Vegan Stuffed Crust Pizza
T has been making this vegan stuffed crust pizza for over 4 years, and it takes me back to my cheese-loving teenage days every. single. time. Over the past four years, we’ve picked up the best tips and tricks for crafting the perfect homemade stuffed crust pizza without the dairy, and in this post, we’re sharing them all with you!
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I was first introduced to stuffed crust pizza when Pizza Hut came out with it in the 90s. It was a cheese-loving 90s kid’s dream come true!
If you had asked me back then to name my favorite foods, stuffed crust would be at the top of that list. My healthy-eating parents were so annoyed by my brother and I requesting it so often that they started buying a slightly healthier frozen pizza with a stuffed crust to quell our cries. I couldn’t get enough!
So when I went vegan, stuffed crust pizza was at the top of my list of foods to veganize. Luckily, I have the best pizza-making partner who cracked the code on a sensational vegan version.
At this point, I may have eaten more vegan stuffed crust pizza than non-vegan! Almost every pizza we make is stuffed crust, and I LOVE it!
I made this stuffed crust pizza recipe with my (vegetarian) brother one Christmas, and he loved every bite. My mom even snagged herself a slice or two because she couldn’t say no to how good it looked and smelled. It totally brought us back, and I love when a recipe can do that!
If you’re in the same millennial boat of missing your beloved stuffed crust pizza, take my former 90s kid hand so I can walk you through it every step of making your vegan pizza dreams come true.
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What You’ll Need
The beauty of this stuffed pizza pie recipe is that it uses very few ingredients!
Pizza dough – We used our fluffy homemade pizza dough which is just perfect for stuffed crust pizza. If making homemade dough, remember to leave at least 2 hours for prep time. Feel free to use your favorite store-bought pizza dough. I’ve made stuffed crust with both refrigerated dough and frozen dough. Either will work, but I prefer the texture of a frozen dough.
Pizza sauce – Use your favorite store-bought or homemade pizza sauce or switch up the sauce on this pizza with your favorite sauces like a vegan white pizza sauce, BBQ sauce, or a pesto sauce! In a pinch, regular old tomato sauce will work too.
Vegan shredded mozzarella – See the section below about choosing a non-dairy cheese for stuffed crust pizza. Our favorite brand to use is Vevan!
Vegan pepperoni – We used Field Roast veggie pepperoni! See the next section for more topping ideas.
Vegan Pizza Toppings Ideas
You can adjust the toppings for this pizza any way you want. You can even stuff the crust with various things!
Here are some topping ideas (vegan meats and beyond!):
- Vegan Sausage – We like dicing up the Gardein sausage patties. You can also use our walnut sausage recipe!
- All the veggies! Mushrooms, green peppers, red onion, roasted red pepper, zucchini, squash, etc.
- Vegan Ham – We love to use leftover seitan ham after the holidays for pizza!
- Italian seitan sausages – These are almost like a homemade vegan pepperoni!
- Olives – kalamata olives and black olives are my favorites for pizza!
Choosing a Non-Dairy Cheese for Stuffed Crust Pizza
We always recommend using store-bought vegan cheese for this stuffed crust recipe. The great thing about stuffed crust is that the cheese gets really hot inside the crust which produces a lovely melt with almost any non-dairy cheese.
However, there are definitely cheeses that are better than others. You want something that melts well but won’t get too absorbed into the crust. Some of this can be trial and error.
Here are the cheeses we love to use for stuffed crust pizza:
- Vevan – This is our favorite! It produces a thick, melty glob of cheese in every bite of the crust.
- Daiya – I know Daiya gets a bad rap because it’s been around forever, but this is the stretchiest pizza cheese we’ve found! I dig their new oat milk base. It provides an awesome cheese pull for this stuffed crust pizza. We find this brand available at most grocery stores.
- Violife – Violife needs a high temp to melt, so it works great in a stuffed crust. However, unless you are using a high-heat pizza oven (like the Pizzadesso), I would not use Violife to top your pizza since regular ovens don’t get hot enough to melt it as well as I’d like!
If you’re looking for a homemade cheese for stuffed crust pizza, check out our vegan mozzarella sauce recipe. We haven’t tried this, but if you’re going to I would refrigerate the cheese overnight to thicken and pipe it onto the outer edges.
Learn How to Make Vegan Stuffed Crust Pizza
It’s easier than you think. Let us guide you along the way!
Step 1: Prep
Preheat the oven to 475F and stretch your pizza dough to fit your pizza pan, cast iron pan, or pizza stone. We prefer to stretch the dough rather than use a rolling pin because it provides a better texture.
Finely slice (julienne) 1/4 of the vegan pepperoni
Step 2: Stuff the crust (tutorial)
Line the edge of the dough with half the vegan cheese and the sliced vegan pepperoni. Fold the outer crust over the cheese and pepperoni, sealing the dough with your fingers.
Making sure the dough is fully sealed is going to be key for keeping the crust closed while it cooks. Get your fingers in there and really press down to make sure it stays closed.
Step 3: Assemble the pizza toppings
Top the dough with pizza sauce, avoiding the stuffed crust. Then, top the pizza sauce with half the vegan pepperoni followed by the remaining vegan mozzarella. And finally, top the pizza with the remaining pepperoni.
Step 4: Bake the pizza
Bake your vegan stuffed crust pizza for 15-20 minutes, stopping to rotate the pan once halfway through. It’s ready when the crust is golden brown and the vegan mozzarella has melted.
Step 4: Finishing touches
Remove and let cool on your cutting board or wire rack for 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!
How to Make in the Pizzadesso
We recently received a Pizzadesso indoor pizza oven from our friends at Salton, and it totally takes this pizza to the next level!
Here are the instructions for making this pizza in the Pizzadesso:
- Turn on your Pizzadesso and hit the Wood Fire setting. Then, push in the knob to start preheating.
- Slice (julienne) 1/4 of the vegan pepperoni.
- Sprinkle a hefty amount of cornmeal on your pizza peel + stretch your pizza dough to fit.
- Line the edges of your pizza with half the vegan cheese and the sliced vegan pepperoni.
- Work your way around the pizza, folding the outer crust over the cheese and pepperoni, sealing the dough with your fingers.
- Top the dough with pizza sauce, avoiding the stuffed crust.Then, top the pizza sauce with half the vegan pepperoni followed by the remaining vegan mozzarella. And finally, top the pizza with the remaining pepperoni.
- When the Pizzadesso has preheated, it will beep a couple times & the digital read will switch to “Fill In”. Use the rack handle accessory to safely pull out the rack & transfer the pizza from the peel to the heated stone. Reinsert the rack using the handle, close the door, & the preset countdown will begin.
- 3 min later, the Pizzadesso will have worked its magic. Let cool 5 min before slicing & enjoy!
More Easy Vegan Pizzas
You can turn any pizza into a stuffed pizza crust to take it to the next level! T even does half stuffed crust sometimes because they are not a huge fan of stuffed crust, but I am!
Here are some other vegan recipes for pizza you can try:
- Whole Wheat Pesto Pizza
- Vegan BBQ Chicken Pizza
- Vegan Buffalo Chicken Pizza
- Veggie Chili Pizza
- Vegan White Pizza
- Vegan Big Mac Pizza
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I hope this recipe helps you recapture some of that stuffed crust magic you loved before going vegan! It would be perfect to try for your next pizza night.
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Vegan Stuffed Crust Pizza
Ingredients
- 16 oz pizza dough
- 3/4 cup pizza sauce heaping
- 2 cups vegan shredded mozzarella divided
- 5 oz. vegan pepperoni* divided (We used Field Roast)
Instructions
Prep the ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 475F and stretch your pizza dough to fit your pizza pan, cast iron pan, or pizza stone. Finely slice (julienne) 1/4 of the vegan pepperoni
Stuff the pizza crust.
- Line the edges of your pizza with half the vegan cheese and the sliced vegan pepperoni. Fold the outer crust over the cheese and pepperoni, sealing the dough with your fingers.
Assemble the pizza.
- Top the dough with pizza sauce, avoiding the stuffed crust. Then, top the pizza sauce with half the vegan pepperoni followed by the remaining vegan mozzarella. And finally, top the pizza with the remaining pepperoni.
Cook the pizza.
- Bake your vegan stuffed crust pizza for 15-20 minutes, stopping to rotate the pan once halfway through. It’s ready when the crust is golden and the vegan mozzarella has melted.
Finishing touches
- Remove and let cool on your cutting board or wire rack for 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!
Notes
Pizzadesso Instructions
- Turn on your Pizzadesso and hit the Wood Fire setting. Then, push in the knob to start preheating.
- Slice (julienne) 1/4 of the vegan pepperoni.
- Sprinkle a hefty amount of cornmeal on your pizza peel + stretch your pizza dough to fit.
- Line the edges of your pizza with half the vegan cheese and the sliced vegan pepperoni.
- Work your way around the pizza, folding the outer crust over the cheese and pepperoni, sealing the dough with your fingers.
- Top the dough with pizza sauce, avoiding the stuffed crust.Then, top the pizza sauce with half the vegan pepperoni followed by the remaining vegan mozzarella. And finally, top the pizza with the remaining pepperoni.
- When the Pizzadesso has preheated, it will beep a couple times & the digital read will switch to “Fill In”. Use the rack handle accessory to safely pull out the rack & transfer the pizza from the peel to the heated stone. Reinsert the rack using the handle, close the door, & the preset countdown will begin.
- 3 min later, the Pizzadesso will have worked its magic. Let cool 5 min before slicing & enjoy!
