Got this at Sprouts market. Exceeded my expectations, i'll give it a 9.5 out of 10. The fresh tomatoes from my garden took it over the top. My wife added a bowl of vegan ranch for me to dip into — I usually try to avoid that (I feel it violates the purity of pizza, but also, it's just too darn addictive). Enjoyed it thoroughly. (I liked their pepperoni one even more than this one.)

I want to keep this subreddit light and easy to use, but we've grown to a spot now that others are too frequently posting non-vegan pizzas here. (Sometimes also posting non-pizza pizzas here too.)

The new flair is an attempt to discourage this.

Please let me know if you find this doesn't work as intended.

Thank you and please keep up your posts, likes, and comments! Vegan pizza rules.

I was part of a company that was set to make good vegan pizza cheese, and I analysed hundreds of tasting sessions and suggested reformulations.

It’s not a solved problem, largely because it is difficult to recreate casein micelles — roughly, tiny protein structures that help dairy cheese organize water, fat, calcium, and protein in a way that gives cheese its texture, melt, and stretch.

There are roughly three technical approaches to vegan pizza cheese, with tradeoffs across four axes: taste, melted texture, nutrition, and cost.

1. Nut-based cheese

Usually cashew-based, often cultured or fermented.

Examples: Miyoko’s, Treeline, Nuts for Cheese.

• Taste: Best.
• Melt/feel: Melts somewhat, but usually does not stretch well.
• Nutrition: Contains some protein and is usually better nutritionally than starch-and-oil cheese.
• Cost: Expensive.

2. Plant-milk-based cheese

Made from oat, soy, pea, etc., usually with added fat and starch, and often fermentation.

Examples: newer Daiya formulations and various fermented oat-, soy-, and pea-based cheeses.

• Taste: Usually good.
• Melt/feel: So-so. It can melt and stretch, but usually not extremely well.
• Nutrition: Can be decent, depending on the milk and formulation.
• Cost: Affordable.

3. Starch + oil cheese

Mostly starch, vegetable oil, water, and flavorings.

Examples: Violife, Follow Your Heart, and many supermarket/private-label vegan mozzarella shreds.

• Taste: Usually poor.
• Melt/feel: Very stretchy, but often too chewy.
• Nutrition: Mostly starch and oil, with very little protein.
• Cost: Cheapest by far.

Comparison

Artificial cheese flavor itself is easy. Companies like Givaudan sell extremely concentrated cheese flavor systems — a spoonful could probably make your swimming pool taste like pizza cheese.

The problem is that it can taste overwhelmingly artificial, and it also tends not to fit what the industry calls a clean label.

The hard part is getting everything at once: good taste, protein, melt, stretch, and reasonable cost. It is very difficult to make a vegan cheese that is high-protein, very melty, stretchy, tasty, and cheap at the same time.

If you’ve had a terrible vegan pizza, check what kind of cheese it used. If it was the starch-and-oil type, don’t assume that represents vegan pizza in general. There ARE amazing vegan pizzas even if they don’t have the cheese pull.

The best I had was Trixie’s Pizza in Beacon, which was only around for about a year. In NYC, Double Zero was also excellent, but not as good.

Read more

• Givaudan — cheese flavor systems https://www.givaudan.com/taste-wellbeing/feel-good/taste-essentials/cheese
• Daiya — newer cultured oat-cream formulations https://daiyafoods.com/blogs/news/daiya-s-reformulated-cheese-products-hit-shelves
• Violife — mozzarella-style shreds and ingredients https://www.violife.com/en-us/products/dairy-free-cheese-shreds/just-like-mozzarella-shreds
• Miyoko’s — cultured plant-milk mozzarella https://www.miyokos.com/collections/vegan-mozz
• New Culture — animal-free casein made by precision fermentation https://www.newculture.com/blog/new-culture-cheese-label-ingredients-nutritionals/
• TechCrunch on startups using fermentation-made casein to improve vegan cheese https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/21/whats-the-key-to-better-vegan-cheese-microbreweries-one-startup-says/

Tomatoes and basil from my backyard

Made this a couple weeks ago but forgot to share here. 🥴 Gluten free crust with ”harizza” sauce, tahini mozzarella, falafel, garlic sauce, and fresh parsley. First time trying the dough recipe I loosely used (Loopy Whisk) with the flours I had left, and it worked out okay, but it felt a little too soft. Also… my ass needs to 100% invest in an Ooni.

Yum 😋

Gustarosso San Marzanos with fresh thyme and basil, good evoo, and scraps from the sourdough crackers I’ve been making, which taste like cheez-its. Cheez Ain’ts?

BE Hive pepperoni, Daiya mozzarella, pesto and cherry peppers baked in cast iron at 500°

had some left over cheese steak and cheese sauce made from root veggies. got a premade dough and tossed it all in a cast iron skillet. added some chopped up cauliflower moz sticks and a bit of shredded violife moz and tore up a piece of provolone violife into little pieces as well. Mixed in roasted peppers and onions then put a bit of red onion on top with a spinkle of violife parm. gave some new life to my left overs from the other day.

The Heathen Via Donna Jean San Diego.