Throw Together Easy Homemade Vegan Pizza Cheese in Minutes

You have to try this easy homemade (vegan) mozzarella.

By
Sara Bir
Sara Bir
Sara Bir
Sara is a chef, culinary educator, and author of three cookbooks, The Pocket Pawpaw Cookbook, Tasting Ohio and The Fruit Forager's Companion. The latter won a 2019 IACP Cookbook Award.
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Published August 18, 2023
Sara Bir
Vegan Pizza Topped With Fresh Basil and Cut Into Slices (on One Piece of Parchment Paper), Next to It, Another Vegan Pizza Topped With Jalapeno and Red Onion Slices, Arugula, and Chili Flakes (on Another Piece of Parchment Paper), a Bowl of Chili Flakes, and a Few Glasses of Water on the Counter

Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

In transitioning my household to quasi-vegan, most changes went great. But moving to a plant-based diet and keeping up our beloved Friday night pizza habit didn’t. Our favorite local takeout joint does not offer vegan cheese, and their sauce has Parmesan in it. 

Meanwhile, the vegan mozzarella from the store felt overpriced and underwhelming. It seemed there had to be a better way. Curious, I searched “DIY vegan mozzarella” on my phone and hit the Holy Grail. This quick homemade vegan mozzarella is easy, cheap, free from weirdo ingredients, and unbelievably superior to anything from the store. Most importantly, it’s hot and gooey, delivering proper pizza night satisfaction in this classic cheesy vegan pizza recipe. 

Dough and Sauce: Vegan by Default

Making pizza vegan from the ground up starts off easy. Most pizza doughs and pizza sauces (including ones from the store) fall in that glorious “vegan by default” category. To be safe, check the label to verify it’s vegan.

I can’t get good refrigerated pizza dough where I live, so I make my own with this recipe. I throw it together the morning of our designated pizza night, divide it into balls, and let it rise in the fridge while I’m at work so it’s ready and waiting when I come home.   

Vegan Pizza Cut Into Slices and Topped With Fresh Basil on a Cutting Board

Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

DIY Vegan Pizza Cheese: A Game Changer

Now, on to the pay dirt: the cheese. Longtime vegans know that mozzarella-style shreds have made it a long way since their iffy inception, but they are still often reluctant to melt. And their cost has gone up in a manner disproportionate to their quality.

I’ve made fancypants nut-based cheeses at home and even fermented them. They’re good, but they’re not cheesy. I wanted homemade vegan cheese that hit basal pizza pleasure zones of melty and goopy. 

The food blog School Nite Vegan offered a brilliant solution: use tapioca flour to make what’s essentially a pre-melted blob. Tapioca flour, once it’s boiled with liquid, gets a stringy texture that’s convincingly like melted cheese. Nutritional yeast provides the flavor, and neutral oil gives the richness. Throw it all together in a saucepan and the result belies its underwhelming ingredients. You can make it while the oven preheats.

Melty vegan pizza cheese requires no grating; you just blorb it right on the pizza, then bake. Leftovers, if you have any, keep in the fridge for a few days, allowing you a lunchtime quesadilla or two. 

Using Storebought Cheese Is Okay!

Look, you don’t have to be a superstar and make your own vegan pizza cheese. You’re already rocking it by making homemade pizza. The meltiest shreds are Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds. My boyfriend has been a vegan since forever and this is his go-to.

For more of a Margherita-style pizza, shredded or finely cubed Miyoko’s Cashew Milk Mozzarella will hit those notes. 

Vegan Pizza Topped With Jalapeno and Red Onion Slices, Arugula, and Chili Flakes on a Cutting Board With a Pizza Cutter, and in the Surroundings, a Glass With Fresh Basil, a Oil Dispenser, a Bowl of Chili Flakes, and a Few Rogue Arugula on the Counter

Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe

Toppings for Vegan Pizza

When it comes to any type of pizza, I’m in the camp of keeping it light. Piling on the toppings leads to a soggy crust. Consider the following toppings:

  • Vegan pepperoni slices
  • Thinly sliced mushrooms, raw (they’ll cook on the pizza, but be sparing, as they give off a ton of moisture)
  • Browned mushrooms (these you can add more of, since they’re already cooked)
  • Handfuls of baby arugula or spinach (it’ll wilt down in the oven)
  • Whole or halved pitted olives
  • Drained, jarred piquillo peppers or Calabrian chiles, cut into ribbons
  • A few basil leaves and a drizzle of good olive oil once the pizza’s straight out of the oven
  • Crumbled, browned vegan sausage grounds, or slices of ready-to-eat vegan sausage links

More Vegan Party Food

Vegan Pizza

Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Dough Rest Time 60 mins
Total Time 115 mins
Servings 4 to 6 servings
Yield 4 (8-inch) pizzas or 2 (14-inch) pizzas

If you’re making the homemade vegan mozzarella, you’ll have leftovers. It’ll keep in the fridge, tightly covered, for 4 days. It’s great on loaded quesadillas.

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds pizza dough, homemade or store-bought

  • Olive oil, for greasing the pizza dough and baking sheet

  • Flour, for dusting the counter

  • Cornmeal, for dusting the pan or pizza peel

  • 3/4 to 1 cup pizza sauce, homemade or jarred (check to see it’s vegan)

  • 1 batch homemade vegan mozzarella (see below), or 7 to 8 ounces vegan mozzarella-style shreds

  • Optional toppings: fresh basil, vegan pepperoni or cooked vegan sausage, mushrooms

Easy vegan mozzarella

  • 5 tablespoons tapioca flour

  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 1/2 cups water

  • 6 tablespoons oil

  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Method

  1. 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.

    Simple Tip!

    I like to divide the dough in the morning and let it rise in the refrigerator. The cold pizza dough is less sticky, making it easier to shape.

    Pizza Dough Divided Into Two Large Balls Using a Bench Scrape for Vegan Pizza Recipe

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
    Two Large Balls of Pizza Dough Resting on a Baking Sheet for Vegan Pizza Recipe

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
  2. 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. 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.

    Vegan Mozzarella Ingredients Whisked Together in a Pot

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
    Vegan Cheese Ingredients Continued to Whisk as Consistency Gets Thicker

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
    Vegan Mozzarella Cheese Continuously Whisked to Get Thick, Cheese-like Consistency for Vegan Pizza Recipe

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
  4. 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.

    Simple Tip!

    If you are not confident sliding the pizzas on the baking stone, shape the pizzas on squares of baking parchment, which makes them easier to slide in the oven without sticking. The edges of the parchment will char in the oven, but it won’t affect the pizza crust itself.

    One Vegan Pizza Crust Shaped Into a Pizza on a Flour Dusted Counter for Vegan Pizza Recipe

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
    Shaped Pizza Dough Transferred to a Wooden Pizza Peel, and on the Counter Next to It, a Cup of Flour for Vegan Pizza Recipe

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
  5. 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.

    Simple Tip!

    You may be tempted to really load up on the homemade vegan cheese. Don’t give in! A little goes a long way and it will achieve a nicer texture in the oven if you add it in smaller, thin blobs.

    Add any other toppings you like, but be conservative. An overloaded pizza will bake up soggy.

    Sauce Added to Shaped Pizza Dough on a Wooden Pizza Peel, and on the Counter Next to It, a Cup of Flour for Vegan Pizza Recipe

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
    Blobs of Vegan Cheese Added on Top of Sauce on the Shaped Dough on the Wooden Pizza Peel, and on the Counter Next to It, a Cup of Flour for Vegan Pizza Recipe

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
  6. 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. 

    Simple Tip!

    If you’re baking the pizzas on pizza pans, they’ll take a little longer.

    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.

    Simple Tip!

    If you are using vegan mozzarella shreds, some brands melt but don’t actually brown. 

    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!

    Baked Vegan Pizza Resting on the Wooden Pizza Peel Next to the Cup of Flour

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
    Vegan Pizza Sliced and Topped With Fresh Basil on a Cutting Board Next to a Olive Oil Dispenser

    Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
600 Calories
24g Fat
83g Carbs
12g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories 600
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 24g 31%
Saturated Fat 2g 10%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 869mg 38%
Total Carbohydrate 83g 30%
Dietary Fiber 5g 16%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 12g
Vitamin C 5mg 24%
Calcium 44mg 3%
Iron 5mg 26%
Potassium 291mg 6%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.