You'll love this dairy-free version of a classic! This vegan margherita pizza is made with crusty homemade dough, zippy sauce, and cashew-based mozzarella cheese.
Vegan pizza seems to be really taking over lately, which is a great thing! These days there are lots of frozen vegan pizzas in the supermarket, and about half the pizza shops in my little town offer vegan options.
Plus, vegan cheese is super accessible these days, so making it yourself is really easy. Just roll out some frozen pizza dough and pile on jarred sauce and store-bought vegan cheese. You'll probably get a pretty tasty pizza out of it.
But what about when you want something really good. Like classic margherita pizza, made from scratch...just without the dairy.
Well that's what this recipe is for!
Cashew Mozzarella
When I posted my cashew mozzarella recipe a few weeks back I got a bunch of people asking whether it would melt. The answer is mostly no. Homemade cashew mozzarella won't puddle or get super stretchy like shredded dairy-based cheese will.
What it will do is soften up, much like fresh mozzarella does on a margherita pizza. I knew I had to make that pizza a reality.
How to Make Vegan Margherita Pizza
The pizza dough and cashew mozzarella both need to be prepped in advance, and I recommend getting started early in the day, or even the day before. You can find detailed instructions on how to make the dough here, and how to make the cheese here.
Once they're ready to go you can make the sauce. All you need to do is stir a bunch of ingredients together in a bowl: crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, sugar, salt, and red pepper flakes.
Now roll the dough into a large circle. Lightly oil a baking sheet and sprinkle it with cornmeal (this prevents sticking), then transfer your dough to the baking sheet.
Spoon your sauce evenly over the dough, then slice and arrange the mozzarella over the sauce.
I like to also brush the outside of my crust with some oil and sprinkle it with cornmeal.
Pop your pizza into the oven and bake it until the crust is puffy and lightly browned.
Top it with some fresh basil and vegan Parmesan cheese before serving. Slice it up and enjoy!
Vegan Pizza Margherita Tips & FAQ
- While the intent behind this recipe is for it to be from-scratch, feel free to take shortcuts and use store bought versions of any of the components: dough, cheese or sauce.
- Pile on any extra toppings you like! Mushrooms, olives, peppers and onions would all be delicious on this pie.
- Can this pizza be made gluten-free? Yup! Just use your favorite gluten-free pizza crust or dough. This looks like a great one to try!
- Got some leftover pizza slices? They can be stored in a sealed bag or container in the fridge for about 2 days. I've found the best way to reheat them is to pop them in the oven at about 400°F until they're hot and crispy again.
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Margherita Pizza
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 1 (14 ounce or 400 ml) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon organic granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
For the Pizza
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal, divided
- ½ batch whole wheat pizza dough (or your favorite pizza dough - you'll need about 1 pound or 0.45 kg)
- 1 batch vegan mozzarella cheese, sliced
- ½ cup sliced fresh basil leaves
For Serving
- Vegan Parmesan cheese, optional
Instructions
- Early in the day or a day ahead: prepare the cashew mozzarella and pizza dough according to their respective recipes.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Stir the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Lightly coat the top of a large baking sheet with a tablespoon of olive oil, then evenly sprinkle it with a tablespoon of cornstarch.
- Roll the pizza dough into a large circle, about 14-inches in diameter.
- Carefully transfer the dough to the baking sheet.
- Ladle the sauce evenly over the dough, leaving about an ½ to 1 inch border all the edges.
- Arrange the mozzarella slices over the sauce.
- Brush the outer edge of the crust with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, then sprinkle it with the remaining cornmeal.
- Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake the pizza until the crust is fluffy and browned around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Sprinkle the pizza with fresh basil and optionally with vegan Parmesan cheese.
- Slice and serve the pizza.
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