This vegan pizza dough recipe is easy-to-make and enriched with Italian herbs for extra flavor. All you need is 7 pantry-friendly ingredients!
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💡 The recipe in a nutshell
- Vegan (no eggs & dairy free)
- Easy-to-make
- Basic recipe
- Versatile: make pizza, rolls, and more
- Flavorful and authentic
💭 Is pizza dough vegan-friendly?
Traditionally, pizza dough is naturally vegan. The basic pizza dough formula is water, flour, yeast, and salt. However, some brands, recipes, or restaurants may use dairy, eggs, or sugar. Make sure it is vegan dough before buying any. Our pizza dough recipe is, of course, entirely vegan.
📋 What is vegan pizza dough made of?
This pizza dough uses simple, pantry-friendly ingredients:
- Flour (I like to use either all-purpose, pizza or bread flour)
- Filtered water
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Active dry yeast
- Sea salt, fine ground
- Vegan sugar
- Italian herbs (adding them is optional)
🤔 Is yeast vegan friendly?
Yeast is a species of single-celled organisms, which are a member of the fungi kingdom. It is neither a plant nor an animal.
Yeast is a vegan food since it is not an animal or animal byproduct, but a fungus. Yes, yeast is alive, but does not have a nervous system and therefore can not feel pain.
⏲️ Equipment
To make vegan pizza dough from scratch you need only a few items.
- Mixing bowls
- Container to proof dough
- If you are using a bowl to proof the dough instead, cover with either a damp kitchen towel, reusable bowl cover, or cling wrap
- Stand mixer, or kitchen machine with the dough hook attachment (this is optional, the alternative is kneading the dough by hand)
- Dough scraper, or knife
- Pizza cutter
👩🏽🍳 How to make vegan pizza dough
Making pizza dough from scratch is fairly simple. Follow these simple 3 steps:
- Prepare the dough ingredients: Sift flour into a mixing bowl and mix it with active dry yeast. In a measuring cup, mix lukewarm water, olive oil, sugar, and salt. Whisk until combined, then add to the flour.
- Kneading: To make the dough, stir until a rough dough ball forms. Then knead everything for at least 10-15 minutes to get a smooth and springy dough. You can either knead it by hand or with a kitchen machine that has the dough hook attached.
- Rest: Cover with a clean and slightly damp kitchen towel, plastic, or reusable bowl cover. Let rise at room temperature for 30 minutes and then transfer it to the fridge to rest for at least 24 hours.
🌱 What to make with pizza dough?
Since this is a basic pizza dough recipe you can get creative and make any pizza you like! However the fun does not stop at re-creating your favorite pizza at home. Here are some of our favorites things to make with pizza dough!
- Spooky Halloween Pizza
- Sweet Breakfast Pizza (do not add Italian seasoning)
- Air-fryer Pizza Rolls
- Breadsticks
- Garlic Knots
- Pizza Pretzels, or Pretzel Bites
- Pizza Donuts
- Calzone
- Savory Galette
- Pigs in a Blanket
- Sweet Pizza Sticks with Cinnamon & Sugar (do not add Italian seasoning)
🍕 FAQ - Common questions
How long to let pizza dough rise?
The ideal rising window for pizza dough is 24 to 48 hours. Letting your dough rise for at least 24 hours in the fridge allows the dough to create a better interior structure and flavor profile.
Do not let your pizza dough rest longer than 3 to 5 days! The yeast will start to eat all the sugar in the dough and convert it into alcohol, which leads to a dense or even crumbly crust and bad flavor.
Can I shorten the proofing time?
A short proofing at a warmer temperature is possible but gives the pizza dough a one-dimensional flavor.
How do you stretch pizza dough?
There are different methods to stretch pizza dough.
- Steering Wheel Stretch (beginner friendly)
- Fingertip Stretch (great for a rectangular shape)
- Knuckle Stretch
- Record Player Stretch
- Hand Tossing (advanced)
My favorite way of stretching is the steering wheel and fingertip stretch. Personally, I am still practicing and learning how to toss pizza dough, since it is a more advanced technique that requires practice and Fingerspitzengefühl.
If you’ve never stretched pizza dough before I recommend you try all of the techniques, to see what works best for you! Once you know what works for you, you can keep practicing it and master your pizza stretching. Make sure to let your dough come to room temperature before stretching it because it is easier to work with warm dough.
Can I use a rolling pin?
I do not recommend a rolling pin, since this will push out the gas bubbles created by the yeast in your dough. Rolling out your dough with a pin leads to a more tough and dense crust. If you use a rolling pin regardless, give the dough some resting time afterward.
How much dough for a 12-inch pizza?
How much dough you need for a 12-inch pizza depends a little bit on what flour you used and how thick you want your crust. A good estimate is the following measurements:
- Thick crust: 280g or 9.8 oz
- Medium crust: 250g or 8.8 oz
- Thin crust: 200g or 7 oz
Can you make pretzels with pizza dough?
While pizza and pretzel dough are not identical, they are made with very similar ingredients.
Unlike pizza, traditional pretzels are boiled in lye before baking. However, you can definitely shape this vegan pizza dough into pretzel shapes and bake, or even boil it in baking soda for a more authentic pretzel flavor. If you’re in the mood for pretzels, be sure to check our German sweet and soft pretzel recipe out.
🥣 How long does pizza dough last in the fridge?
Homemade pizza dough keeps fresh for no longer than 3 to 5 days in the fridge and tastes best after 24 to 48 hours. If you need to store your pizza dough for longer I recommend freezing it.
Can you freeze pizza dough?
Yes, you absolutely can freeze pizza dough to extend its lifetime.
To freeze pizza dough let it fully rise and divide it into single pizza dough balls first. Coat it in olive oil and add to a freezer bag, label with the date of freezing, and squeeze out any access air. The dough will last for up to 3 months in the freezer when stored properly.
Where can I learn more about pizza making?
Do you want to be a pizza master? Check out these best-selling books all about pizza!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 500 g flour* (17.7 oz)
- 300 ml filtered water, lukewarm (19.2 fl oz)
- 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil (2 tbsp)
- 7 g active dry yeast (2 tsp)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, fine ground
- 1 teaspoon vegan sugar
- ½ tablespoon Italian herbs (optional)
- semolina (optional)
Instructions
Making pizza dough
- Prepare the dough ingredients: Sift flour into a mixing bowl and mix it with active dry yeast. In a measuring cup, mix lukewarm water, olive oil, sugar, and salt. Whisk until combined, then add to the flour.
- Kneading: To make the dough, stir until rough dough ball forms. Then knead everything for at least 10-15 minutes to get a smooth and springy dough. You can either knead it by hand or with a kitchen machine that has the dough hook attached.
- Rest: Cover with a clean and slightly damp kitchen towel, plastic, or reusable bowl cover. Let rise at room temperature for 30 minutes and then transfer it to the fridge to rest for at least 24 hours.
Stretch pizza dough
- Take the proofed dough out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature and use as desired. To make regular pizza divide the dough into either half, for two thick 12-inch pizzas (Ø30cm); or quarter the dough for four 7-inch pizzas (Ø18cm). Roll and shape into balls.
- Turn pieces in flour and shape them into a round base by gently pressing, pulling, and stretching. Use your favorite pizza dough stretch technique. Lightly sprinkle a flat surface (like a pizza peel) with semolina and place your stretched pizza on it to rest while you prepare the toppings. Cover to prevent drying. Once toppings are ready, add as desired.
Baking pizza
- Preheat your oven to 480°F (250°C) with your baking sheet in it. Once hot, carefully take the baking sheet out add the prepared pizza, put it into the oven, and turn down the temperature to 425°F (220°C) and bake for 15 minutes each.If you are the lucky owner of a pizza oven you can most definitely use that one to bake your pizzas!
All pizza dough is vegan. Except for the yeast which could be argued as living, which would not be vegan. I don't understand the need for sugar at all (and isn't all processed sugar vegan since it all is derived from plants? Ie:palm sugar, beet sugar, cane sugar)
Hi Dimitri, thank you for your feedback and great questions!
Even though traditional pizza dough is vegan, depending on the restaurant and/or chef, butter, eggs, or other animal products can be added sometimes. As the article above explains, yeast is a fungus, not an animal, and therefore a vegan food. About the sugar: The sugar in this recipe provides food for the yeast and gives the dough a hint of sweetness. My grandpa, who is from Sicily, showed me how to make pizza dough, and he always adds sugar. Unfortunately, sugar is not always vegan, depending on where you live! I live in the United States, where regular refined sugar is processed with bone char. The American sugar industry does this to "whiten" the sugar. I have an article on this topic here https://thesimplesprinkle.com/is-sugar-vegan/
(For your information, in addition to all that, the title of this recipe and article is SEO optimized, so the right target audience can find my blog through Google.)
Thank you and happy day!