Vegan White Pizza w/ Roasted Tomatoes & Basil
Hi and welcome back to Ria Lives Well!
The other day, I needed proof that being a vegan didn’t mean I had to give up good, cheesy pizza.
So I went on a hunt.
I headed to my nearest library and looked up vegan cookbooks that offered pizza recipes that were good, but not exactly what I was looking for. You see, I’m addicted to cheese. Or, rather, I was addicted to cheese before I made the decision to stop buying dairy products. And Daiya cheese, while the talk of the vegan town, doesn’t cut it for me. In fact…I’m not particularly fond of it’s taste. Like…at all.
Basil, fire roasted tomatoes and dry oregano
The recipes I found made no attempt at even imitating a real cheese pizza. I don’t mind having pizza topped with pesto, vegetables and tofu every once in a while…but there are times when all I want is a damn good imitation cheese pizza.
Frustrated, I took my search to the internet, where I came across a recipe for vegan white pizza, which uses coconut cream as the cheese substitute.
I took one look at that recipe list. Just one. And I was all in.
Vegan White Pizza:
Inspired by: Sweet Beet and Green Bean
- Pizza dough (homemade or store bought; although I highly recommend her dough)
- 2 roasted garlic heads
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- Fire roasted tomatoes (canned)
- fresh basil leaves
- one teaspoon dried oregano
Directions:
- Roast garlic head. Set oven to 375 deg. F. Lightly coat garlic with oil. Roast for 40-60 minutes {mine took just 4o}.
- Pour 1/2 cup of coconut milk + sea salt + roasted garlic in a blender. Blend on high until smooth. Strain. Refrigerate.
- Roll out your dough. Pinch the circumference to create crust.
- Sprinkle a bit of corn flour over baking sheet.
- Carefully pour the coconut and garlic mix over the pizza. Top with fresh basil and a few fire roasted tomatoes. Sprinkle with oregano.
- Bake at 475 for 10 minutes, or until crust browns and cheese bubbles
I made two of these. The first I ate so quickly, I was unable to take pictures of it. My greediness makes food blogging very difficult.
You’re probably wondering if the coconut taste is pronounced in this recipe. It really isn’t. The roasted garlic beats down the coconut triumphantly.
This recipe was exactly what I was looking for. Something “cheesy,” without regret.
~Live Well!
Ria Lives Well 
Question – when you say coconut milk do you mean the canned coconut milk or the type that is sold as a replacement for cow’s milk? Or does it matter?
Hi Kat!
I mean the canned coconut milk–not the kind in the cartons. Using the thick part at the top creates a better sauce, in my opinion. So don’t mix the coconut milk–scoop out the “solid” top part for the recipe.
I just made a white pizza with this sauce and added grape tomatoes, spinach, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and cashew ricotta. It was delicious! I am so glad I found your blog. Everything (except the bologna sandwich) looks good. I can’t wait to try your Onion Cheese Mac.
Hey TamsenGrace! I’m so glad you like the blog and my recipes. Your rendition sounds tasty and I’ll have to try it! Give the vegan Bologna sandwich a try! Oftentimes, my food photography misrepresents a tasty recipe
Tried this yesterday and I must say it was amazingly good!
Do not skip or forget to strain when blending the coconut milk and roasted garlic, or the “cheesy sauce” will be too runny!
I also put black olives, mushrooms and artichoke hearts, as well as a base of pizza sauce under the “cheese” and it was so yummy, I’ll definitely do it again soon!
This calmed our pizza cravings during this “one month of eating vegan” that my wife and I are doing! Thank you!!
Good emphasis: strain the sauce!
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
ok dude seriously, i love you. i LOVE you. i love this pizza and i love this blog. you have made one happy family. i added artichoke hearts and extra garlic ❤ this is my first vegan pizza (other than ordering out and saying dont put cheese on it) and i am thrilled! the longer im vegan the more im realizing that there really is no compromise, i am getting BETTER versions of my favorites!
Hey Jocelyn, so glad you liked it! Artichoke hearts sounds like a good addition…and (random) maybe a lil’ corn.
Making this right now. Can’t wait to try it and hoping my two little girls like it, too! I tried the Daiya yesterday…definitely not a fan either… I don’t have a fine mesh strainer, so I’m hoping my “cheese” isn’t too runny. Also, I am using the crushed tomatoes, so I’m thinking I’ll strain those. Thanks for posting! We’re newly vegan and are trying out lots of recipes. Thinking this one will be a keeper. 🙂
I made this tonight, and I topped it wish mushroom and basil. I used a gluten-free crust mix, which obviously is not as good as a home-made gluten crust, but it was still extremely delicious! I refrigerated the coconut milk and then scooped out the thick part for the sauce, so I didn’t need to strain the sauce. The thin part will be put in smoothies. This recipe will definitely be a regular in our house, and I can’t wait to experiment with different toppings. YUM!
Was your pizza dough free of eggs and milk?
Yes, absolutely!
This was so good. I am in disbelief at the simplicity. I used BRM gluten free pizza crust that was jazzed up with italian herbs, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast. I am thinking this sauce would be an excellent sub for alfredo.
Did you try it as an alfredo sauce? I did, and it worked out so well! I’m thinking of tweaking this recipe and turning it from a sauce to a hard cheese. 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
When you use that pizza dough recipe do you pre-back it like they say on the website? p.s. this looks great making it for dinner tonight!
Hi Maria! If you made this vegan pizza, I hope you enjoyed it! I did follow ALL the instructions on the website when it came to preparing the dough.
Canned coconut milk or the drinkable kind?
Use canned coconut milk!
Hi! So I’m thinking that maybe I didn’t use enough garlic but my pizza still tasted coconutty, have you ever had this problem? It was very good but I could do without the coconut taste haha
After being displeased with multiple cashew cheese options, I gave up on trying to find a good substitute. Then I came upon this recipe. It is, hands down, the most delicious faux cheese recipe I have had. Thank you so much for this, and your other recipes that I’ll be trying in the near future. Off to buy a case of coconut milk so I can make up for lost pizza times.
I’ve had to take on a fairly restrictive diet over the the past few weeks and I’ve been looking for recipes that my only work for my busy nursing schedule but are delicious and safe for me to eat. This recipe is amazing! Honestly perfection, the most delicious thing I have eaten in a while. You my dear are a godsend!
Hi Janet! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. It’s simple, so play around with it by adding different ingredients. It’s like a new meal, I think.
“My greediness makes food blogging very difficult.”
Soul sister.
Except I don’t bother blogging. lol
I made this tonight. I’m newly dairy free because my breastfed baby is allergic to cows milk. This was so yummy. I dipped it in pizza sauce and that was the icing on the cake. Thanks for the yummy recipe!!!
Made this for the first time tonight. Seriously, AMAZING!! This will be my new go-to recipe. Next time will add lots of veggies. So, good!
Ria, the cream gets stretchy as it seams in the Picture? Mine got a creamy consistence, as catupiry, I wan`t it to know if this was ur result or if I made something wrong, because it took 20 minutes at the oven to start solidifying and there was no crusts 🙂
what kind of dough if you do not want to store buy?