The Best Vegan Cheese and Meat For Pizza!

Crafting A Vegan Pizza 

I will admit, at Pizzacraft® we have a lot of traditionalists. They love their classic pizza recipes and when I said we were making vegan pizza there were eyebrows raised. Even though I am not vegan myself, I have a lot of family and friends with a dairy intolerance or a lifestyle free of animal products that are snubbed when it comes to pizza. We have made concessions for gluten-free dough, so why hasn’t vegan cheese been given a chance to be MVP yet!? After all, a vegan lifestyle is becoming more and more commonplace. 

Restaurant menus are offering vegan options; vegan substitutes (like flax seed for egg) are very popular, and we have noticed vegan cheese stepping up to stake its claim on pizza. 

FYI: If you don’t add cheese to a veggie pizza, then you got yourself a vegan pie - but that doesn’t seem to step up to the full challenge. I wanted to experience what all the vegan cheese/meat hype was about and craft a pizza that would satisfy all parties.

The Best Vegan Cheese For Pizza 

I did some research and the most recommended vegan cheese for pizza is pretty consistently cashew nut cheese. At our local Whole Foods, I was able to find two types of cashew mozzarella. It cost about the same price per ounce as regular mozzarella cheese but does appear a little bit grey in color. 

With a few more recommendations I decided we should also test a vegan meat option, so we got the Tofurky Italian sausage and made three different vegan pizzas.  

Pizza One - Vegan Tomato Pizza

Ingredients 

• Cashew Nut Mozzarella Cheese 
• Tomato Sauce 
• Fresh Tomatoes 
• Basil 
• Plain Dough 

Results

Personally, I was very surprised at the taste of this pizza. The cashew nut cheese didn't melt entirely or get gooey, but the pizza tasted good. In fact, a few people wandered into the kitchen and took a blind bite with no complaints (that's pretty promising with this picky crowd). I was also told that if you are looking for a vegan cheese that melts more you could try the brand: Sheese.

Pizza two - Vegan Sausage Pizza

Ingredients

• Tofurky Italian Sausage 
• Shiitake Mushrooms 
• Cashew Nut Mozzarella 
• Onions 
• Tomato Sauce 

Results

This was my favorite pizza by far. It still has the vegan cheese but I was twice as impressed with this Tofurky sausage. It really gave the pizza a boost in flavor (and protein) and just like a regular pizza night I could not help but take multiple slices. As for the look and consistency of this fake sausage, I have no complaints, and that's coming from an avid meat eater. I would highly recommend you try this recipe if you're looking for a meat alternative.  

Pizza Three - Hummus Pizza

Ingredients 

• Tofurky Sausage 
• Plain Hummus 
• Diced Tomatoes 
• Onions 
• Shiitake Mushrooms 

Results

While we kept the vegan sausage on this pizza, we replaced the tomato sauce with hummus and made a cheeseless pizza. Using hummus seemed to be a popular vegan option so I thought it would be a good addition. While it started to stray from what a pizza taste like... it was still delicious. As one friend said, "it's just like eating hummus with some yummy baked bread" and there is nothing bad about that. 

Other Pizza Alternatives: 

•  Making Naan In The Pizza Oven 
• Gluten Free Pizza Dough Recipe 

 No matter what your eating habits are I encourage you to try these pizzas! The flavors are there without some of the negatives that come from eating cheese and meat on every pizza. If you make your own I would love to see on Instagram @_pizzacraft  #pizzacraft. Other vegan pizza recipes to try? Shout them out in the comments below!