Homemade Deep Dish Pizza with “Sausage” Peppers and Onions
Prep time: 75 minutes | Cook Time: 55 minutes
The base of this homemade vegan pizza is deep dish pizza crust recipe that is buttery and delicious. I make it in a regular pizza pan so if you don’t have a deep dish pan, no worries, it will be every bit as delicious and will make a thick, buttery and light crust.
In this version I top this homemade vegan pizza crust with a protein-rich tempeh sausage, made from scratch for that perfect savory bite. Then I load it up with red and green bell peppers and onions. This vegan pizza combines taste and nutrition without compromising on indulgence. This pizza delivers everything you want in a classic favorite and even your non-vegan friends will go back for seconds. Give this homemade vegan sausage pizza a try and enjoy the satisfaction of protein-rich pizza with zero cholesterol!
Ingredients & Instructions
Ingredients: For the Crust
1 cup warm tap water
1 package active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoon)
2 ½ cups all purpose flour (up to 3 ½ cups)
½ cup coarse ground cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup vegetable oil
Ingredients: Toppings
1 medium-sized yellow onion
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
12 ounce container pre-made pizza sauce
8 ounce bag vegan mozzarella cheese
Ingredients: For the “Sausage”
1 package tempeh
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
½ teaspoon red pepper
1 ½ teaspoons sage
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon garlic
1 ½ tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
½ teaspoon white pepper or black pepper
1 tablespoon avocado oil or canola oil
¼ cup water
Juice of ½ lemon
1 cup vegan chicken broth - see my recommendations under notes and adjustments
Step 1 - Make the Crust
Pour the warm water into a large mixing bowl and dissolve the yeast with a fork.
Add 1 cup of the flour, all of the cornmeal, salt and the oil. Mix to combine.
Add the flour ½ cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl (I use 1 ½ cups at this stage, for a total of 2 ½ cups flour).
Flour your hands and kneed the ball of dough until it is no longer sticky (about 5 minutes).
Let the dough rise in a bowl covered with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel for 45-60 minutes in a warm place.
**While the dough is rising it is a good time to prepare the vegan tempeh sausage and other toppings.
Once the dough has completed the first rise, pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees.
Punch the dough down, and turn it out onto a floured surface - you can kneed it a few times at this point.
Place the dough in an oiled 15-inch deep dish pizza pan (or regular pizza pan) and press it out from the center to the edges so it is even along the bottom of the pan and is slightly thicker around the edges.
If you have a deep dish pizza pan you can pull the crust up along the interior sides of the pan so it makes a “deep dish” style crust.
Let the dough rise in the pizza pan for 15-20 minutes.
Step 2 Make the Tempeh Sausage
Crumble the block of tempeh into a frying pan and cover with vegan chicken broth.
Steam the tempeh over medium-low heat until most of the broth is absorbed, about 10 minutes. (This step removes some of the naturally bitter flavor from the tempeh.)
While the tempeh is steaming, mix up the marinade.
In a bowl combine the fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, sage, oregano, garlic powder, tamari, white or black pepper, oil, water, and lemon juice.
Mix the marinade ingredients until they are very well combined.
Once your tempeh is done steaming, add the marinade to the tempeh and let it cook in the marinade until it is all absorbed (about 10 minutes); then transfer the tempeh to a separate container.
Step 3 Preparing the Veggies:
Chop one medium yellow onion into long thin strips.
Dice up 1/2 of a red pepper and 1/2 of a green pepper (you can substitute any color pepper!).
Saute the peppers and onions in a small amount of vegetable oil for about 5 minutes, until they become fragrant and a bit softer. (Pro-tip I use the tempeh pan to save on dish washing!)
Step 3 – Put it all together!
After the crust has completed the second rise, top it with a thin even layer of pizza sauce.
Add one package of vegan mozzarella cheese (generally 7 or 8 ounces).
Evenly spread the tempeh sausage over the pizza.
Evenly spread the peppers and onions over the pizza .
Bake for 15 minutes at 500 degrees.
Lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees and bake for another 15-25 minutes, watching carefully to see when the crust turns to a golden brown color. You can lift the crust while cooking with a spatula to check if it is done. It is done when it is a beautiful golden brown.
Notes and Adjustments:
The quality of the vegan chicken broth you use will really make a difference in this recipe. My favorite broth is Better than Bullion brand. This can be difficult to find but I will put a link to where you can order it below – stock up! This stuff is truly the best.
Links: When available we use affiliate links and may earn a commission As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Better than Bouillon Vegetarian No Chicken Base https://amzn.to/4crZBPu (Amazon)
