Vegan Pepperoni Pizza with Easy Homemade Crust
Take a bite out of this vegan pepperoni pizza with a one-bowl whole wheat vegan pizza crust. Topped with veggie crumbles and veggie pepperoni, this is like a supreme, meat-lovers pizza gone vegan with lots of vegan pizza toppings! Forget vegan pizza delivery, you’ll love the crispy, homemade crust, topped with tomato sauce, vegan pepperoni, seasonings, and delicious vegan cheese.
Pizza is one of those things that taste best on Fridays. Well, to be completely honest, pizza is great any day of the week, but there’s something about a Friday that makes me think of pizza. When I was a teenager and it was just me and my mom we had a tradition of having Taco Salad every Friday night.
Key Ingredients
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:
- Yeast — I used instant yeast, or you can use active dry yeast.
- Sweetener — You can use sugar, agave nectar, brown sugar, or maple syrup.
- Olive oil
- Flour — We’ll use a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat flour.
- Cornstarch
- Sea salt
- Pizza Sauce
- Veggie Crumbles — This is optional but gives your pizza a “supreme” flavor.
- Vegan Pepperoni
- Dehydrated Chopped Onion
- Vegan Mozzarella — I prefer using Follow Your Heart Vegan Mozzarella or Daiya.
- Fresh basil leaves — This is optional, but it adds great flavor!
How to Make Vegan Pepperoni Pizza
Here are the steps to make this vegan pepperoni pizza:
- Proof the yeast with warm water and sweetener. Then add the olive oil and set it aside.
- Stir together flours, corn starch, and salt.
- Stir in the yeast mixture the flour mixture and stir to combine.
- Knead the dough for 4 to 5 minutes, adding flour until the dough is no longer sticky.
- Oil the bowl, cover the dough and set it aside to rise until doubled in size.
- Punch down the dough and divide into two balls and then roll each of them into the size of your pizza pans.
- Top the rolled dough with pizza sauce, veggie crumbles, pepperoni slices, veggies, and shredded vegan mozzarella.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and top with additional pepperoni slices and fresh basil leaves.
Vegan Pizza Crust
Here’s what I’ve learned — homemade vegan pizza crust doesn’t have to be difficult. And it doesn’t even have to be time-consuming either.
This is my one-bowl vegan pizza crust, including whole wheat flour!
- Simply, combine warm water with the yeast and a little bit of sugar to get the yeast going.
- Then combine the flour with the other vegan pizza crust ingredients in another bowl.
- Once the yeast is ready, pour it in with the flour and stir it together to form a dough ball.
- I knead the dough right in the bowl — no messy countertops that way!
- Cover the bowl and set aside and let the dough rise for about 30 minutes to an hour and you’re ready to roll out the crusts.
Can You Freeze Vegan Pizza Crust?
You can freeze vegan pizza crust! After the dough has risen, separate it into two balls, wrap in plastic wrap, and place them in a freezer bag and into the freezer. They’ll keep in the freezer for up to 1 month. I love these tips on freezing pizza crust! When you’re ready to make your pizza, remove from the freezer with plenty of time to let it sit at room temperature and thaw out. Then roll the dough out to fit your pizza pan.
Vegan Pizza Toppings
I use marinara to top my dough, although sometimes I will add a little bit of tomato paste to marinara to make it a little bit thicker and less sweet.
Our favorite vegan pizza toppings include:
- Veggie crumbles — I use Gardein or Beyond Meat.
- Vegan pepperoni — You can use store-bought or homemade.
- Chopped onions
- Tempeh Bacon
- Mushrooms
- Red peppers
- Fresh basil leaves or other herbs like oregano.
- Vegan cheese
What are the best vegan cheese brands?
Of course, the most important topping to any pizza is the mozzarella cheese on top. The best vegan cheese brands for pizza are Follow Your Heart and Daiya.
It seems like a lot of people tend toward Daiya cheese (paid link), but for pizza, we prefer Follow Your Heart mozzarella shreds (paid link). It melts great and has a better flavor and texture once melted.
However, both vegan cheese brands are great and they are becoming more regularly available by the day.
Vegan Pepperoni Pizza
Let’s get real for a minute. Non-vegan pizza, you know, the kind we all grew up eating, can be really greasy. I used to take a paper towel and blot off some of that grease because it upset my stomach.
Even after removing all that grease, my stomach oftentimes felt like I had a rock in it after eating pizza.
So, I liked pizza, but I didn’t like the way I felt after I ate it.
Vegan pizza changed all that.
Nowadays I make my own, delicious Vegan Pepperoni. It’s so easy to make and so much healthier than meat-based pepperoni. That’s a given. But I think it’s even better than most store-bought vegan pepperoni. Why? Because it’s not wheat-based. You can read more about it on the post with the recipe, but I highly recommend trying it.
I love the flavors on this pizza and this whole wheat crust is actually crispy.
More Vegan Pizza
Vegan Pepperoni Pizza with Easy Homemade Crust
Ingredients
Easy Vegan Pizza Dough
- 1 ½ cups water
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast (1 packet)
- 2 tablespoons sweetener sugar, agave nectar, brown sugar, or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- Additional all-purpose flour for kneading and rolling
Toppings:
- Your favorite Pizza Sauce
- Veggie Crumbles
- Vegan Pepperoni
- Dehydrated Chopped Onion
- Vegan Mozzarella
- fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Pour the water in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 11 seconds. You want the water to be slightly warm, or lukewarm. You should be able to dip your finger in it and not feel much of a difference between the temperature of your finger and the water. That's perfect! Add the yeast and the sweetener. Give it a quick stir and set aside for about 10 minutes to allow it to get nice and frothy! Once that happens, add the olive oil. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the flours, corn starch, and salt. Use a whisk to sift and stir the ingredients together.
- Now, pour the frothy yeast mixture combined with oil over the flour mixture and stir to combine. The mixture should resemble a sticky dough.
- Here's my favorite time-saving trick: We're going to knead the dough right in the bowl. Sprinkle the top of the dough with a little bit of all purpose flour (have some on-hand to add as you go) and grab the far edge of the dough and turn half of it back toward you, like you're folding a towel. Sprinkle a little bit more flour and continue, pressing down on the dough ball between each turn. Continue this for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is no longer sticky. You should be able to press your thumb lightly into the top of the dough ball and it will spring back after you release it. If so, your dough is ready.
- Temporarily remove the dough ball from the bowl and give it a quick spray with vegetable cooking spray. Place the dough ball back in the bowl and cover with a kitchen towel and place in a slightly warm place for the dough to rise… about an hour.
- When the dough is ready, preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C. Then use your fist to punch down the dough and divide into two balls. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough balls into the size required by your pizza pans.
- Top the rolled pizza dough with the following toppings in this order spread evenly across the pizza, but allowing a margin for the crust: pizza sauce, veggie crumbles, pepperoni slices, dehydrated chopped onions, and shredded vegan mozzarella.
- Place the pizzas in your heated oven and bake for 15–20 minutes, keeping an eye on them after about 10 minutes to make sure the crust doesn't burn.
- When the crust is golden brown, remove from the oven and immediately top with additional pepperoni slices and fresh basil leaves. Allow the pizzas to cool slightly before slicing and serving.
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Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2019 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.
Hi! I want to make this but have to leave the house for a few hours. Would it be ok to prepare and let rise for more than an hour then punch down when I return, or punch down and leave in bowl until I return? Thank you!
Hi MJ. Yes, that should work. I’ve let my dough rise longer than an hour before.
I would rather know how to create the elements. So if a product tastes and has the texture of pepperoni I want to make that element myself.
Hey David. Thanks for this feedback. Actually, I just made a post on how to make veggie sausage and have something planned very similar to that for pepperoni too.
This is perfect for pizza night! I can’t wait to try this dough!
That crust sounds awesome! And I know what you mean about the heavy feeling after pizza. I’m always like, “whyyy did I just eat that?!”
My daughter’s best friend is vegan so this is perfect, I’ll have to make it next time she’s over. I’m always looking for recipes to make for her. This looks like perfection and I know she’ll love it.
I love you had a Friday night tradition with your Mom, so sweet! I’m excited to try this, I had no idea there was a Veggie Pepperoni either!! Just pinned!
Oh yay — I’ve been searching for a great homemade whole wheat crust, thanks!
oh yes bring on the pizza this looks wonderful
That’s a mighty fine looking pizza!
Agreed that pizza is a 10 out of 10!
Uh, YUM! I love that you created a pizza that was vegan that anyone could enjoy! I didn’t even know you could buy veggie pepperoni! Where did you get it from?
Hi Jessica! Our local health food store sells vegetarian pepperoni, but I’ve found it at regular grocery stores in the health food section. I love veggie pepperoni because it tastes great without all the grease!