Homemade Vegan Pizza Dough

This is a super easy vegan pizza dough recipe for beginners! Made from scratch using 5 minute overnight dough, it produces a soft homemade pizza crust that you can customize with all your favorite pizza toppings. This pizza dough can be made ahead, used right away, par baked or frozen for later.

This fuss-free pizza dough is an easy recipe for everyone from beginners to pros! No kneading, no special equipment needed, no mess, and it bakes up to crispy, chewy perfection every time!
Plus you can use this all purpose refrigerator dough to make white sandwich bread, vegan dinner rolls, garlic breadsticks, vegan cinnamon rolls, homemade pitas and so much more.

The best thing about this overnight pizza dough is it takes only 5 minutes to stir together! It rises on the counter for 2 hours then is stored in the refrigerator to develop maximum flavor overnight. Then it's ready to bake whenever you're craving homemade pizza over the next 2 weeks. Super easy, super fast, super delicious!

Refrigerated Pizza Dough Ingredients

This refrigerator pizza dough is made with only a 4 pantry staple ingredients. Gather together: all purpose flour, yeast, olive oil, salt, sugar, and water.

• Flour: I've used both all purpose flour and bread flour with good success.
• Yeast: Either active dry or quick yeast works for this recipe.
• Sugar: I like to use maple syrup, but use any sweetener you have on hand.
• Olive Oil or Butter?: Use olive oil or melted vegan butter. There is a slight flavor difference, but both options produce soft, flavorful, vegan baked goods. Can skip if oil free.
• Optional Seasoned Pizza Crust: Flavor the pizza dough with ~1 teaspoon garlic powder or onion powder, ~½ teaspoon oregano or basil for a savory seasoned pizza dough.

How to Make Vegan Pizza Dough

Using this refrigerator dough recipe to make your overnight pizza dough is super easy and convenient. Let's get into the details:

1. Mix the pizza dough ingredients together in a bucket (or large bowl), cover, and let it proof on the counter for ~2 hours. The dough can be used right away after the proof (although it will be sticky) or chill it overnight before shaping your pizza crusts.

2. Divide the pizza dough: ON BAKING DAY, preheat the oven to 500º F. Twist off a piece of dough ~7-8 oz (~250 grams) per 9-10" pizza (you can always return extra dough back to the bucket). On a floured work surface, shape the dough into pizza balls. Cover and let the dough come up to room temperature while the oven is preheating (~30+ minutes).

3. Shape the pizza crusts: Working with one pizza dough ball at a time (on a floured surface), flour your hands then press the dough into a flat disc. Start to press and stretch the pizza dough from the middle outward into a 9-10" wide round (they don't have to be perfect - mine never are!). Feel free to pick up the dough and use your fists to gently stretch it letting gravity assist. Thin crust: Stretch the pizza dough to a larger circle for a thinner crust.
   
   Tip: If the dough is springing back, cover and let it rest another ~10 minutes at room temperature so the gluten has more time to warm up.

4. Pick up the pizza round, shake off any excess flour then transfer to the preheated skillet on the stove (careful not to touch the edges of the hot pan). Using your finger tips, carefully push/stretch the pizza crust toward the edges of the pan as needed.
5. Add pizza sauce, vegan cheese, and toppings of choice right away. Cook on the stove over medium to medium-high for 5-6 minutes. Use a fork to peek underneath the dough to check progress. Note: Because a cast iron skillet holds heat so well, the bottom of the pizza crust continues to char and bake while in the oven.

6. Once the bottom has a light char, transfer the skillet to the oven and cook until the top of the pizza crust is nicely brown and the cheese is bubbling (this should take between 4-5 minutes). Broil for the last couple minute to finish the pizza (optional).
7. Dig In!: Remove the vegan pizzas from the oven, slice, and enjoy!

Favorite Vegan Pizza Toppings

Customizing your own pizza is the best part! You can add literally any toppings your family enjoys (or you have a craving for) - we don't judge pineapple pizza lovers!

To make the pizza shown in this photo, I used pizza sauce, Miyokos mozzarella, sautéed mushrooms, onions, and black olives. Once baked, I added fresh tomatoes, raw onions, torn basil leaves, and a drizzle of homemade chili oil.

My Best Tips

A cast iron pan has the heat holding capacity needed to cook the underside of homemade pizza producing a fabulous restaurant quality pizza crust! But you don't need one to enjoy homemade pizza. Here's a few tips:

• No cast iron skillet?: No worries, you can bake your pizza in the oven on a pizza stone, baking steel, baking sheet or pizza pan.
• Sticky dough?: Depending on your climate, you may need to use extra flour when shaping the pizza crusts. Dust your hands and the work surface before shaping the dough. Use your bench scraper to assist moving the pizza dough balls as needed.
• MILLION DOLLAR TIP: Don't make this rookie mistake! Be sure to add the toppings to the your pizza crust after it's in the cast iron skillet. Fully loaded, room temperature pizza dough is a challenge to move freehand - trust me!
• How long do I cook skillet pan pizza crust?: The first pizza takes the longest. Subsequent pizzas are a bit quicker because the skillet is HOT. Reduce the heat on the stove as needed.
• Make ahead option: Par-baked pizza crust allows you to make pizza in advance which is a major time saver for weeknight dinners. Just shape them, par bake them, then freeze them to use later.
• Pizza sauce: To save leftover pizza sauce, freeze in ice cube trays. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer bag, label it, and store in the freezer. When ready to make pizza again, defrost 4 frozen cubes per 9-10" pizza.

There you have it, the easiest, tastiest vegan pizza dough recipe to use for all your favorite vegan pizza recipes. Enjoy!

How to Par Bake Pizza Dough

If you're making pizza anyway . . . why not bake some pizza crusts for now and some for later. Here's how to par bake and freeze pizza crusts:

• Follow the recipe up until the cooking step. Cook the pizza in a pre-heated cast iron skillet over medium to medium-high for ~5 minutes. Flip the pizza and cook for another 2 minutes while the crust sets and takes on some light color.
• Let the pizza crusts cool completely then place them in freezer bags with a sheet of parchment paper between each pizza. Great make-ahead time saver for pizza night!
• On pizza night, preheat the oven to 500º F (if using a pizza stone, put it in now as well). Remove the pizza crust from the freezer, and let it thaw on the counter while preparing the toppings. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Top the crusts with pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings then bake (in the upper third of the oven) for 8-18 minutes* or until the cheese is bubbling and the crust is golden. *Depending on pan.

More Vegan Italian Recipes

If you love vegan comfort food - Italian style, here's a few tasty recipes to try next:

• Homemade Marinara Sauce (authentic Italian style)
• Easy Tofu Pasta (with Italian Herb Crusted Baked Tofu)
• Vegan Lentil Bolognese
• Epic Vegan Lasagna with Bechamel
• Homemade Italian Breadcrumbs
• Easiest Vegan Lasagna Roll Ups
• Soft and Chewy Garlic Breadsticks

If you tried this Vegan Pizza Dough (vegan pizza crust) recipe, please leave a rating and review below! Be sure to follow along on Instagram and Pinterest or sign up for my Sunday morning newsletter for tips on how to make vegan food taste incredible.