Vegan Pizza: Which Doughs Are Vegan, Cheese That Melts, and a Recipe
Most dough and sauce are already vegan; the cheese is the work. Which doughs to trust, which plant-based cheeses melt, a cashew cream, and a roasted-vegetable vegan pizza recipe.
Vegan pizza is easier than it sounds, because most pizza dough and most tomato sauce are already vegan. The work is in the cheese. Classic Neapolitan dough is nothing but flour, water, salt and yeast, so a vegan pizza is a normal pizza with the mozzarella swapped for a plant-based cheese that melts, or left off altogether.
Is pizza dough vegan?
Usually, yes. The rules of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana list four dough ingredients: water, salt, yeast and flour. New York-style dough adds a little oil and sugar, both plant-based. Where it goes wrong is in enriched or shortcut doughs. Some pan and stuffed crusts use butter, milk powder or eggs; some sweeter doughs use honey; a few old-school recipes use lard; and some commercial dough conditioners contain L-cysteine, which the Vegetarian Resource Group notes is often derived from poultry feathers. The same VRG report found a pizzeria that sprinkled a Romano blend containing animal rennet on every pie unless you asked it not to, which is the kind of thing to check when ordering out.
| Dough or crust | Usually vegan? | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Neapolitan (flour, water, salt, yeast) | Yes | Nothing; it is vegan by definition |
| New York style (adds oil, sugar) | Yes | Sugar, if you avoid bone-char refined sugar |
| Sourdough | Yes | Occasionally honey |
| Pan, Detroit, stuffed crust | Often not | Butter, milk powder, cheese in the crust |
| Supermarket dough balls and mixes | Varies | Milk, eggs, honey, L-cysteine, mono- and diglycerides |
| Gluten-free crusts | Varies | Eggs and cheese in many frozen crusts; our gluten-free pizza crust recipe is vegan as written |
| Cauliflower crusts | Rarely | Egg and mozzarella are the usual binders |
If you make your own, every recipe on our pizza dough recipes page is vegan as written, and the dough calculator scales any of them.
Vegan pizza cheese: what actually melts
Plant-based cheeses fall into two camps. Starch-and-oil shreds (potato or tapioca starch bound with coconut oil) melt into a smooth layer but can turn gluey or greasy. Nut-based cheeses, mostly cashew, taste more like dairy but vary wildly in how they behave under heat. Ooni ran eight vegan mozzarellas through its high-heat pizza test and found that a pourable cashew mozzarella, which goes on as a liquid and sets and browns in the oven, was the clear winner, while several solid shreds went pasty or stuck to the teeth. Their useful tricks: add delicate cheeses part-way through the bake, keep starch shreds cold until they go on, and pair a salty cheese with a milder one for flavor. Our best cheese for pizza guide covers the dairy side.
| Type | Made from | In the oven | How to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pourable cashew mozzarella | Cashew milk, starch | Sets, stretches, browns in spots | Spoon on in blobs; the best all-round pizza cheese |
| Starch-based shreds | Potato or tapioca starch, coconut oil | Melts smooth, can go gluey or oily | Thin layer, straight from the fridge, finish under the broiler |
| Cashew or almond soft cheese | Soaked nuts, lemon, salt | Does not melt; warms and softens | Dollop on after baking like ricotta |
| Homemade cashew cream (recipe below) | Cashews, water, nutritional yeast, tapioca | Thickens and browns lightly | Spread thin as a white base or drizzle over sauce |
| No cheese at all | Marinara style: sauce, garlic, oregano, oil. Traditional in Naples |
Five-minute cashew cream: blend 100g raw cashews (soaked 20 minutes in boiling water, then drained) with 120g water, 15g nutritional yeast, 10g tapioca starch, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, half a teaspoon of salt and a small clove of garlic until completely smooth. It is a sauce, not a block, so spread it thin or spoon it in dots over the tomato. The tapioca thickens and gives it a slight pull in the oven.
Vegan pizza sauce and toppings
Crushed tomatoes, salt, a little oil and oregano is the standard pizza sauce, and it is vegan. Jarred sauces are usually fine too; the exceptions are vodka and cream sauces and a few that add Parmesan. Pesto is the one to watch, since most contain cheese.
Toppings do the heavy lifting on a vegan pizza because there is less fat and salt coming from the cheese. The combinations that work follow the same pairing rules as any pizza: one or two starring ingredients, something salty, something fresh at the end. Roasted mushrooms with garlic and thyme. Caramelized onion with olives and rosemary. Roasted red pepper with artichoke and capers. Thin potato slices with rosemary and flaky salt on a white base. Plant-based sausage or pepperoni, which are now sold in most supermarkets and crisp up like the real thing. Finish with basil, arugula, chili oil or a splash of good balsamic after the bake, not before. Our pizza toppings guide has the pairing rules and the moisture tricks that stop vegetables from flooding the pie.
Vegan pizza recipe
One 12-inch pizza. Roasted vegetables, tomato sauce and cashew cream, finished with arugula.
- 250g dough ball (Neapolitan or New York style from our dough recipes)
- 80g crushed tomatoes with a pinch of salt and a few drops of olive oil
- 100g cashew cream (above) or 80g pourable or shredded vegan mozzarella
- 100g cremini mushrooms, sliced and roasted or sautéed until browned
- Half a roasted red pepper, sliced; a quarter red onion, very thinly sliced; 8 kalamata olives, halved
- A handful of arugula, chili flakes and a drizzle of olive oil to finish
- Put a steel or stone in the oven and heat to the maximum, usually 500 to 550°F, for 45 minutes.
- Cook the mushrooms first. Raw mushrooms release water on the pizza; browned ones don't.
- Stretch the dough to 12 inches on a floured peel or parchment.
- Spread the tomato thinly, leaving a half-inch rim. Spoon the cashew cream over it in dots, or scatter the vegan mozzarella in a thin, even layer.
- Add the mushrooms, pepper, onion and olives. Keep it sparse; vegetables weigh more than they look.
- Bake 7 to 9 minutes, until the rim is blistered and the base is browned. If you used shreds and they look pale, 60 seconds under the broiler finishes them.
- Rest one minute, then top with arugula, chili flakes and a thread of olive oil.
For a Margherita without dairy, use the cashew cream in dots over the tomato, tear fresh basil on after the bake and skip the rest. For a New York slice feel, use a starch-based mozzarella in a thin, full layer and plant-based pepperoni, and bake on a steel a little longer at 500°F.
Ordering vegan pizza out
Most pizzerias can make a cheeseless pie and a growing number stock a vegan mozzarella. Three questions cover the risks: whether the dough contains milk, eggs or honey; whether a grated cheese blend goes on every pizza automatically; and whether the vegan cheese is cooked on a shared surface, which matters more for allergies than for a vegan diet. A marinara, the Neapolitan tomato, garlic and oregano pie, is vegan on almost any menu that has it.
Frequently asked questions
Is pizza dough vegan?
Traditional pizza dough is flour, water, salt and yeast, which is vegan. Some pan, stuffed and enriched doughs add butter, milk, eggs or honey, and some commercial doughs use the conditioner L-cysteine, so check the label or ask.
What is the best vegan cheese for pizza?
Pourable cashew-based mozzarella melts, stretches and browns most like dairy in independent tests. Starch-based shreds melt smoothly but can turn gluey; use a thin layer and finish under the broiler.
Is pizza sauce vegan?
Standard tomato pizza sauce is vegan. Watch for vodka and cream sauces, jarred sauces with added Parmesan, and pesto, which usually contains cheese.
Is Margherita pizza vegan?
No. A Margherita has fresh mozzarella. A vegan version uses the same tomato, basil and olive oil with a cashew cream or vegan mozzarella in place of the cheese.
Does vegan cheese melt on pizza?
Some does. Pourable cashew mozzarella and most starch-based shreds melt; soft nut cheeses only warm and are better added after baking. A hot steel or stone and a short bake help every type.
What do you put on a vegan pizza instead of cheese?
A thin layer of cashew cream, roasted mushrooms, caramelized onion, olives, roasted peppers, artichokes or plant-based sausage, then fresh arugula, basil or chili oil after the bake. A cheeseless marinara with garlic and oregano is the traditional option.