This Vegan Artichoke Pesto Pizza was a recent weeknight creation I loved so much I knew I had to share it with you! A truly delicious pizza dough topped with homemade pesto, seasonal vegetables, and tender baby artichokes is waiting to be made by you!
How to make artichoke pesto pizza
One of my favorite weekday dinners is hands down "Make Your Own Pizza Night". Sometimes we'll make my garlic herb pizza dough, sometimes we buy it pre-made. Whichever dough we choose, we always have so much fun adding on our pizza toppings and, of course, eating our personal pizzas!
This Pizza Can be Made with Homemade Or Store-Bought Dough
The best thing about homemade pizza is just how easy it actually is to make. You can easily use store-bought pizza dough or you can use my Vegan Pizza Dough if making homemade dough is in the cards (though you have to make it 24 hours ahead of time for the best flavor!).
Beyond that, all you need is some sauce (or pesto!), fresh vegetables, vegan mozzarella, and a good pizza stone.
While this vegan pesto pizza uses shaved asparagus, canned baby artichokes, and mushrooms, you can also substitute peppers, onion, snap peas, or really any vegetable you prefer. As a final touch, make sure to top with arugula or other fresh greens!
How to make pesto for pizza
This vegan pesto pizza features my absolute favorite Homemade Vegan Pesto!
Normally, pesto is made with Parmesan cheese. To make pesto vegan, this recipe calls for soaked cashews which, when blended, add the same creaminess you get from cheese.
P.S- I also love topping this pizza with my homemade tofu ricotta as a cheese substitute. It also calls for nutritional yeast which adds the "cheesy" flavor to the pesto.
If you're looking for a few other recipes to try out nutritional yeast, check out this Vegan Lemon Pasta or this Creamy Truffle Mushroom Pasta.
One key tool: a blender or food processor
Besides the cashews and nutritional yeast, the rest of the ingredients stay pretty similar to a non-vegan pesto! Basil, pine nuts, olive oil, lemon, garlic, salt, and pepper are all included. Plus, I even added some greens to make this pesto secretly healthy.
The best part? All you need is a blender or food processor to make this delicious sauce tonight!
I hope you love this Vegan Artichoke Pesto Pizza. It's the perfect easy weeknight dinner and great for a pizza night in. Enjoy!
-TSG
More vegan dinner ideas you will love:
If you loved this recipe, please leave a 5-star review on the recipe card. I always appreciate your feedback and support! You can also follow along on my Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest, or sign up for our newsletter!
Vegan Pesto Artichoke Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza Ingredients
- 16 ounces vegan pizza dough
- 1 can cooked baby artichokes
- 3 button mushrooms thinly sliced
- 4-5 asparagus shaved thinly
- 3-4 Tablespoons vegan pesto *recipe below
- ½-3/4 cup vegan mozzarella shredded
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper chili flakes *optional
- salt & pepper
Pesto Ingredients:
- ½ cup raw cashews *soaked for 30 minutes in warm water
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 Tablespoons pine nuts
- 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ½ cup tightly packed fresh basil
- 1 cup loosely packed greens *arugula or spinach work well
- 3 Tablespoons water
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
First, Make the Pesto
- *Before making your pesto make sure to soak your cashews in warm water for 30 minutes to soften*
- Once your cashews have soaked, add them to a blender along with the garlic and pine nuts. Blend for about 30 seconds until minced. Then, add in the nutritional yeast, oil, and lemon juice. Blend for another 30 seconds until smooth, scraping down the sides as need be.
- Next, add in the basil and greens and blend until thoroughly mixed. As a final step add in the water and season with salt & pepper to your liking. Blend until completely smooth.
Making the Pizza
- Preheat your oven to 450F. Then, roll out the pizza dough and place it onto a pizza stone or baking sheet. Top the dough with the vegan pesto and spread into a thin layer.
- Once the pesto is on the pizza, sprinkle on ½ cup of the vegan mozzarella cheese. Layer on the sliced mushrooms, shaved asparagus, and baby artichokes. As a final step, top the vegetables with the additional ¼ cup mozzarella cheese, chili flakes, and salt and pepper.
- Place the pizza in the oven and bake for 14-16 minutes until the crust is browned and vegetables are cooked. Remove from the oven and let cool. Use a pizza wheel to cut into 8 slices and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
- pizza can be stored in a closed container in the fridge for 3-4 days. To reheat, heat in the microwave for 30-60 seconds or reheat in the oven at 220F for 10-15 minutes.
Teresa says
We found this lacked flavor. We made it exactly, including the pizza dough with the herbs. We also didn’t care for the texture of the crust. We also did a 24 hour fridge rise for the dough.
Megan says
Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy it!
Kathy V. says
This pizza was AMAZING!!!! It was such a nice change from tomato-based pizzas.
The pesto was delicious and easy, the pizza crust was just as easy as Megan said it would be—and I loved the added herbs to the dough. I’ve made it twice—once for my picky husband (he liked it!) and my daughter who came up for an evening. She loved it, too, as did her brand new husband, who I gave leftovers to. My variation: I added more Violife Mozzarella cheese than recipe called for.
Megan says
So happy you all loved it!! More cheese is always a good idea 🙂