People have been baking flatbreads and adding toppings to them for millennia. And pizza precursors span the globe. We know that Persian soldiers actually baked flatbreads topped with cheese and dates on their shields. Hopefully, they had time to clean them off before the next battle! And the Aeneas tells the story of Trojan soldiers eating their platters — plates that turn out to be round breads topped with vegetables. (Sorry about that spoiler, but the book was written like 27 centuries ago.)
The pizza we know and love today seems to have originated in Naples, Italy. It had to wait until the 16th century for the key ingredient, the tomato, which is native to the Americas and wasn’t grown in Europe until someone returned with seeds or cuttings. These strange-colored eggplants, as they were first described, were found to be delicious when seasoned with salt, pepper, and oil. Soon they were dubbed “golden apples,” or pomi d’oro.
And one day, perhaps, two distracted Neapolitans were walking on the piazza, one holding a flatbread and the other a stewed tomato, when — bang! They bumped into each other. And thus was born the classic Italian pizza. (Okay, that might or might not be literally accurate, but it makes for a fun story!)
Modern Pizza’s Development
One of the simplest and most iconic variations is the Pizza Margherita, allegedly invented in 1889 in honor of a visit to Naples by Queen Margherita. The inspiration was visual — a dish sporting the three colors of the Italian flag: red (tomato), green (basil), and white (mozzarella cheese).
Italian immigrants to the US brought the dish with them in the 19th century, although its popularity was initially limited to immigrant communities. The first pizza restaurant in the country, Lombardi’s in New York City, opened in 1905. But when tens of thousands of servicemen and women returned from the Italian campaigns after World War II, they also brought with them an appreciation of Italian cuisine, including a strong hankering for pizza.
In the 1950s and beyond, the market for pizza exploded to the point where today a pizzeria is a staple in just about every community in the US. And giant restaurant chains specializing in pizza compete for market share on billboards and in commercials.
By 2019, the global pizza market had annual sales estimated at nearly $145 billion. That’s a lot of dough tossing! Americans and Western Europeans eat the most per capita. But you can find pizza just about everywhere you can find electricity and running water. And different countries and regions have added their unique ingredients, flavor profiles, and sensibilities to the ever-evolving pizza. Even within the US, you can find regional differences that let you know where you are, even without GPS.
The Problem with Pizza
From thin crusts and small amounts of cheese that dotted the classic Italian “tomato pie,” pizza has evolved into a supersized transport vehicle for sodium and saturated fat.
The Cheese
Modern commercial pies can have up to a pound of cheese on them, a quantity caused in part by the US government’s subsidies to the dairy industry. The US government has lobbied and paid corporations like Pizza Hut and Domino’s to add as much cheese as possible to their pies to shrink the gargantuan US cheese surplus. There’s so much extra cheese, they’re even sticking it in the crust!
Lots of vegans have had the experience of ordering a pizza without cheese and getting a pie covered in cheese anyway. A common explanation: “Oh, I thought you meant no extra cheese.” Fun fact: The original cheeseless pizza, called Pizza Marinara, was created in 1734 in Naples. This dish featured the winning combo of tomato, oregano, olive oil, and garlic.
The Meat
A second source of saturated fat and a risk factor for chronic disease from pizza is processed meat. Pepperoni and sausage sourced from factory farms are among the most popular pizza toppings in the US. And it’s not uncommon to also find chicken, meatballs, ham, and bacon. Meats, especially red and processed meats, can increase the risk of heart failure. A 2018 study found that people who ate red meat daily had triple the levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) compared to those who got their protein from white meat or non-meat sources. TMAO, a byproduct of red meat consumption formed by gut bacteria during digestion, is increasingly seen as a key risk factor for heart disease.
The Crust
And then there’s the crust. Most pizza crusts are made from white, all-purpose wheat flour, which is often contaminated with the herbicide glyphosate. Except for a few high-end and health-conscious pizzerias, it’s hard to find 100% whole wheat or even a combination of whole wheat and white flour, let alone organic.
While some establishments now offer gluten-free crusts, they are typically no healthier than those made with refined wheat flour, and often less so. They generally feature white rice, tapioca flour, and potato starch, along with fillers and binders produced in a lab rather than grown in a field.
The Sodium
Pizza is also one of America’s leading sources of sodium, as cheese, dough, sauce, and toppings are all quite salty. Just glance at the nutrition facts label on a conventional frozen pizza box to see how many days’ worth of sodium is hiding in that large pie. The USDA estimates that a typical parlor pie contains about 5,100 mg of sodium — about 3 times the daily limit recommended by the American Heart Association.
Other Ingredients
Typical pizzas also contain a fair share of sugar, flavorings, preservatives like BHA/BHT, nitrites and nitrates, and lots of oil. And many are made with ingredients (soy/corn/canola-derived oils, soy protein, corn sweeteners) that may come from genetically engineered crops unless labeled organic or non-GMO.
Are Healthy Plant-Based Pizzas Possible?
Have we reached the sad end of our epic tale of pizza? Have we gone from a clever way to eat toppings with our hands without needing a napkin to a modern-day driver of heart disease and an ever-expanding waistline?
Have no fear. With some creativity, we can return pizza to its roots as convenient, delicious, simple, and health-promoting. And with the revolution in plant-based dairy and meat analogues, we can also create yummy plant-based pizzas that can satisfy (and perhaps even fool) committed meat and cheese eaters.
A Healthier Crust
Let’s start with the crust. Simply replacing white flour with whole grains, ideally organic and GMO-free, will go a long way toward making a pizza healthier. Also, once you get used to whole-grain bread, you’ll discover that it tastes a lot better than the “Wonder Bread” type crusts you can get at commercial pizzerias. But wait, there’s more!
You can make delicious crusts with nut flours, such as almond, and even riced cauliflower. If you’re in a hurry and don’t have time to make the dough yourself, you can always substitute a whole-grain bread (the pizza-bagel comes to mind) or a whole-grain or sprouted tortilla. Cornmeal crusts, naturally gluten-free (make sure they’re organic to avoid GMO corn), are also commercially available and easy to make at home. For a crust mix headed in the nutritious direction, try this one from Simple Mills.
Sauce from Scratch
The classic pizza is topped with tomato sauce, which can be a healthy food on its own. Cooked tomatoes are, in many ways, more nutritious than raw ones and are a rich source of vitamin C and lycopene. As long as you go easy on the sugar, oil, and salt, you can make a delicious plant-based sauce that anyone’s nonna would be proud of.
If you want to make sauce sorta-from-scratch, and you’re pressed for time, here’s a trick: pour a jar or a BPA-free can of plain tomato sauce (only ingredient: tomatoes) and a can of diced tomatoes into a saucepan. Add garlic powder, onion powder, Italian herb mix, ground black pepper, and a tiny bit of maple syrup to balance the tomatoes’ acidity (optional if you’re avoiding sugar), then heat for about 10 minutes. You’ll get a much cleaner and healthier sauce than most supermarket brands. And also one that’s plenty tasty and a whole lot less expensive. Triple win!
Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to the traditional tomato sauce. You can substitute BBQ sauce (homemade is best to avoid all the sugar found in commercial brands), a plant-based pesto, or even a bean spread like hummus.
Elevated Toppings
Cheese, even more than tomato sauce, has been the non-negotiable foundation of pizza toppings. So let’s deal with the elephant on the pizza before moving on to other toppings.
Cheese
You can, of course, go totally cheeseless. It can be perfectly lovely to enjoy a pie with a quality crust, delicious sauce, and savory vegetables like mushrooms, onions, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, artichoke hearts, and spinach. As long as you manage not to dry out or burn the veggie-based toppings in the absence of cheese, you’ll get a perfectly delicious pie without the side order of heart disease risk.
The world of plant-based dairy can come to the rescue if you do want to retain the cheesy nature of pizza. Brands like Daiya, Miyokos, Kite Hill, and Biolife all make cheeses that taste and even melt like the dairy kind. If you’re concerned about health, check the ingredients. Some are much more processed and contain much more saturated fat than others. And as with any processed food, use them sparingly rather than as a two-inch high covering.
You can also make your own “cheeze” from plant-based ingredients like nuts, seeds, beans, nutritional yeast, sweet potatoes, carrots, winter squash, etc. Here’s our comprehensive article on homemade nut cheeses.
All the Veggies!
Your imagination is the only limiting factor when it comes to adding veggies to pizzas. Beyond the well-known vegetable pizza topping, why not try adding summer or winter squash, carrots, kale, or sweet potato? You can keep the toppings thin, or stack them up in defiance of gravity. (Word of warning: Really tall veggie stacks will require the use of a knife and fork to eat.)
Fruit
Yes, fruit can go on pizza! Technically, tomatoes and peppers are also fruits, so it’s not as big a leap as you might think. And since most tomato sauce is full of sugar, why not get the sweetness on your pizza from fruit, the source of sugar?
Pineapple is the most common fruit topping on pizza, featured in Hawaiian-style pies. You can also try adding figs, pears, or even sliced apples.
Herbs & Spices
You can go with classic Italian herbs such as oregano, basil, marjoram, and thyme. Or you can mix it up with flavor profiles from lots of other cuisines: Mexican, Thai, Mediterranean, West African, and so on. Lots of stores sell pre-mixed spice blends, so you can get started without investing in a bunch of different spices. If you’re going low-sodium, just be sure to opt for blends without added salt.
Meat Analogues
Companies like Field Roast, Tofurkey, and Beyond Meat make increasingly convincing plant-based meats, including traditional pizza meats like pepperoni and sausage. Use these sparingly, as they’re usually full of processed ingredients and still relatively high in sodium. It’s funny how, to people who normally love or miss meat, even just a few thin slices of vegan sausage on an entire pie can change the impression from one of lack to one of abundance.
Alternatively, you can approximate the umami flavor and texture of meat with more natural ingredients, such as grilled mushrooms or crumbled seasoned tempeh. For a great example, check out the first recipe below, Tofu Mushroom Pineapple Pizza with Mozzarella Cashew Cheese, which features barbecued tofu in place of ham.
Delicious Plant-Based Pizza Recipes
1. Tofu Mushroom Pineapple Pizza with Mozzarella Cashew Cheese
The smoky vegetables and tofu, combined with sweet pineapple, are then topped with creamy mozzarella cashew cheese, making for an out-of-this-world combination. Make the mozzarella cheese, press the tofu, and precut the vegetables and pineapple ahead of time to save some prep minutes.
2. Turmeric Cashew Cheese Cauliflower Crust Pizza
This pizza is simple to create if you make the Turmeric Cashew Cheese first and use store-bought cauliflower crust (though I do recommend making your own if you have the time!). The cheese recipe will make more than double the amount you need for the pizza, allowing you to make it on one day and use it throughout the week for wraps, salads, and, of course, to reserve some for the pizza. With the cauliflower crust and fresh vegetables, this is a light, refreshing, and nourishing dish for the spring and summer evenings!
3. White Bean Pesto Pizza
Have you considered experimenting with white cannellini beans as a cheese substitute? Now’s your chance! Blend the fiber- and protein-packed beans with lemon and herbs to create a delicious, healthy alternative to cheese. Not to mention, the options for vegetable toppings on this pizza are endless!
4. Thai Red Pepper and Carrot Pizza with Cashew Mozzarella Cheese
Peanutty (subs available!) vegetables topped with cashew mozzarella? Yes, please! The sweet and tangy peanut sauce, combined with the savory, creamy cashew cheese, is sure to satisfy all your taste buds. If you’re a spice fan, top it with jalapeño for an all-around flavorful, energizing pizza!
5. Best Grain-Free Vegan Pizza with Caramelized Onions + Mushrooms by Simply Quinoa
This pizza dough is made with almonds, so you can make it whenever you invite vegans and paleo eaters to the same party. The caramelized red onions and mushrooms provide umami goodness, and the chopped kale turns it into a true nutritional powerhouse.
6. Spinach-Cashew Pizza Cheese Spread
This spread is similar to pesto, but with a little more punch so that it can hold its own on a pizza crust alongside bold toppings. However, it’s versatile enough to serve as a pesto or as a dip or spread for other snacks and meals. I like an extra dollop alongside my serving of pizza! Lather on a crust, throw on some toppings of your choosing, stick in the oven (follow your typical pizza cooking instructions), and voila, you have a delicious cheese-free pizza! To make this oil-free, use water in place of oil. If you’re watching your sodium, omit the salt or reduce it by half.
Pizzas Redeemed!
I think we’ve done it! We’ve saved pizza and moved it into the good-for-you and good-for-the-planet column. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty hungry after writing this. I think I’ll throw a pie as part of a fun and festive family dinner. Hopefully, the dough won’t end up stuck to the kitchen ceiling.
Tell us in the comments:
- Have you ever ordered a “hold the cheese” pie at a pizza parlor?
- What’s on top of one of your dream plant-based pizzas?
- Which of the recipes in this article will you try first?
Feature image: iStock.com/LightFieldStudios
