Gourmet Vegan Pizza Recipe with Caramelized Onions & Mushrooms
Move over Pizza Hut! My best Vegan Pizza recipe just got a glow-up? With all new images and step-by-step process shots, take your pizza party to the next level with a great pizza you’ll make again and again.
Attention pizza lovers! My all-new easy Vegan Pizza recipe just got a delicious makeover. It’s crafted on a wholesome, whole wheat pizza crust slathered with a thick layer of cashew basil garlic sauce.
Next, a meltable layer of vegan mozzarella is topped with thinly sliced caramelized onion, savory mushrooms, and roasted cherry tomatoes. We finish with dots of fresh basil and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes that add loads of herby flavor and a little heat.
If you’re looking for a homemade pizza recipe that actually tastes delicious, this is a must-try. It’s one of those vegan pizza recipes you’ll put on repeat.
Vegan Pizza Ingredients (With Substitutions)
For the Crust
- Wheat Flour – I use 100% whole wheat flour for this recipe. For a lighter crust, use 1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour instead of all whole wheat.
- Active Dry Yeast – do not substitute. You’ll mix this with warm water and sugar to “proof” the yeast.
- Sugar in the Raw – this helps activate the yeast. You can use any vegan sugar you want.
- Sea Salt – you can also add some black pepper.
- Olive Oil – substitute with any neutral-flavored oil you have on hand, such as vegetable oil, canola oil, or grapeseed oil.
- Warm Water – be sure it’s warm as cold water won’t activate the yeast.
For the Sauce
- Raw Cashews – these should be soaked overnight or put in a small bowl and covered with boiling water for 1 hour.
- Olive Oil – again, any neutral oil will work.
- Garlic – fresh minced garlic works best. If you don’t have fresh, sub with 1 teaspoon garlic powder.
- Vegetable Broth – adds flavor and moisture.
- Fresh Basil – I would not substitute, but if you don’t have, you can use dried basil.
For the Toppings
- Mushrooms – any type of mushrooms work, including baby bella or even Portobello mushrooms.
- Onion – I use red onion but any color onion works.
- Cherry Tomatoes – these add a beautiful pop of color to an otherwise brown pizza.
- Vegan Mozzarella Cheese – any meltable vegan cheese will work.
- Fresh Basil – again, fresh works best.
- Red Pepper Flakes – adds a little color and some heat.
For complete ingredient measurements, see the recipe card below!
How to Make Vegan Pizza
1. In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix together water, sugar and yeast. Let sit for 3 to 5 minutes until a foamy layer forms at the top. If this doesn’t occur, your yeast is dead. Discard and start over with fresh yeast.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sea salt and sugar. Add the yeast and foamy water mixture and olive oil and mix thoroughly with a sturdy wooden spoon.
3. Using your hands, knead dough for several minutes forming a large ball making sure no dough is stuck to the side of the bowl.
4. Lightly oil the bowl. Leave ball in bowl, cover with a clean dish towel or plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for about an hour. Dough should rise to double it’s original size.
5. While the dough is rising, drizzle 1 tbsp. olive oil into skillet. Turn heat to high and add onions. Sauté until browned, stirring frequently. Add 1 tbsp. sugar and cook until a syrupy paste forms. The onions should be nice and caramelized when you’re done
6. Add garlic and mushrooms and sauté on medium heat until mushrooms “sweat”. Place in small bowl making sure to scrape out all mushroom pieces and any gravy. Set aside.
7. To make the sauce, place all sauce ingredients except water in food processor. Pulse until well-blended.
8. Add water 1/3 cup at a time, processing until sauce is a creamy consistency. Use a spatula to scrape the sides during processing.
9. Once the dough has risen, remove from bowl and place on pizza stone or a lightly greased and floured 12″ round pizza pan. Press dough with your fingers evenly across pan. Dough should be very thin as it will rise more during cooking. Pinch the edges to make a lip on the crust. Set aside.
10. Preheat oven to 400F/204C. Spread Cashew Basil Garlic Sauce evenly over pizza leaving an edge for the crust.
11. Top with sautéed mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and caramelized onions. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and a modest amount of vegan mozzarella cheese. Brush outer crust with a thin veil of olive oil.
12. Cook for 20-25 minutes on a pizza stone or a baking sheet. Let cool for 5 minutes before slicing. Remove from pan and place on cutting board. Using sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 8 equal triangles. Serve piping hot with a vegan anti-pasta salad.
Tips to Help You Avoid Common Mistakes
Most people make the same handful of errors that turn good ingredients into disappointing pizza.
Mistake 1: Using cold dough. If your dough comes straight from the fridge, it will be stiff and hard to stretch. Let it sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before rolling it out. This relaxes the gluten and makes shaping easier without tearing.
Mistake 2: Overloading toppings. More is not better with pizza. Too many toppings create a soggy, undercooked center and prevent the crust from crisping. Stick to a thin layer of caramelized onions, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes.
Mistake 3: Skipping the preheat. Putting pizza into a cold or barely warm oven results in a pale, limp crust. The oven needs to be screaming hot before the pizza goes in. That initial blast of heat is what creates the crispy exterior and chewy interior.
Mistake 4: Adding fresh basil before baking. This turns your bright green herb into blackened, bitter bits. Always add basil after baking, when the pizza is still hot but out of the oven.
Mistake 5: Not salting the tomatoes. Tomatoes need seasoning. If you skip the salt, they taste flat and watery. A light sprinkle of salt before baking brings out their natural sweetness and makes them taste more concentrated.
Avoiding these mistakes takes your pizza from “healthy but bland” to “legitimately delicious and happens to be healthy.”
Variations
Once you master the basic pizza crust recipe, you can experiment with all different kinds of toppings, including your favorite roasted veggies and even some white beans like I use in my Vegan White Bean Chili for protein. Here are a few suggestions:
- use sun-dried tomatoes instead of/or in addition to, cherry tomatoes.
- choose tomato sauce or any red sauce instead of making my cashew basil cream-sauce. You can use the sauce I make for this Hearty Tomato Basil Pasta as well.
- use yellow onions, white onions or shallots instead of red onions.
- add different colored bell peppers for more pops of color.
- finish with a sprinkle of Vegan Parmesan.
Frequently Asked Questions
A vegan pizza trades traditional dairy and meat for imaginative plant-based layers—think creamy cashew blends, slow-roasted vegetables, bright herbs, and rich umami-packed sauces. Instead of mimicking the original, it leans into fresh textures and bold pairings, creating a pie that feels entirely new rather than like it’s missing something.
For diabetics, the best pizza is one that keeps blood sugar steady by focusing on a high-fiber base, balanced toppings, and minimal refined carbs. A great option is a vegan pizza made with a healthy whole wheat crust—like mine—topped with fiber-rich vegetables and plant-based ingredients—like mine—which can help slow glucose absorption while still delivering satisfying flavor.
Yes—parbake the whole wheat crust first, let it cool completely, then add your toppings and refrigerate or freeze; this keeps the base sturdy and prevents moisture from soaking in. When you’re ready to eat, bake it hot and fast so the crust stays crisp while the toppings heat through perfectly.
What to Serve with Vegan Pizza
- Savory Sauces – if you’re like me and you like to dip your pizza in sauce, try my Smoky Homemade Chipotle Sauce or this zesty Zhoug Sauce.
- Perfect Pasta – pizza and pasta are a marriage made in heaven. Some of my favorite pairings include my Cavolo Nero Pasta, Pasta e Piselli, hearty Tomato Basil Pasta and Avocado Pasta.
- Crusty Bread – Vegan Garlic Bread is a must with any pizza, but you can also pair with my Garlic and Rosemary Focaccia.
- Simple Salads – I feel like if I eat a salad before my pizza I won’t eat that much pizza (but I’m usually wrong). Here’s a couple I recommend: my Massaged Kale Salad with strawberries or my Blueberry Salad with black grapes and avocado.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Storage – leftover pizza loses its magic fast if you don’t store and reheat it correctly. Let the pizza cool completely before storing. Putting hot pizza in a sealed container traps steam, which makes the crust soggy. Once cool, stack slices with parchment paper between each one to prevent sticking. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheating – never reheat pizza in the microwave. Microwaving turns the crust rubbery and the toppings slimy. Instead, reheat slices in a skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Cover the pan with a lid for the first 2 minutes to warm the toppings through, then remove the lid to let the crust crisp up. This method brings back the texture better than any other reheating technique.
If you want to use the oven, preheat it to 375°F and bake the slices directly on the oven rack for 8 to 10 minutes. This crisps the bottom and heats the toppings evenly, though it takes longer than the skillet method.
Freezing – you can freeze unbaked or baked pizza for up to 2 months. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Since This Is a Makeover – Check Out The Before Picture
The photograph below was taken about 10 years ago when I first developed this recipe. Although my vegan pizza still tasted awesome, it didn’t look very appetizing.
So What did I do differently?
- I added two ingredients – although I didn’t change the recipe much as it was the bomb from the beginning, I added cherry tomatoes as a topping and fresh basil at the end as a garnish. I did this to add additional flavor to the pizza and some pops of color because brown pizza doesn’t photograph very well, as you can see below.
- I added more photos – I re-shot the entire pizza adding a variety of angles so you can clearly see how delicious it is. I also added a labeled ingredient shot, and process shots showing step-by-step instructions, which the recipe didn’t have before.
I hope you find this vegan pizza recipe and the changes I made to the recipe delicious and helpful!
Simple Bread Pairings
Have you tried this? Why not leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback. You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and sign up for my newsletter!
Gourmet Vegan Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
For the Pizza Crust
- 2 cups 100% whole wheat flour
- 1.5 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar in the raw or other vegan sugar
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 3/4 cup + 3 tbsp warm water
For the Sauce
- 2 cups cashews soaked overnight in water
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 3 large cloves garlic
- 2/3 cup vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp fresh basil coarsely chopped
Pizza Toppings
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 cup mushrooms chopped
- 1/2 cup red onion chopped lengthwise
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes quartered
- 1 large clove garlic
- 1 cup vegan mozarella cheese shredded
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes for garnish
- 1/4 cup fresh basil for garnish
Instructions
For the PIzza Crust
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix together water, sugar and yeast. Let sit for 3 to 5 minutes until a foamy layer forms at the top. If this doesn’t occur, your yeast is dead. Discard and start over with fresh yeast.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sea salt and sugar. Add the foamy water mixture and olive oil and mix thoroughly with a sturdy wooden spoon.
- Using your hands, knead dough for several minutes forming a large ball making sure no dough is stuck to the side of the bowl.
- Lightly oil the bowl Leave ball in bowl, cover with a clean dish towel or plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for about an hour. Dough should rise to double it’s original size.
- Once the dough has risen, remove from bowl and place on pizza stone or a lightly greased and floured 12″ round pizza pan. Press dough with your fingers evenly across pan. Dough should be very thin as it will rise more during cooking. Pinch the edges to make a lip on the crust. Set aside.
For the Sauce
- Place all sauce ingredients except water in food processor. Pulse until well-blended. Add water 1/3 cup at a time, processing until sauce is a creamy consistency. Use a spatula to scrape the sides during processing.
For the Pizza
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Spread sauce evenly over top of pizza crust leaving a bit of an edge on the crust.
- Add 1 tbsp. olive oil to skillet. Add garlic and mushrooms and sauté mushrooms on medium heat until mushrooms “sweat”. Place in small bowl making sure to scrape out all mushroom pieces and any gravy. Set aside.
- Add another tbsp. of olive oil to skillet. Turn heat to high and add onions. Sauté until browned, stirring frequently. Add 1 tbsp. sugar and cook until a syrupy paste forms. The onions should be nice and brown when your done.
- Spread Cashew Basil Garlic sauce evenly over pizza leaving an edge for the crust. Top with sautéed mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and caramelized onions.
- Sprinkle top of pizza with vegan mozzarella cheese. Top with dried basil and red pepper flakes. Brush outer crust with a fine layer of olive oil.
- Cook for 20-25 minutes on a pizza stone or a baking sheet. Let cool for 5 minutes before slicing. Remove from pan and place on cutting board. Using sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 8 equal triangles. Serve piping hot with a vegan anti-pasta salad.
So, so good! The caramelized onions and mushrooms on this were incredible!
I know, what a combo! Thank you Stef.
This pizza is veggie-tastic! I’m not vegan, so I did use regular mozzarella, but that’s the only thing I changed.
Hey, that’s a great word, Brianne. Veggie-tastic. Thanks for trying the recipe.
This vegan pizza with caramelized onion mushroom pizza is delicious. Kids loved it.
My grandkids love it too! Thanks Mary.
The savory combination of mushrooms and sweet onions is a total winner here. It’s a very satisfying, plant-based meal that doesn’t feel like it’s missing a thing—the flavors are just so well-balanced.
Happy to hear. Thank you Leah.