Tuesday, November 13, 2012

How to Make the Best Vegan Pizza

Can You Make a Good Vegan Pizza?

this is the vegan pizza I made the other night and it tasted like cardboard!That's the question.  If there's anyone out there who can make a vegan pizza taste as good as a pizza topped with real cheese, please stand up.
When you crave pizza, you are thinking about the melty cheese, crispy crust and toppings baked to perfection.  I was able to achieve two of the three the other night when I made a pepperoni vegan pizza.  You can substitute any meat product with veggie-based "imitation" meat made of soy (I used veggie pepperoni on my pizza and it was a pretty good replacement for the real thing), but the cheese is the catch.  Veggie cheese does not melt, not really.  Regardless of how much you sprinkle on top of your pie, you will never get the same consistency as real cheese when cooked.  In fact, you must be very careful not to overcook your vegan pizza because the cheese actually hardens.  This makes for a tough time in the kitchen as you try to strike a balance between achieving a crispy crust while not overcooking those veggie shreds.

Final Assessment of Vegan Pizza

I will be honest, vegan pizza may not be the best option as a meal replacement for someone new to cooking and eating vegan style.  If you aren't that picky in what you eat and you are really craving pizza, go for it.  I didn't find it to be inedible, however Marc (the picky one) said it tasted like cardboard.  I will admit, it was definitely no Pizza Hut.
Perhaps pizza is one dish that should be reserved as a "flexitarian" option.  You can replace all of the toppings that are horrible for you, like sodium-rich pepperoni, cholesterol-packing sausage, and heart-attack-waiting-to-happen beef.  Choose veggie meat-replacement alternatives for these ingredients, and be generous with the vegetable toppings.  But cheese seems to be the one ingredient you will really miss when it comes to vegan pizza.

1 comment:

  1. Update: I made a much better vegan pizza using bulkier toppings. I also waited until the pizza was almost fully cooked before adding the cheese. Check it out.

    http://healthycookingfordummies.blogspot.com/p/vegan-sausage-cauliflower-pesto-pizza.html

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