Yeast-less pizza dough and fresh summer veggies make this the ultimate vegan grilled pizza
In the same way that setting up the Christmas tree marks the beginning of Christmas season, setting up the patio furniture and pulling out the barbecue grill marks the start of summer at the Leung’s residence.
As a child, part of my duties growing up was to help set up the gazebo. We’d dump all the metal poles out onto the patio floor and match A’s, B’s, and C’s together until a house-looking frame was erected. One summer a strong gust of wind blew our gazebo over the deck and into our backyard! That gazebo was recently replaced with a permanent patio cover. Now that we don’t have to set up (and tear down) the flimsy gazebo, setting up for summer has gotten a lot quicker!
Recently family has been having our dinners outside and I’ve been relishing in every moment! We get to breathe in the wonderful fresh air, listen to the sounds of nature, and watch the sun glow as it sets behind our big magnolia tree as we eat all the summer veggies and sip on ice cold drinks. When it gets dark, we switch on the string lights and I feel as if I’ve been transported into some fancy restaurant patio.
Whether I’m feeding my family or entertaining guests, I always turn to grilled pizza. It’s easy to throw together, looks impressive (grill marks are beautiful), easy to adapt using whatever ingredients are available, and most importantly, tastes delicious! Summer is the perfect season to make your own vegan pizza. Not only because everyone says it’s ‘BBQ season’ but because there are so many great vegetables in season! I’m partial to the combination of zucchini, corn, and tomato with pesto and balsamic but if you’re more of a tomato sauce kinda gal or guy, definitely fiddle around to find your signature combination (then share with us below)! I’m thinking of a buffalo cauliflower pizza next…
The instructions may look long but don’t freak out yet, it’s mostly prep work! Grilling the zucchini, charring the corn, caramelizing the onion, and mixing the pizza dough are all easy tasks and overall won’t take up much time. This yeast-less pizza/flatbread dough is a recipe I made so. freaking. often. It’s kind of my holy grail. I used to purchase fresh pizza dough from the store but making my own yeast-less version has been saving me so much time and money! If you don’t have a barbecue grill, you can cook it in a skillet on the stove top! Just follow the instructions here. Read that post too if you want to see a flatbread pizza with beet hummus and arugula salad.
- DOUGH
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¾ cup plain unsweetened vegan yogurt
- About 2 tbsp vegetable oil, for brushing
- TOPPINGS
- Vegetable oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1 red onion, finely sliced
- A splash of balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
- 1 large zucchini, cut into ¼" rounds
- A handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 3 tbsp vegan pesto
- Balsamic glaze
- To make the pizza dough, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add the yogurt. Mix with a spatula until a dough comes together. It will look dry at first but resist the urge to add liquid.
- Flour a clean surface and roll the dough out with a rolling pin until ¼" thick. Transfer the rolled dough to a baking sheet (just for holding) and brush one side with vegetable oil. Set aside.
- In a medium or large skillet, heat about 2 tsp of vegetable oil over medium heat and caramelize the sliced onions. Turn the heat down to low after the onions begin to get brown. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar when the onions are all soft and cook until a bit jammy. Remove caramelized onions from the pan and heat another 1 tsp of vegetable oil.
- Add the corn kernels and cook over medium-high heat until they get charred. Season with a bit of salt and black pepper and remove from the heat.
- In a mixing bowl, toss the zucchini rounds with a good drizzle of vegetable oil (just enough to coat them), salt, and pepper.
- Heat a barbecue grill over high heat to about 400°F. Once hot, grill the zucchini rounds so that grill marks appear on both sides. Remove zucchini from the grill and then grill the pizza dough.
- Place the oiled side of the rolled dough onto the grill. Brush the top with vegetable oil and cook until the bottom side has grill marks and the top is bubbling but not set, about one or two minutes. Flip the dough and cook until the other side also has grill marks, about another minute or two more. Remove the dough from the grill.
- Spread the top of the pizza dough with pesto then scatter the caramelized onion and charred corn over the top. Arrange grilled zucchini and sliced cherry tomatoes on top. Finish with a drizzle of balsamic glaze and serve while hot.
This looks like the perfect dish! Yum!
why do you flip the dough? I don’t get it.Please explain. For me at that point it is not pizza anymore, but grilled bread with toppings. Never seen or heard someone in Italy does that. Is this american thing or..?
Hi Maria. Barbecue grills do not heat up as much nor as evenly as ovens do so the dough is flipped to ensure it cooks through. If the idea of flipping a pizza bothers you, you can think of this like a grilled flatbread instead of grilled pizza. This recipe was never intended to be an authentic Italian pizza; it uses yogurt which is not typical of Italian pizza dough at all. We are not American either so we ask that you be mindful about making false stereotypical comments.