if you are a pizza lover who wants to hit their protein goals then you need this recipe for easy protein pizza. fully vegan, no yogurt needed!
the inspiration
If you have seen my High Protein Bagel recipe then you know I love making high protein versions of the carbs we all know. I did start to make my high protein bagel recipe into a pizza crust as well. The recipe is so delicious and whenever I am having a pizza craving, this hits the spot.
One thing about this recipe that is so great is when you are having a pizza craving it doesn’t take long to make at all. It only takes about 30 minutes and there is no rise time or kneading. It makes pizza night so much easier.
the ingredients
- Vital Wheat Gluten: this will add protein and texture into our high protein pizza. Vital wheat gluten is not just great for making seitan with, it is great for adding into breads and cakes. I do not have a substitute for this, as it is where most of the protein is coming from.
- Bread Flour/All Purpose Flour: to balance out the vital wheat gluten and make sure this actually comes out like crust and not seitan we are going to use all purpose or bread flour. Either work fine for this recipe I just prefer bread flour in general so that is what I use.
- Baking Powder: this will be our leavening agent to give the crust nice fluff and chew.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: this helps to make the baking powder rise better because acid plus baking powder creates a chemical reaction. You can try using white vinegar or lemon juice in its place if you need to.
- Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, and Salt: will add flavor to the crust
- Nutritional Yeast: will also add in flavor, umami, vitamins, and a little protein.
- Tomato or Marinara Sauce: you can use any sauce that you like to create our protein pizza. I like to use Rao’s, you can always use homemade too.
- Vegan Mozzarella: you can use any vegan mozzarella for this recipe. I used Follow Your Heart, but I also have a few different homemade recipes on the blog. You can check out my Cauliflower Vegan Mozzarella, Cashew Vegan Mozzarella, or 5 Minute Vegan Mozzarella.
how to make the protein pizza
This protein pizza is super easy to make. We do not need yeast, kneading, rise time, no nothing! Just mix up some ingredients and start to bake. All you need to do is grab a bowl and turn on the oven.
- In a medium-sized bowl combine the dry ingredients: vital wheat gluten, flour, baking powder, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast. I like to use a whisk.
- Add in the wet ingredients: water and apple cider vinegar.
- Mix together until it forms a dough. It will be very wet.
- Use the back of a spoon to spread the dough out evenly on an eighth sheet pan. It will be thin and may have some holes, don’t worry!
- Bake the crust at 425°F (218°C) for 5 minutes.
- Add your sauce and vegan cheese. Then bake for 15 minutes at the same temperature.
serving the protein pizza
I enjoy this recipe as a single serve recipe. So, if you want to make a large amount of pizza to share you can either up the quantities in the recipe card or you can make more individual pizzas.
You can of course cut this into as may pieces as you want. I find 8 to be a good amount. Feel free to top it with whatever you enjoy, I went with dried parsley and red pepper flakes.
You can also have fun and make different variations of this recipe of course. You can use Buffalo sauce and tofu to make a vegan chicken buffalo pizza. You can use vegan vodka sauce in place of a tomato sauce. You can use a white sauce and make an “cheese” pizza. There are tons of fun ways to play around with this recipe.
why you will love this recipe
If you are someone like me who loves to eat more indulgent foods but enjoy them in a less indulgent way this is perfect for you. It is also great if you are trying to learn how to make homemade breads because this recipe is very easy to make.
If you are someone who has a dairy allergy this great because we do not need any yogurt or cottage cheese like a lot of recipes will call for. Also, there are some nights where I want to get in protein without eating tofu and this is a great way to do that.
protein pizza faq
As of right now I do not have anyway to make this recipe gluten free. However, I do have a high protein gluten free bagel recipe that you may be able to turn into a pizza crust.
While this recipe is already high in protein with 40g protein here are some ideas for adding even more protein: top it with tofu cubes, vegan pepperoni, or tempeh. You can also top it with some vegan ricotta made from tofu.
It only contains gluten. There are no nuts or soy used.
Yes. Otherwise, it will just be soggy.
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Protein Pizza Recipe (Vegan)
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup + 2 teaspoons vital wheat gluten
- ¼ cup + 1 teaspoon all purpose or bread flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup tomato or marinara sauce I used Rao’s
- ¼ cup vegan mozzarella I used Follow Your Heart
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C).
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: vital wheat gluten, flour, baking powder, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast.
- Add the water and apple cider vinegar, then mix until a wet dough forms.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased eighth sheet pan and use the back of a spoon to spread it out evenly. The dough will be thin and may have small holes, that’s okay. You can also spread it out onto a larger sheet pan and make it into a circle if you like. I just find it works best in an eighth sheet pan.
- Bake the crust for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, add your sauce and vegan cheese, then bake for another 15 minutes at the same temperature.
Video
Nutrition
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hey there!
Hey, I’m Francesca!
Thank you for checking out my recipe! I am happy to have you here and hope you explore more delicious vegan recipes.
Made this tonight for dinner, while it’s not “usual” pizza crust , for us it’s totally doable! I topped off with tomatoes and onions on my side and my husband , well , let’s just say his wasn’t vegan. But he enjoyed it as well!
Another high protein banger along with the bagels!!
Yay I am so glad you enjoyed it Nahshon. Thank you for trying it and taking the time to leave a comment/review!!
Having this for dinner again tonight. The whole house loves pizza night 😂
Yay!!!! that makes me so happy to hear!! <3
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! Its so good. Pair it with your vegan mozzarella and its chefs kiss!
Hi Alanna, aww yay! I am so glad this recipe can help! woo!! 🙂
Hi this recipe says both 1/8 and 1/4 sheet pan. Which should I use?
Hi please use 1/8 sheet pan! the one i have directly linked in the recipe card 🙂 I apologized as I thought I changed both words in the instructions. everything has been fixed now
I loved it! Thank you. I added spinach and charred broccoli and extra cheese.
Hi Laura awesome I am so glad you enjoyed it!!!
I made this for dinner tonight and I was really impressed! After the initial 5 minutes and topping, I put mine in for about 12 mins and it had a great focaccia texture. Will definitely be making from now on. Super easy and delicious!!
Awesome so glad you enjoyed it Shannon! thank you for trying!
Delicious high protein pizza! If you are a VWG novice then you understand the texture. I thought it was fantastic and will be on rotation at my house.
So glad you enjoyed it Adrienne!!
This was delicious! I let it cool on my air fryer oven while I went on a run, and it was the perfect!
Hi Yamilet! So glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for trying and taking the time to leave a comment/review!
This recipe was shared in an Instagram group I am in and I have made it every week since it was shared. It is so easy and yummy and the toppings are really endless. It’s the perfect easy dinner after working all week, or like tonight, a Monday when I’m just not feeling like cooking a big full meal.
Hi Lee, that is so awesome. So glad to hear it is being shared around. Thank you for trying it and taking the time to leave a comment/review means a lot!
I made triple amount for the family, the first pizza came out well, but the second I must’ve mixed up the flour ratio, since it took forever to cook and was more seitany. I enjoyed this pizza however, good alternative and quick to make!
Hi Sirli, ahh I am sorry to hear that about the second pizza. Yes with anything with baking it is important for us to be as precise as possible!!! But glad you enjoyed it overall
Hi there,
I’ve never left a recipe review before but I was so blown away by this protein pizza, I could not resist. I love this recipe so much I meal prepped 5 days’ worth of pizza for my lunches this week. The dough is soft and springy and not dry or tough as some vital wheat gluten doughs can be. It’s so versatile too – you can add any toppings you like and go wild with the flavors. I even bought two 1/8 baking sheet pans so the final product cooks in the perfect shape every time. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Hi Sarah! Oh my goodness thank you so so much for the kind words. I really appreciate you trying the recipe out and that you took the time to leave a comment/review. Means so much and so glad to hear you are enjoying it yay!! xoxo
Very easy to make and tastes really good.
awesome so glad you enjoyed!!!
Hi! I love this recipe but I was wondering if you had any tips for someone who doesn’t have a 1/8 sheet pan (and isn’t confident in her ability to find one easily, in Finland). I’ve been using a larger sheet pan and just spreading it into a round-ish shape. I like a lot of toppings on mine and I’ve found it makes the end result a bit soggy in the middle, especially on the bottom, rather than crispy like I’d hoped. Do you have any suggestions?
Hi! Just making sure you are pre-baking the crust right? You may need adjust your oven temp. All ovens work and run differently so you can try to increase the temperature by 10-20 degrees.. You can also preheat your pan in the oven, let it warm up as the oven warms. Just of course be careful. The crust doesn’t get super crispy it is a softer pizza in general
Yes, I always prebake, just like the recipe says! I tried prebaking for a little longer (10-12 mins) at a slightly lower temperature (400F) before adding my toppings and then cooking at the normal temperature last night – I think it did help, although the longer the pizza cooled the soggier it got (understandable). I might try flipping the crust next time and seeing if that helps add some more structural integrity below the toppings 🙂
Update! So I made a couple of adjustments to this recipe to make a crust that was more crisp and firm, and I love the result. I’ll put them below in case anyone finds them useful (note I bake this on a parchment-lined sheet pan in a vaguely round shape rather than the 1/8th sheet pan).
1. Reduce water in the dough to 100 ml instead of 120.
2. Before adding to the pan, sprinkle a little semolina flour or fine cornmeal on the bottom.
3. Bake at 400F for 10ish minutes, then flip, sprinkling a little more cornmeal or semolina on the bottom of the other side. Bake for like 5 more minutes.
4. Remove from oven, turn it up to 425F, add your toppings, then throw it back in the oven for 15ish minutes (whenever it looks good to you).
That’s it!
awesome glad you found a way to make it work for you! 🙂
It’s a really nice way to eat pizza and get extra protein. We usually make 3x and big baking sheet full of yummy stuff on top.
Yay I am so glad you enjoyed it!!!! thank you for trying and leaving a comment/review!
Made this today, used whole wheat flour. Was so easy to make, loved the taste. I demolished it and will definitely be making it in repeat
Thanks!
Hi Kimberly, yay you are so welcome. So happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for trying it!!! 🙂
You legit just changed my life! This was AMAZING!
Hi Kristine, yay I am so so glad you enjoyed it!!! thank you so much for trying it
I tried it for the first time yesterday! It was so easy to make, mine had 50grams of protein just in the crust itself before I even put toppings on it (because I was using grams instead of cups). It was so good! Way easier, more protein and cheaper than buying it in store.
Hi Steph, so glad you enjoyed! ahh interesting as I also use grams so that is interesting. But either way glad you enjoyed 🙂
Have made this before and loved it! Wondering if I could make the dough and save in the fridge for a few weeks or if needs to be baked right away?
Yay I am so glad you enjoyed it!! No you definitely need to bake this right away 🙂 you actually shouldn’t keep any dough in the fridge for a few weeks!
I was thinking I might pre-mix some individual servings of just the dry ingredients to save me time. Then I just have to add water and ACV when it’s time to make a pizza. Might work for you, too.
Yes you can do that if you like
I was happy to discover you had a pizza version of the bagel recipe. I used a 9×9 so my pizza was flatter than I wanted it, but tbh it was still delightful Loving these high protein recipes. Keep them coming! I’m aiming to try the protein dessert with tofu soon!
Yay! I am so glad you are enjoying them!! 🙂
I love how easy and tasty this recipe is! I expected it to have more of a seitany flavor than it did, which was a pleasant surprise. I added a teaspoon of Italian seasoning to the dough to boost the flavor a little bit too. Next time I might put the pan on a preheated pizza stone next time to get the bottom a little crispier. I will definitely be making this recipe a lot!
Hi Amelia, yay I am so happy you enjoyed it thank you so much for trying it!!!
High marks for ease of making! Fast with pantry ingredients and tasty. Next time for me, with my oven I will precook a few minutes more. I used a more watery sauce with eggplant and it needed a bit more firmness. Will definitely make again.
Hi Mahriah! I am so glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for trying the recipe 🙂