After making so much homemade vegan cheese, it only made sense to have a vegan pizza party! Rather than hoard the 5 containers of homemade fresh mozzarella, I shared some with friends and shredded plenty more on pizza. For this pizza party, I decided to try out a pizza recipe that's been on my to-do list for months: pretzel crust pizza! Yes, you read that correctly: a giant disc-shaped soft pretzel acting as pizza crust.
This pretzel crust pizza starts like any other pizza dough: mixing yeast, water, flour, and few other ingredients. What changes it completely is boiling the rolled pizza crusts in a baking soda bath for 45 seconds (just how you would make soft pretzels). After boiling, the dough is ready to top with ingredients and bake. I also brushed the crust with aquafaba as an "egg" wash and sprinkled the crust with coarse salt because this is a giant pretzel, after all.
I opted to make a pizza with regular ol' toppings, but once you have a pretzel crust, different flavor combinations could be pretty fantastic. BBQ jackfruit sandwiches are usually served on pretzel buns, so you could put that on a pizza! Or slice up German-style vegan sausages, add some mustard and sauerkraut, and have a "beer brat" pizza! Maybe vegan pastrami!
Cook for Your Best Friend!
Today's Vegan MoFo theme is "cook for your best friend". I've known my BFF Brian for over 7 years now, and while we've eaten all types of food together, I've deduced that his favorite food is "pie". Fruit pie, pizza pie, you name it. While I certainly would not be opposed to an entire meal composed of dessert pie, I figured a pizza party would be the best way to go for dinner. We invited Brian over to hang out and try out this pretzel crust pizza, share some homemade cheese, and make martinis—gin martinis are our "thing"!
We discussed how, in fact, the only difference between regular pizza crust and pretzel crust is baking soda, so it would be super easy to pretzel-fy any type of bread dough from now on. And how the pretzel crust solves the problem of leftover pizza crusts. After eating your pizza slices to the crust, you basically have a soft pretzel, which can then be dipped in mustard. WAY better than regular pizza crust.
Pizza Party Menu
Gin Martinis - dirty, with lots of olives! Made with local gin from Koval, and one of the few widely-available vegan-friendly vermouths, Dolin. Another vegan-friendly vermouth is Tribuno.
Vegan Cheese Plate - Smoked Provolone, Brie, and crackers
Tostones with garlic - these didn't last for more than 5 minutes, so no photos.
Soft Pretzels and Mustard - made with the leftover pizza dough
Pretzel Crust Pizza!
These photos were a pizza party recreation the next day because I wasn't about to bring out the soft boxes and play food paparazzi in the middle of a pizza party!
Get the recipe:
Pretzel Crust Pizza
Vegan pretzel crust pizza recipe with vegan mozzarella and veggie toppings. Add your favorite toppings!
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 cups lukewarm water
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active-dry yeast, (1 packet)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup vegan butter, melted
- 6 cups flour
- 10 cups water
- ⅔ cup baking soda
- ¼ cup aquafaba, (liquid from a can of chickpeas)
- Coarse salt or pretzel salt
Toppings:
- ¾-1 cup pizza sauce
- 2-3 cups vegan mozzarella cheese
- Onions, sliced
- Bell Peppers, sliced
- Garlic, sliced
- Vegan sausage and/or pepperoni, chopped
- Olives, sliced
Instructions
- Combine the water, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with a dough hook, or a large mixing bowl and wait for the yeast to bubble and foam a bit.
- Add the salt and vegan butter.
- Gradually add the flour, kneading it in 1 cup at a time, until a smooth dough forms. You may not need to use all of the flour, or may need more.
- Knead the dough for 5-6 minutes, adding more flour if necessary.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a clean towel, and let rise in a warm location for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line 4 baking sheets with foil or parchment, then set aside.
- Pour the 10 cups of water in your widest soup pot, then stir in the baking soda. Bring to a boil.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces, and roll out into 7-8-inch wide (or as wide as your pot allows) pizza crusts on a floured surface.
- Carefully drop an entire pizza crust in the boiling baking soda solution and boil for 45 seconds, making sure the entire surface area is touching the solution. Remove from the pot and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with each piece of dough.
- Brush the edges of your dough with the aquafaba, then sprinkle with coarse salt.
- Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce on each boiled crust, then add the cheese and your preferred toppings.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the crust is golden.
Notes
- Dip your crusts in spicy brown mustard!
- Make 3 pizzas instead of 4, then use the remaining dough to make soft pretzels! The bake time is the same, and you can also brush them with aquafaba then sprinkle with salt before baking.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 2 piecesAmount Per Serving: Calories: 721Total Fat: 29gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 800mgCarbohydrates: 83gFiber: 4gSugar: 5gProtein: 31g
All nutritional information presented within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on seitanbeatsyourmeat.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimates.
I opted to only make 3 pizzas, and make the rest into soft pretzels. The dough recipe is actually based off of my recipe for homemade soft pretzels.
Nia
There just aren't words for how yummy this looks!
veganinbrighton
Well pretzel crust pizza is going on my must make list. It looks delish' and good point about the crusts, I usually dip mine in mayo but hot mustard would be perfect here.
Jenny
Such a great idea - I'd never even thought of pretzel pizza! The salt on the crust sounds like a great touch.