When your vegan friend visits and you’ve already made the obligatory salad for dinner, what is one to do the NEXT night?? Another salad?? Unthinkable.
Granted, there are plenty of fantastic vegan recipes out there, so there’s really no call for this level of panic. But what if you don’t really know what this particular vegan likes and you don’t have hours to slave over a vegan meatloaf or whatever, THIS recipe is for YOU.
I’ve made a fair amount of Thai pizzas in my day. Thanks to my friend surrendering his leftover slices to me (only with a small amount of cajoling on my part), I can say with confidence that this type of pizza is seriously way better without cheese. Cheese isn’t really a Thai thing, you know? So why are we putting it on our Thai pizza? More room for vegetables, which is what all good-hearted people want deep down anyway.
My grandpa would scoff at the idea of calling this pizza. He’s a pizza purist – even chicken is too exotic a topping. Besides the crust, there are very few familiar pizza toppings gracing this ‘za, but don’t let that scare you away! Stand your ground, fighting your fears of irrational pizza toppings will be worth it in the end.
Feel free to make your own pizza crust – that would be awesome actually. I’ve learned that I truly have no patience for making my own pizza dough on the regular, but it also helps that I live ten minutes away from a Trader Joe’s. Tucked underneath the cheeses are always heaps of tasty pizza dough, nestled close together and dreaming of becoming the world’s most beloved pizza one day.
Set aside that standard pizza sauce (although pick some up at Trader Joe’s when you’re there, it’s quality sauce!) and mix together some creamy peanut butter, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and maple syrup (honey isn’t cool for our vegan friends). We’re going to top that with sweet chili chickpeas, chopped red peppers, and ribbons of carrots. After baking, the real fun begins. Top with cabbage, green onion, cilantro, and mint. So much color, it’s insane! Just make sure not to set it side by side with a normal pizza, you’ll make that poor pizza jealous.
Vegan Thai Pizza
Ingredients
- Pizza dough
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Peanut sauce
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- Sweet chili chickpeas
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 Tbsp sweet chili Thai sauce
- 1 can chickpeas, drained
- 1/2 Red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 carrot, peeled and shredded
- 1 cup purple or green cabbage, shredded
- 1 green onion, diced
- 3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 2 Tbsp mint, chopped
Directions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan over a medium-low heat. Add chickpeas and sweet chili sauce. Cook and smash chickpeas until no liquid remains.
- Mix together olive oil, garlic powder, and salt. Set aside
- Mix together all ingredients of the peanut sauce. Set aside.
- Stretch out pizza dough on a sheet of parchment paper. Brush crust with oil mixture. Spread peanut sauce up to the crust.
- Arrange red pepper and carrot on the pizza. Add chickpeas and cook for 8-10 minutes until crust is golden.
- Brush crust once more with olive oil mixture. Top pizza with cabbage, green onion, and herbs. Slice and eat!
