Vegan Pizza

1. Stage

Divide the dough: 1 or more hours before you plan to make the pizza, grease a baking sheet with olive oil. Divide the dough into 2 balls (for two 14-inch pizzas) or 4 balls (for four 8-inch pizzas). Stretch the outer skin of each dough piece tightly and pinch at the bottom to create a tight ball, then rub lightly with olive oil and place seam-side-down on the sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 8 hours in the refrigerator or 1 hour on the counter.

2. Stage

Preheat the oven: About 20 to 30 minutes before you plan to bake the pizzas, preheat the oven to 500°F. Position a rack in the center and set a baking stone or an inverted rimmed baking sheet on top to heat up.

3. Stage

Make the cheese: Meanwhile, as the oven heats, make the homemade vegan mozzarella, if using. Put the tapioca flour, nutritional yeast, sugar, and salt in a deep medium saucepan. Add the water, oil, and vinegar and whisk to combine. Set the burner to medium-high and cook, whisking often. After 3 to 5 minutes, the mixture will start turning from thin and watery to thick and bouncy.  Decrease the heat to medium and continue cooking, whisking continuously, until you see large bubbles slowly rising to the surface. When it’s ready, the cheese will be a gooey, clingy blob. It might not look particularly appealing, but don’t worry; it’ll work great once it’s baked on the pizza. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Stage

Shape the pizza: On a lightly floured counter, gently stretch out one dough ball with your hands, working from the center. If you like varied bubbles in the crust once it bakes, try not to mash down the edges of the dough. If the dough snaps back, set it aside and let it rest for a few minutes as you work on shaping the other crust.  If you’re making two pizzas, form a roughly 14-inch circle. If you’re making four smaller pizzas, aim for a circle that’s 7 to 8 inches. Dust a pizza peel or rimless cookie sheet with cornmeal and transfer one dough round to the sheet.

5. Stage

Top the pizzas: For the large pizzas, spread 6 tablespoons of sauce over each, leaving a 1/2 to 1-inch border around the crust. For the smaller pizzas, use 4 tablespoons per pizza.  If you’re using vegan cheese shreds, just sprinkle it over the pizza.  If you made the homemade cheese, use a tablespoon to evenly space out dollops of cheese over the pizza. The cheese mixture will fall from the spoon in rubbery blorps. Just do your best to get mostly even coverage, leaving some patches of sauce visible. You’ll end up using around 4 to 5 tablespoons of cheese per small pizza and about 1/2 cup total per large pizza. Add any other toppings you like, but be conservative. An overloaded pizza will bake up soggy.

6. Stage

Bake the pizzas, then serve: Slide the pizza onto the preheated stone or inverted baking sheet. The large pizzas will take about 15 to 20 minutes; the smaller ones will take about 10 to 15 minutes.  To assess doneness, slide a metal spatula between the stone and the crust and peek underneath; you want to see some browning. The top crust should be browned. If you're using the homemade vegan mozzarella, it will bubble up in spots. Once the pizza is done to your liking, transfer to a cutting board, then slice and serve immediately.  Shape, bake, and assemble the remaining pizzas. If you have leftovers, refrigerate them, wrapped in foil or plastic wrap, for up to 3 days. I like to reheat slices in the air fryer for 5 to 7 minutes at 375°F, but you can also reheat them in a skillet. Love the recipe? Leave us stars and a comment below!