This Vegan pizza has it all! It's topped with artichokes, roasted red peppers, mushrooms, olives, and a drizzle of zesty homemade sun-dried tomato pesto for a lip-smackingly delicious plant-based meal that the whole family will love!!!
Fridays are pizza nights at our household since.....well, time immemorial. To begin with, pizza is not something I took to immediately as I was not too fond of cheese, though I would enjoy an occasional good veggie or Indian fusion pizza. All of that changed once I started making pizza dough at home. You can do so much more like play with the toppings, crust, or amount/type of cheese to suit your taste and requirement. You can also skip the cheese altogether like this vegan pesto pizza, which has become our new favorite. I love how after my meal, I still feel light and good. And boy is it delicious! I just can't seem to get enough of it. It makes me especially happy that I made a pizza that tastes just as good without the cheese.
For me, it's a meal that I can prepare on autopilot. With minimal hands-on prep work, all that needs to be done is make the dough, chop the veggies, assemble and bake. A complete chillax kind of friday meal with family. Sometimes I will go the extra mile and pair it with some salad and vegan garlic knots or dinner rolls.
Please do give this vegan pesto pizza a try. Even if you are not vegan like me, you'll still love it. It's that gooood!!!
Ingredients
- Pizza Dough - I used homemade pizza dough, quick proofed in the Instant Pot. The recipe for pizza dough on the blog makes two 1lb 16" thin crust pizza. So make as per your requirement. Or you can use storebought dough. Make in advance for a quick meal.
- Sun-dried tomato pesto - I used homemade, the recipe is in the instructions. It gives a nice zesty flavor.
- Roasted red peppers - I used jarred roasted peppers from Trader Joe's.
- White mushrooms
- Olives - I used a mix of kalamata, black, and green olives. But you can use any or all.
- Pizza sauce
- Fresh Basil
This Vegan Sun-dried tomato Pesto Pizza
- is loved by the whole family.
- makes for a quick 30-minute meal if you have the dough handy.
- is lighter and healthier.
- is vegan, vegetarian, plant-based, and dairy-free.
- is just deliciousness!!
Ingredients
- 1 lb pizza dough (homemade or storebought)
- ⅓ cup vegan sun-dried tomato pesto
- ¾ cup jarred roasted red pepper, rinsed and roughly sliced
- ½ cup white mushrooms, sliced
- 4 marinated artichoke hearts, rinsed and quartered lengthwise
- 10-15 olives, halved
- ½ cup pizza sauce
- 5-6 fresh basil leaves, roughly torn
Vegan Sun-dried pesto
- ¾ cup sun-dried tomatoes
- ½ cup almonds
- ⅔ cup basil leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
- 1 clove garlic
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Pulse all the pesto ingredients in a food processor a few times until blended to desired consistency. Or you can use storebought.
- Preheat oven to 550 °F.
- Punch down the dough lightly on a floured surface.
- Roll out the pizza dough into a 16" round pizza. Transfer to a greased pizza pan. Stretch if needed to the edge of the pan.
- Spread pizza sauce evenly. Drizzle sun-dried tomato pesto all over the pizza.
- Top with artichokes, roasted red pepper, mushrooms, and olives.
- Pop it in the oven and bake for 10-14 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and garnish with torn basil.
- Slice and serve immediately!!!
Recipe Notes
- Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator wrapped in foil for up to 2 days. Pop it in the oven for 5 minutes when ready to be consumed.
- Drizzle some balsamic glaze on your pizza for a flavor explosion. Kids especially love it.
