust recipes that contain dairy or egg products. Honey so be used so it’s always best to read ingredients to ensure you’re getting a vegan pizza.
Whole Wheat Vegan Pizza Dough
You can easily substitute 1 cup of all-purpose flour in this recipe for whole wheat flour.
Whole wheat flour is higher in fibre and I quite like the depth of flavour it brings to a pizza crust!
You may be wondering about a 100% whole wheat vegan pizza crust recipe but the issue here is that whole wheat flour creates quite a dense texture. If you were to only use whole wheat flour, the final crust wouldn’t rise much and you end up with a very heavy pizza crust.
If that’s what you want, go for it. Otherwise, mix some whole wheat flour in with all-purpose if that’s something you would enjoy.
Vegan Thin Crust Pizza
The great thing about making homemade pizza dough is you control the thickness of the crust!
For a vegan thin crust pizza, simply roll the dough to about ¼ cm (a bit less than 1/8 inch).
Be aware that thinner crust holds fewer toppings compared to a thicker crust pizza. If you like thin crust and lots of delicious vegan pizza toppings, you may have to eat with a knife and fork.
How to Make a Yeast Pizza Crust
If you’ve never baked with yeast before, this recipe may seem intimidating. There are a few extra steps to making a pizza crust with yeast but it’s worth it!
Firstly, the temperature of the water you use is critical. It needs to be lukewarm which means not cold but not hot. I let my tap water heat up until it’s almost creating steam, but if it starts to steam, that’s too hot.
Second, you do need to add the sugar. Yeast requires some sugar to activate and without it, won’t have nearly the same effect.
If you’re short on time, you don’t technically need to let the dough rest after kneading. If you have the time, the crust does have a better texture after resting, but I’ve skipped this step plenty of times.
Don’t over-knead the dough. A few kneads is enough but anything over the minute mark and the dough becomes sticky and tough.
If you have questions, please leave them in the comments below and I’m happy to help!
What’s the Cornmeal For?
Using cornmeal to coat the bottom of a pizza crust is a classic way to prepare pizza.
Cornmeal is used to prevent the pizza dough from sticking to the pan (or, more traditionally, from sticking in the wood oven).
Cornmeal on the bottom of a vegan pizza crust also creates a delicious texture and nice crunch to the pizza!
It’s not necessary to use the cornmeal if you cook the pizza on a parchment-covered baking tray but you won’t end up with the same delicious crunch!
Vegan Pizza Toppings List
After you create you delicious, fresh, homemade plant-based pizza crust, you need to top it with amazing and flavourful vegan pizza toppings.
There’s countless options for topping a vegan pizza. I have a list of high-protein vegan pizza toppings for you to check out. You can also take a look at my vegan pesto pizza recipe with balsamic Portobello mushrooms if you’re looking for a bit of a “fancier” pizza topping.
Classic Vegan Pizza Toppings
You certainly can’t go wrong with classic pizza toppings when making a vegan pizza. Some delicious, classic vegan pizza toppings include:
- Tomato sauce
- Green bell pepper
- Red onion
- Mushrooms
- Sliced tomatoes
- Olives (green or black)
- Pineapple
- Non-dairy cheese shreds
- Vegan pepperoni
- Vegan bacon
- Vegan ham
- Vegan sausage
- Banana peppers/ hot peppers/ pepperoncini peppers
- Chili flakes
- Hot sauce
- Barbecue sauce
Gourmet Vegan Pizza Toppings
While you can never go wrong with the classics, if you want extra flavour or a gourmet vegan pizza, some delicious toppings are:
- Grilled zucchini
- Grilled eggplant
- Caramelized onions
- Fresh basil, added after the pizza is out of the oven
- Roasted red peppers
- Roasted garlic
- Spinach
- Artichoke
- Broccoli
- Vegan cheese sauce
- Avocado sauce for pizza
- Pesto sauce
- Portobello mushrooms
- Vegan feta cheese
- Sun dried tomatoes
- BBQ jackfruit/ vegan “pulled pork”
Don’t get bogged down by lists though. Get creative and add whatever you like to your pizza!
Also, there’s plenty of delicious sauces to dip pizza into!
I hope you enjoy this recipe and be sure to comment below with your favourite pizza toppings! If you make this recipe I’d love to see it so send in a picture or share on social media and tag me @lettucevegout.
Vegan Pizza Crust Recipe (Homemade Dough)
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Baking tray
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- 1 C lukewarm water
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp active dry yeast
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 ½ C flour plus more for covering surface for kneading and rolling
- Corn meal to cover baking pan
- Pizza toppings
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 °F.
- Pour the lukewarm water into a large mixing bowl and dissolve in the sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface and let sit for 10 minutes or until the yeast has become foamy and covers the surface of the water.
- Stir in the salt, olive oil, and 2 C of flour. Once the flour has been incorporated, add in the next ½ C and put dough onto a floured surface. Knead until the dough is smooth, adding flour a tablespoon at a time if it becomes too sticky. Do not knead for more than 2 minutes or the dough will become tough.
- Press the dough into a ball and place back in the bowl. Cover with a damp paper towel to prevent it from drying out. Let the dough rise for 10-15 minutes, until it is doubled in size.
- Use this time to prepare your toppings and to sprinkle your baking pans with a thin layer of corn meal.
- Roll the dough on a floured surface into 2-3 pizzas. You can roll the edges in to create a crust.
- Transfer dough onto a baking pan lightly covered in corn meal.
- Cover with toppings of your choice.
- If you like, you can brush some olive oil on the crust edge, to get a nice golden brown crunch. This dough will get crispy without the oil, but usually stays lighter in colour.
- Bake at 375 °F for 12-15 minutes or until the crust is crispy. Please note that if you put a lot of toppings on, it will take longer to cook through.
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This is an updated post: Original post date February 2017.
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