Vegan Margherita Pizza Flatbread with Homemade Dough
A crunchy, sweeter, and plant-based take on the classic margherita pizza with homemade flatbread dough and heirloom tomatoes.
This vegan margherita pizza is my go to vegan pizza recipe because it uses homemade flatbread dough and heirloom tomatoes for just a little bit of extra sweetness!
If you enjoy fun shareable vegan recipes, give the following recipes a try.
- three ingredient easy vegan pizza rolls
- sweet and smokey leftover sloppy joe biscuit cups
- healthy and oil free zucchini bread with chocolate chips
How to make vegan margherita pizza flatbread
The key to this recipe is the delicious homemade vegan flatbread dough. The thin crust of flatbreads are great to share as appetizers! While you can certainly use store bought dough or other flatbread substitutions (see below for substitutions), I highly recommend you try making the dough from scratch! All you need for flatbread pizza dough is yeast, olive oil, sugar, flour, and water, everything else is optional.
Once the dough is ready, roll it out flat and thin. The shape is typically that of an oval but you can have fun with it! As you can see in my picture it doesn’t have to be perfect. I find the more “odd” shapes gives the pizza a rustic feel and is great for an at home pizza night. Add your classic margherita toppings such as tomato sauce, vegan mozzarella cheese, fresh tomatoes, and fresh basil and you’re ready to bake!
Key ingredients & substitutions
- flatbread dough – you can use store bought pizza dough or even pre-made flatbreads such as naan or pita
- tomatoes – in this recipe I’m using heirloom tomatoes which are more sweeter and flavorful than a traditional tomato. They are typically a mix of colors. For pizzas I use ones that are red, dark red, or red brown. You can also go classic and use a regular tomato
- vegan mozzarella cheese – I like to use the store bought cashew mozzarella shreds from Trader Joe’s
- fresh Italian basil – Italian basil gives the pizza an extra herby sweetness. I do not recommend using dried basil or any other type of basil variety
Tips & Tricks
Vegan Margherita Pizza Flatbread with Homemade Dough
Pin this RecipeEquipment
- Stand Mixer
- baking pan
Ingredients
Homemade Flatbread Dough
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 250 grams bread flour
- ¾ cup warm water
- 1½ tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp onion powder optional
- ½ tsp garlic powder optional
Vegan Margherita Pizza Toppings
- 2 cups vegan mozzarella shredded
- 1-2 cups pizza sauce
- 1-2 heirloom tomatoes
- ½ cup italian basil shredded
- 1 tsp dried oregano optional
Instructions
Make the flatbread pizza dough
- Make the yeast base. In a small mixing bowl, use a whisk or a fork to mix together the warm water, yeast, and sugar until it starts to foam at the top. Let it sit for around 5-8 minutes to activate the yeast while you prep the other dough ingredients.
- Knead the dough. In a stand mixer, add the flour and any optional seasoning such as garlic powder or salt. Use the dough hook and stir or mix on the lowest setting to mix all the dry ingredients together. Once the yeast base is ready, turn the mixing speed up to low – medium and slowly add in the oil and the yeast base. Knead the dough for 10 minutes or until the dough is ready to rise. The dough should start to pull away and not stick to the edges of the mixing bowl. The dough is ready to rise when you can slowly pull the dough apart without breaking and see light pass through the dough.
- Allow the dough to rise. Keep the dough in the mixing bowl and gently spray the dough with non-stick spray on all sides. If you don't have non-stick spray you can lightly brush the dough with any type of cooking oil. This helps the dough retain moisture as it rises. Cover the top of the and let it rise for 45 minutes. While the dough is rising you can prepare your pizza toppings.
Make the flatbread pizza
- Prepare the pizza toppings. Shred the vegan mozzarella and fresh Italian basil. Slice the heirloom tomatoes into thin slices. I prefer to use the center of the tomatoes and eat the edges! The center is more thin and juicy which is perfect for baking with pizza.
- Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 400℉
- Roll the dough. After the dough is done rising, punch out all the air in the dough and split the dough into two equal parts to create two pizzas. Lightly flour the surface you'll be working on and begin rolling the dough first into a small ball and then shaping it into an oval shape, it doesn't have to be perfect. Use a rolling pin to begin to flatten the dough. Keep using the rolling pin to roll the dough into a long oval shape (or whatever shape you desire!) until it is about ¼ inch thick.
- Assemble the pizza. Use baking foil to cover a baking tray. Transfer the pizza dough onto the baking tray. If the shape of the dough starts to change you can use your hands to lightly pull and reshape the dough. Use your fingers or a fork to gently poke down across the dough and drizzle some olive oil on top of the dough. Add on the pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, and dried oregano.Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes. Add in the shredded basil in the last minute so you don't overcook it. The cheese should be melted and the crust should be browned and crisp to your liking. You can bake for longer if your oven isn't as strong or you prefer a crispier crust.
- Serve. Allow the pizza to cool for 10 minutes before cutting up into smaller pizza slices and serving.
