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DIY Vegan Frozen Pizza (with gluten-free option)

DIY Homemade Vegan Frozen Pizza is the convenience you never knew you needed (or maybe you did and that’s why you searched for it and here you are!) Let’s face it. The selection of store-bought frozen vegan pizzas is still a little sad. The toppings usually aren’t too bad but they’re limited. The crusts are barely passable. And often pretty expensive for what you get. Make them yourself and you’ll have a way better experience, with better ingredients, tastier toppings and satisfying crusts; more value for the cost. Try the Mushroom Forest Pizza or Habanero Buffalo “Chicken” Pizza for your toppings and put them on thin crispy gluten-free crusts or puffy no-knead wheat-based crust.
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Video tutorial for DIY Vegan Frozen Pizza

This video was sponsored by Thrive Market.
 

Normally, I whip together a no-knead wheat-based crust for my pizzas at home. But I love my gluten-free friends too much leave you out of this DIY frozen pizza “meal prep”!

The dough is supposed to be soft and loose whether you’re making the gluten-free version or not.

For the gluten-free crust, I recommend Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour. It works really well and does not have any funny taste like many gluten-free blends do. For those in Canada, you can also use Bulk Barn’s gluten-free 1 to 1 baking flour. They have the exact same ingredients.

Spread the gluten-free dough with your hands or spatula. Make it thin for best results.

For the regular wheat-based crusts, you can make them thin or thick. For thinner crusts, sprinkle flour over the mounds of risen dough and roll out. For thicker crusts, just stretch out the dough with wet or oiled hands.

You can make two large pizzas with this recipe, four individual sized, or a combination.

You’ll parbake the crusts, meaning baking just until they are cooked through but still pale. This ensures that the crust will bake up perfectly after freezing. Just let them cook completely on wire racks before adding the sauce and other toppings.

Mushroom Forest Pizza

Mushroom Forest Pizza has a bevy of nutritious, delicious toppings inspired by nature: greens, lentils, sweet caramelized onions, and pine nuts. It goes perfectly on thin, crispy crusts and is a wonderful autumnal pizza without the use of pumpkin. I’m not opposed to pumpkin but I have to admit, I’m a little over it this fall.

Mushroom Forest Pizza ready to be baked or frozen.

You’ll want to make the caramelized onions ahead of time since they take almost 2 hours to complete. Make them in the oven so you don’t have to be glued to the stove. Just slice up a few large onions, bake them at 400°F in a roasting pan or dutch oven with a lid and stir every 15 minutes. During the first hour, you might have doubts as nothing seems to happen. But quickly in the second hour, the colour will develop. Draw darker bits of onion to the middle and add splashes of water to dissolve the dark film around the edges.

3 large onions made 3/4 cup of caramelized onions. Seems like a small amount but a little goes a long way!

Habanero Buffalo Tofu “Chicken” Pizza

The second pizza is my favourite of the moment: Habanero Buffalo Tofu “Chicken” Pizza. No chicken, obvs. It uses extra firm tofu, dry-fried in a pan to remove the moisture, then re-hydrated with DIY Vegan “Chicken” Broth and sauced up with homemade Habanero Buffalo Sauce. The Habanero Buffalo Sauce can be quickly blended together using vegan butter or butter-flavoured coconut oil and the habanero hot sauce of your choice. I chose Yellowbird Habanero Hot Sauce Condiment which I love because the flavour is just really sharp and fresh. Which, I know, is a funny way of describing hot sauce. But if you love spice and can find this Made in Texas sauce, I’d recommend giving it a try.

Vegan Habanero Buffalo Pizza ready to be frozen.

I love the Habanero Buffalo “Chicken” Pizza on thick, pillowy crusts. They come out soft on top but crispy on the bottom.

Freezing and Baking your DIY Vegan Frozen Pizza

Once your pizzas are topped, pop them in your freezer uncovered. You’ll let them sit for an hour to three hours until the toppings are frozen solid. Then you can transfer them to freezer bags, suck out all the excess air, and seal. Taking out the extra air prevents ice crystals from forming over time. To reduce waste, I reuse my freezer bags. Just wipe them down between uses and store the empty bags in the freezer to prevent any pathogens growing. When they finally kick the bucket, you can recycle them.

Once solid, you can stack the frozen pizzas up to save room in your freezer.

To bake, preheat your oven to 425°F and place your pizza stone or baking tray on the middle rack. When the oven is hot, take the pizza out of the freezer and directly on the stone or baking tray. Bake for around 10 to 15 minutes or until the toppings are heated through. I don’t recommend baking the gluten-free crust directly on the oven rack. The gluten-free crust can fall through if it’s too thin. You can bake the wheat-based crust directly on the oven rack, though I prefer using a baking tray or pizza stone when making the buttery Habanero Buffalo Pizza. The melted coconut oil will drip down and sizzle around the edges of the pizza making it extra crispy and intensifying that soft/crunchy textural juxtaposition for ultimate pizza satisfaction.

Printable recipe for DIY Vegan Frozen Pizza (wheat-based)

Yield: 2 10" crusts or 4 6" personal sized crusts

Vegan Frozen Pizza Crust

Vegan Frozen Pizza Crust

Make your own vegan frozen pizza crust and freeze them plain or with toppings. Choose your own toppings or try my Habanero Buffalo Pizza, or Mushroom Forest Pizza.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 1/4 cup (300ml) warm water, 105°-110°F
  • 2 teaspoons instant or traditional yeast (one envelope)
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour (wheat-based)
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Remove any thing from inside your oven and make some space in your freezer so a tray or two can lie flat in it.
  2. Combine ground flax seed and 3 tablespoons of water. Separately, in a large bowl combine sugar, warm water, and yeast. Let this yeast mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes. During this time the yeast will activate and become foamy.
  3. Give the ground flax and water a quick mix. It should be thick and goopy. Add it to the yeast mixture. Add 3 cups of all-purpose flour and a sprinkle the salt over top. Mix until dough forms and there are no dry streaks. This dough will be very loose and requires no kneading. Cover and let dough rise for 30 minutes to an hour in a warm draft-free location or until doubled in size.
  4. Prepare two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Add a teaspoon of oil to each place where you will put your pizza crusts. See the video for demonstration.
  5. Spread the oil out a little bit with clean hands. With wet or oiled fingers, divide the dough into the number of crust you would like. Place the dough on the oiled parchment lined baking sheets and spread the dough out. If the dough sticks to your hands as you try to spread the dough out and make the crust as thin as you desire, just add a little bit more oil to your hands or use water. If you desire a thin crust, add a little bit of flour to the tops so that you can really flatten out this dough.
  6. Cover the dough loosely with a warm damp clean kitchen towel, making sure that the towel will not touch the dough as it rises. Let rise in a warm draft free location, about 30 minutes so it can double in size.

To make frozen pizza

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake the pizza crusts for 10 minutes or until they are cooked through, but still pale on the top and bottom. For thin crusts, check on them at 5 minutes.
  2. Let your pizza crusts cool completely on a wire rack. Then add the pizza sauce and toppings of your choice.
  3. Place your topped pizzas uncovered in the freezer. Let freeze until the toppings are frozen solid; about 1 to 3 hours.
  4. Wrap the frozen pizzas in plastic wrap or place in freezer bags. If you use freezer bags make sure to suck out all the extra air from the bag before sealing. Your frozen pizzas will store well for about two months though flavors can dull over time so try not to store them too long.

To cook frozen pizzas

  1. if you have a pizza stone place it in your oven. If not, you can use a baking sheet placed upside down. Depending on the toppings, you may even bake directly on the oven racks. Preheat your oven to 425°F. When the oven is fully preheated, place the unwrapped frozen pizza directly onto the pizza stone or baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the toppings are completely heated through. Larger pizzas with more toppings may require a few extra minutes. Enjoy!

To make fresh pizzas, not frozen

  1. Top the uncooked risen pizza bases with your choice of toppings. Bake at 425°F on a pizza stone or baking sheet for 10 to 15 minutes or until the toppings are heated through and the crust is golden. If you're baking on two racks, rotate the trays halfway through. For an extra crispy crust, after baking only about 8 minutes, the crust should be solid enough so you can remove the baking sheet and let it bake directly on the oven rack for the remaining time. However, if you're making Habanero Buffalo Pizza, you should still use a baking sheet/pizza stone for the whole time.Enjoy!

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Printable recipe for Gluten-Free Vegan Frozen Pizza Crust

Yield: 2 10" or 4 6" gluten-free pizza bases

Gluten-Free Vegan Frozen Pizza Bases

Gluten-Free Vegan Frozen Pizza Bases

Make gluten-free pizza bases that are designed to freeze well and bake perfectly. Choose your own toppings or try my Habanero Buffalo Pizza or Mushroom Forest Pizza.

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 3/4 cup (180ml) warm water, 105°-110°F
  • 2 teaspoons instant or traditional yeast (one envelope)
  • 1 1/2 cups (220g) all-purpose gluten-free flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 teaspoons oil

Instructions

  1. Remove any thing from inside your oven and make some space in your freezer so a tray or two can lie flat in it.
  2. Combine ground flax seed and 3 tablespoons of water. Separately, in a large bowl combine sugar, warm water, and yeast. Let this yeast mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes. During this time the yeast will activate and become foamy.
  3. Give the ground flax and water a quick mix. It should be thick and goopy. Add it to the yeast mixture.
  4. Add the gluten-free flour, sprinkle over the salt and baking powder. Mix well. The mixture should be thick but still very soft.
  5. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper. Put down 1 teaspoon of oil in the middle of where you want your pizza crusts to go. See video for demonstration. Spread the oil out to little bit with clean hands.
  6. Divide the crust mixture into the number of pizzas you want to make and place on your prepared, oiled parchment-lined baking sheets. With wet or oiled hands, flatten out the mixtures into your pizza crusts shapes. Make the crusts thin, about 1/4 inch thick. Cover loosely with a warm damp towel making sure that the crusts will not touch it. Let them sit in a warm draft-free location for 20 minutes to rise.
  7. Preheat your oven to 425°F. Uncover your pizza crusts. They should be slightly more puffy but they won't rise like traditional pizza. Bake for 10 minutes or until the tops look dry and the crust feels firm. The bottom of the crust should still look pale.

To make frozen pizza

  1. Let your pizza crusts cool completely on a wire rack.
  2. Add the pizza sauce and toppings of your choice. I suggest the Habanero Buffalo Pizza toppings or Mushroom Forest Pizza toppings.
  3. Place your topped pizzas uncovered in the freezer. Let freeze until the toppings are frozen solid; about 1 to 3 hours.
  4. Wrap the frozen pizzas in plastic wrap or place in freezer bags. If you use freezer bags make sure to suck out all the extra air from the bag before sealing. Your frozen pizzas will store well for about two months though flavors can dull over time so try not to store them too long.

To cook frozen pizzas

  1. if you have a pizza stone place it in your oven. If not, you can use a baking sheet placed upside down. Preheat your oven to 425°F. When the oven is fully preheated, place the unwrapped frozen pizza directly onto the pizza stone or baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the toppings are completely heated through. Larger pizzas with more toppings may require a few extra minutes. Enjoy!

To make fresh pizzas, not frozen

  1. Top the pizza crusts right away. You don't have to let them cool. Bake at 425°F for 10 to 15 minutes or until the toppings are heated through and the crust is golden brown. Enjoy!

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Printable recipe for Vegan Mushroom Forest Pizza

Vegan Mushroom Forest Pizza

Vegan Mushroom Forest Pizza

Loaded with different kinds of mushrooms, pine nuts, lentils and greens, the Vegan Mushroom Forest Pizza is nutritious and delicious. Caramelized onions add extra natural sweetness to your choice of tomato pizza sauce.

Serve these pizzas fresh or follow the instructions on the DIY Frozen Pizza recipes to make frozen pizza that you can heat up anytime.

The directions in this recipe assume you'll be serving them fresh. This recipe makes 2 x 10" medium sized pizzas, 4 x 6" personal sized pizzas, or 1 x 10" and 2 x 6".

Ingredients

Pizza Dough

  • Use 1 batch of DIY Vegan Frozen Pizza (regular wheat-based) or DIY Gluten-free Vegan Frozen Pizza (above)

Toppings

  • 1 cup marinara/tomato pizza sauce
  • 1/2 cup frozen chopped leafy greens
  • 1/3 cup caramelized onions (see stove-top or oven recipe)
  • a handful of porcini and chanterelle mushrooms (I used dried mushrooms re-hydrated)
  • 1/4 cup fresh or canned sliced button mushrooms
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 1/4 cup cooked lentils
  • 1 cup vegan cheese shreds, optional

Instructions

  • Make the dough of your choice. For wheat-based dough, let it rise until doubled in size, about 30-60 minutes. For gluten-free dough, continue the recipe until you have shaped the pizza bases on baking sheets and cover for about 20 minutes. While you wait, prepare the topping ingredients.
  • For wheat-based dough

  • Prepare two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Add a teaspoon of oil to each place where you will put your pizza crusts. See the video for demonstration.
  • Spread the oil out with clean hands. With wet or oiled fingers, divide the dough into the number of crust you would like. Place the dough on the oiled parchment lined baking sheets and spread the dough out. If the dough sticks to your hands as you try to spread the dough out and make the crust as thin as you desire, just add a little bit more oil to your hands or use water. If you desire a thin crust, add a little bit of flour to the tops so that you can really flatten out this dough.
  • For what-based puffy crusts

  • Cover the dough loosely with a warm damp clean kitchen towel, making sure that the towel will not touch the dough as it rises. Let rise in a warm draft free location, about 30 minutes so it can double in size.
  • For wheat-based thin crusts

  • Immediately start topping the pizza.
  • For gluten-free crusts

  • The gluten-free crusts perform better when pre-baked. Preheat your oven to 425°F. Uncover your pizza crusts. They should be slightly more puffy but they won't rise like traditional pizza. Bake for 10 minutes or until the tops look dry and the crust feels firm. The bottom of the crust should still look pale.
  • Top the pizza (for all crusts)

  • Top each pizza with marinara/tomato pizza sauce; use 2-4 tablespoons for each individual sized pizza or 4-6 tablespoons for each medium sized pizza. Spread the sauce out to the edges of the pizza bases. Add the caramelized onions.
  • Add the rest of the toppings, spreading them out as evenly as possible.
  • Baking (for all crusts)

  • Bake at 425°F on a pizza stone or baking sheet for 10 to 15 minutes or until the toppings are heated through and the crust is golden. If you're baking on two racks, rotate the trays halfway through. For an extra crispy WHEAT crust, after baking only about 8 minutes, the crust should be solid enough so you can remove the baking sheet and let it bake directly on the oven rack for the remaining time. Remove your finished pizzas from the oven, slice and enjoy!

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Easy Vegan Caramelized Onions

close up of deep brown caramelized onions

Caramelized onions will transform any dish from ordinary to gourmet. The trick to perfect, melt-in-your-mouth, sweet and savory caramelized onions is to take things slowly.

Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs onions; about 4 large onions (use any kind you like)
  • 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional to help hasten cooking process)
  • 1/2 tablespoon cooking oil
  • water

Instructions

  1. Slice the onions up into small uniform pieces. They should all be about the same size so that the onions will cook evenly. Break up the slices with your fingers and work in the salt if using.
  2. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onions and spread them out evenly on the pan. Set a timer for 10 minutes and let cook. When the timer goes off, stir the onions so they will cook evenly. Set the timer and repeat until the onions start to get gummy or start to stick to the pan.
  3. Add a few tablespoons of water to the hot pan when the onions start sticking. Stir the onions and any gooey bits that are stuck to the pan in with the water. Then set your timer and allow the onions to continue cooking. Keep up this cycle of cooking for ten minutes and stirring until the the onions develop a deep brown color. They will become super soft and kind of gooey. This process can take between an hour and a half to two hours.
  4. Once the onions get to the desired color and flavour, add a few tablespoons of water to deglaze the pan one last time and transfer the onions to a heat proof container.
    Serve right away or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

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Printable recipe for Vegan Habanero Buffalo Tofu “Chicken” Pizza

Vegan Habanero Buffalo Tofu “Chicken” Pizza

Vegan Habanero Buffalo Tofu “Chicken” Pizza

Habanero sauce gives this Vegan Buffalo "Chicken" Pizza an extra kick that you control. The "chicken" is made with pan-browned extra firm tofu in buttery Habenero Buffalo sauce. Add red onions, fresh parsley, and vegan cheese to complete this pizza pie masterpiece.I love this with my puffy no-knead DIY Vegan Pizza Crust.

The butter sauce makes the soft top feel luxurious with the perfect crispy crunch of the bottom crust. Of course, you can opt for a thinner crust by simply rolling it out more with a dusting of extra flour. Or make use thin gluten-free crust for a completely gluten-free vegan pizza.

Serve these pizzas fresh or follow the instructions on the DIY Frozen Pizza recipes to make frozen pizza that you can heat up anytime. The directions in this recipe assume you'll be serving them fresh.This recipe makes 2 x 10" medium sized pizzas, 4 x 6" personal sized pizzas, or 1 x 10" and 2 x 6".

Ingredients

Pizza Dough

  • Use 1 batch of DIY Vegan Frozen Pizza (regular wheat-based) or DIY Gluten-free Vegan Frozen Pizza (above)

Habanero Buffalo Sauce

  • 1/2 cup butter-flavoured coconut oil (or vegan butter), room temperature
  • 2-3 tablespoons Habanero Sauce*, or to taste
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce

Tofu "Chicken"

  • 6 oz (170g) extra firm tofu
  • 1/4 cup vegan chicken broth**

Other toppings

  • 1/2 cup marinara/tomato pizza sauce
  • 1/4 cup chopped red onion
  • 1/2 medium red pepper, sliced
  • 3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
  • 1 cup vegan cheese shreds
  • Vegan ranch dressing, optional for serving

Instructions

  1. Make the dough of your choice. For wheat-based dough, let it rise until doubled in size. For gluten-free dough, continue the recipe until you have shaped the pizza bases on baking sheets and cover for about 20 minutes. While you wait, prepare the topping ingredients.
  2. In a blender (or using an immersion blender), combine room temperature butter-flavoured coconut oil or vegan butter, 1 tablespoon of Habanero Sauce, white vinegar, paprika, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, and vegan Worcestershire sauce. Blend until smooth. Taste. Add additional Habanero Sauce, 1 - 2 tablespoons to your taste, and blend again until smooth. Set aside your Habenero Buffalo Sauce.
  3. Heat a non-stick pan or wok over medium high heat. Meanwhile, blot the tofu to remove excess water. When the pan is hot, break the tofu into bite sized pieces directly into the dry pan or wok. Let the tofu brown on all sides. Occasionally, press the tofu with a spatula to squeeze out water. When all sides are browned, start adding vegan chicken broth, a tablespoon at a time. Allow the broth to soak into the chicken and boil dry between additions. When you've added all the broth, turn the heat down to medium. Add a few tablespoons of Habenero Buffalo Sauce and toss to coat the tofu. Remove tofu and let it cool.

For wheat-based dough

  1. Prepare two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Add a teaspoon of oil to each place where you will put your pizza crusts. See the video for demonstration.
  2. Spread the oil out with clean hands. With wet or oiled fingers, divide the dough into the number of crust you would like. Place the dough on the oiled parchment lined baking sheets and spread the dough out. If the dough sticks to your hands as you try to spread the dough out and make the crust as thin as you desire, just add a little bit more oil to your hands or use water. If you desire a thin crust, add a little bit of flour to the tops so that you can really flatten out this dough.

For wheat-based puffy crusts

  1. For extra puffiness, cover the dough loosely with a warm damp clean kitchen towel, making sure that the towel will not touch the dough as it rises. Let rise in a warm draft free location, about 30 minutes so it can double in size. For a regular puffy crust, you can skip this extra rise.

For wheat-based thin crusts

  1. Immediately start topping the pizza.

For gluten-free crusts

  1. The gluten-free crusts perform better when pre-baked. Preheat your oven to 425°F. Uncover your pizza crusts. They should be slightly more puffy but they won't rise like traditional pizza. Bake for 10 minutes or until the tops look dry and the crust feels firm. The bottom of the crust should still look pale.

Top the pizza (for all crusts)

  1. Top each pizza with marinara/tomato pizza sauce; use 1-2 tablespoons for each individual sized pizza or 2-4 tablespoons for each medium sized pizza. Add the same amount of Habenero Buffalo Sauce and spread the sauces out to the edges of the pizza bases.
  2. Add all the toppings, spreading them out as evenly as possible. You may reserve some of the parsley to sprinkle on after baking. Drizzle over any remaining Habanero Buffalo Sauce.

Baking (for all crusts)

  1. Bake at 425°F on a pizza stone or baking sheet for 10 to 15 minutes or until the toppings are heated through and the crust is golden. If you're baking on two racks, rotate the trays halfway through. I also like to finish with the broiler for 1 minute to brown the tops of the tofu "chicken".
  2. Remove your finished pizzas from the oven, slice and drizzle over Vegan Ranch Sauce if using. Enjoy!

Notes

  • *I used Yellowbird Habenero Hot Sauce Condiment. You can use any type you like. If you're a bit nervous about spice levels, start with just a teaspoon or two. Blend the sauce completely and taste before adding more to your preference.
  • If you are making gluten-free pizza, check the ingredients to make sure all your ingredients are gluten-free.
  • **You can use any vegan chicken broth you like. Try my DIY chicken broth powder. Or you can use regular vegetable broth.

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Showing 4 comments
  • Laura
    Reply

    Hi Mary! Do you have metric measurements for the wheat dough? I love the accuracy metric provides over imperial measurements. Thanks!

  • Sarah Cummings
    Reply

    This is so mouthwatering! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂

  • Heather@Kookist
    Reply

    It’s kind of new to me a frozen pizza but it looks so healthy and delicious! I can’t wait to try it.

    • Mary
      Reply

      Thanks so much, Heather! 🙂

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