January 3, 2013

Vegan Pizza Dough Recipe



Makes 2x 30cm thick-crust pizzas

Are you sick of buying cardboardish pre-made pizza bases from the grocery store? Well look no further. This is my tried-and-trusted reliable vegan pizza dough recipe... it is easy to prepare with only 5 ingredients! This pizza dough is absolutely amazing because it gets crunchy on the outside but deliciously fluffy on the inside! I cannot portray to you through text how tasty and fluffy it gets. Also, I seriously cannot believe that I haven't uploaded this recipe earlier as I have made it many many times without failing. I have tried to write out the steps in a way that will be easy to understand with a few little tips from me. But don't worry, pizza dough is so easy to make and there is no need to fear the use of  yeast, the rising or the baking. Once you make it you will not believe how easy it is. I would love for you to try it and tell me what you think. I guarantee that you will never buy a pre-made pizza base again! :D Make sure you have a look at the photos below to see the comparisons of the dough before it has risen and the dough after it has risen. 

Note: You will need to allow approx. 45 minutes of rising time.

I am using the metric system. So, my 'cup' measures at 250ml. Make sure you too are using metric measurements or your pizza dough may be sticky or dry.








   7g (2 teaspoons) dried yeast
   1 3/4 cups (437.5ml) warm water*
   3 3/4 cups (937.5ml) plain flour, sifted
   2 pinches sea salt

   Spray oil



1)   In a small bowl, add the water and yeast. Use a metal spoon to stir until combined. Sit for 5 minutes until the yeast has dissolved into the water. (The warm water is activating the yeast so make sure that the water is not too hot or it will kill the yeast. Use water that is warm and able to be touched with your fingers.)

2)  In a large bowl, add the flour and the salt and stir with a metal spoon until combined.

3)  Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the yeast and water mixture. Stir with a metal spoon until it forms a wet dough. (At this point it will be quite sticky and will stick to your hands and any surfaces.

4)  Lightly flour a clean surface with about 2 tablespoons of flour. (Do not over-flour the surface or you will change the consistency of the dough)

5)  Add the wet dough to the floured surface and knead the dough for about 3 minutes until it is easily rolled into a ball and does not stick to your hands or to the surface. This means it is ready to start rising.

6)  Spray oil the inside of a large bowl.

7)  Add the dough ball to the bowl and cover with a wet tea towel or plastic wrap and place into a warm place. 
The dough ball BEFORE it has risen.


8)  Allow to rise for about 45 minutes until it has doubled in size. (This could be more or less depending on the temperature of the surroundings)
The dough ball AFTER it has risen.

9)  Take off the tea towel or plastic wrap and use your fist to punch the air out of the dough. It should be very soft and airy. 

10)  Lightly flour a surface with about 2 tablespoons of flour. (Do not over-flour the surface or you will change the consistency of the dough)

11)  Add the dough to the surface and knead for another 1 to 2 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. At this point, the ball will reduce to about its original size before the rising. (The dough should be able to be rolled into a ball without sticking to your hands or to the surface. If it does still stick to your hands or to the surfaces, add a little bit more flour to the surface and knead again for a few seconds and then roll into a ball). 

12)  Rip the dough ball into two even pieces and roll them into balls.

13)  Using a rolling pin or a glass, roll them out into pizza base shapes.

14)  Apply them to two lightly-oiled 30cm diameter pizza trays and use your fingers to push the dough into the sides of the tray.
The dough applied to a pizza tray before pre-baking.

15)  Pre-bake the bases at 200 degrees Celsius  for 5 to 10 minutes until slightly browned on the bottom before adding your toppings.

16)  Enjoy! :D



  • *Make sure the water is warm but not too hot. Hot water will kill the yeast. You must use warm water that you are able to touch with your fingers.
  • I am using the metric system. So, my 'cup' measures at 250ml. Make sure you too are using metric measurements or your pizza dough may be sticky or dry.
  • I do not use bread flour… just plain white flour. 
  • I do not mix in sugar with the yeast and the water. A lot of people probably think that is weird but I never have and this dough recipe ALWAYS works out for me... and damn well at that 

58 comments :

  1. this ended up a little stickier than I was expecting, but once I added a sprinkle more of flour, it turned out amazing. I've never made a yeast dough without sugar so I was skeptical, but this rose beautifully. As an added bonus - it is lower calorie/fat than other pizza dough recipes I make (usually 1/4 oil is added to those recipes).

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    1. Hello! Thanks for your comment... I am glad you thought it was amazing because so do we :D I know... it is strange that there is no sugar involved but I have never used it in pizza dough hehe :)

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    2. i thought this was awsome and easy for me because im a 15 year old just starting out to make things from scratch. Thanks a ton.

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    3. This recipe was simple and easy for me and i can say that because im a 15 year old just starting to make things from scratch. Thanks a ton.

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    4. Thanks Sona! I am glad that it was useful :)

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    5. Best pizza dough I have made yet. Thanks.

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  2. hello madison, this was the most amazing pizza dough I have ever eaten =) I was a bit worried about making it cause I have never used yeast before but your instructions were so good and clear. My hubby loved the pizza dough as it was so crunchy on the outside and so flufy on the inside just like u said. i am reall happy with it and will never buy another pizza dough again. see you on the forum =)

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    1. Hello Emily! Nice to see you on the Veggieful blog :D It is great that you and your hubby loved it :)

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  3. Greetings Veggieful! Just wanted to drop in and give you a big hey hey hey and tell you that you're pizza dough is outta' this world yo! I made it tonight and my family and I loved how it rose and how tasty it was. Thanks for making it so easy

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    1. Hello :) I am happy that your family loved it... I love it too :D

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  4. Great pizza dough recipe. 10/10 - will defs make again. thanks!

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  5. I've never made pizza dough before but have been wanting to for awhile now. I'm glad I waited until finding your recipe! I'm actually eating a slice as I type this...despite the fact that it is currently 9:30pm. :)

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    1. Hi Erika! It is much easier than it looks... You should definitely try making it yourself... you will not believe how easy it is! :) Oh, there is nothing like a late night slice of pizza hehe :D

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  6. I love that the list of ingredients are so short, I haven't seemed to find a perfect vegan pizza crust, so looking forward to trying this!

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    1. Hello! I know... it is so great when there are limited ingredients. I hope you love this pizza base as much as I do :)

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  7. What temp do you put them in the oven at?

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    1. Oops I forgot to write the oven temperature. Probably about 200 degrees celsius :)

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  8. Have you ever tried to use a whole wheat flour?

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    1. Not with this recipe... but a few others have said that they have substituted whole wheat flour for the plain flour.

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  9. Have you ever tried whole wheat flour?

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    1. Not with this recipe... but a few others have said that they have substituted whole wheat flour for the plain flour.

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  10. one and three quarter cups of water ?

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  11. This was INCREDIBLY sticky during the first knead, I ended up adding about 1/4c extra flour but so far it looks good :) it's rising now, will update again

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  12. I used this recipe for a pizza I made tonight. So simple and yet so good! Thank you!

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    1. Oh yay! I am so glad that you enjoyed it! Thanks for telling me :)

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  13. This was great. best pizza dough I have made so far. thanks!

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  14. Hey, thanks for sharing this.

    Do you know if this dough can be stored in a refrigerator or frozen for future use?

    Thanks again.

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    1. Hello!

      I would let it rise and do both rounds of kneading. At the point BEFORE you pre-bake it in the last step I would freeze it then. Divide it into sections or freeze the whole lot but make sure that you flatten it down a little bit for the freezer. This will let it defrost evenly. When you are defrosting the dough make sure you do it in the fridge or at room temperature. Hope this helps :)

      Thanks!

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  15. Hi,

    I'm in the process of trying this recipe and decided to use whole wheat flour. After adding the water/yeast mixture to the flour the dough was very very very sticky and was very difficult to knead. So I added more flour as I kneaded it until it started to improve. It took about another 1/2 to 3/4 cup of additional flour. It was still a bit sticky but I could work with it and was able to knead it into a ball. I'm waiting for it to rise as I write this but am worried it might not turn out right. Any tips on using whole wheat flour or should I just stick with plain white flour?

    Thanks.

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    1. Hello,
      I haven't used whole wheat flour with this recipe. Apparently white flour and whole wheat flour have different water absorption levels so I am not surprised that you had to add more or less of other ingredients. Also, I live in Australia so I am using the metric system, so my cups are 250ml. Are you using Australian cups or American cups?
      Thanks!

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  16. Made this today for lunch and it was superb. My wife really enjoyed it and said that it was the best pizza dough we have made yet. We just bought a pizza oven and were excited to try it out. This was the best recipe and I will definitely make it again.

    Thanks.

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    1. Thank you so much. I am really glad that you liked it. I have always wanted a pizza oven!! :D

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  17. I made this but used 2 c white flour and 1 3/4 c whole wheat. It was slightly on the dry side (I didn't have to add any flour to roll it out) but it came out delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe!

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    1. Thanks for telling me! I am glad that you enjoyed it. I haven't tried it with whole wheat flour. Thanks!

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  18. This turned out really well. Thank you. Will use this as my main pizza dough recipe from now onwards.

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    1. Yay! I am so happy that it worked well for you. This is definitely my main pizza dough recipe too :)

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  19. BEST PIZZA DOUGH~

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  20. I just made this for a smashing vegan lunch and it truly is superb. Thank you for sharing.

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  21. Great recipe! This is the best pizza crust I've made so far! Like others, mine ended up stickier than I expected, but I added a little more flour and it was good to go. I liked that it was a little crispy when it came out of the oven and I wonder if that had something to do with the pre-baking. Regardless, I love this recipe. Thanks!

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  22. I love this! Nice and simple! thank you :)

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  23. Question - after the prebake and I put the toppings on, how long do I cook the pizza for and at what temperature? Thanks!

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    1. Hi there! It really depends on the toppings you are putting on. It varies with each type of pizza. On average, I normally put my pizzas in at 200 degrees celsius for 10 to 15 minutes... or you could put it under the grill to make it faster.

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  24. Looking forward to trying! What kind of yeast should be used? Thank you!

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    1. Hi Evelyn! Thanks for your comment. I use instant dried yeast :)

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  25. Hi, I was wondering if you have tried this with any other types of flour?

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    1. We have a wholemeal pizza dough recipe on our recipes page :)

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  26. This looks amazing!

    Quick question -- if I wanted to knead in my blender (it has an amazing dough mixer) instead of kneading by hand, would that be OK? I imagine I could add two tablespoons of flour to the mixer and throw the dough in to knead for a minute or so?

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  27. How long does the dough last in the refrigerator?

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  28. Oh Em Gee!! Love this recipe so much...... got dads approval ;) Jeremy, Sonya and the boys love it too XD

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