Quick & Basic Overnight Vegan Pizza Dough

Aug 4, 2017 (Last updated Mar 13, 2024) by Hannah Sunderani

Start hosting the best ever pizza nights with the perfect vegan pizza dough recipe! The vegan pizza dough is made with basic pantry ingredients: flour, water, yeast and salt. Slather with homemade marinara sauce and add your favourite toppings – and you’ve got a decadent homemade pizza ready in 15 minutes.

This vegan pizza dough is inspired by one I found a few years back from Bon Appetit. I’ve found it pretty faultless and reliable and have since made my own version using a similar rise method. It’s become a staple in our home and a recipe we rely on for homemade vegan pizza nights because on Fridays, we eat pizza! 

It’s also one of my all-time favourite recipe to serve to both vegan and non-vegan friends, proving that cheese-free pizza has a place on the dinner table!

So, start chilling the beer and wine, and get ready to make the best ever plant-based pizza pronto! 

Ingredient Notes

Here I’m listing the basic ingredients you’ll need to make your own homemade pizza dough, as well as some pizza night basics like my favourite marinara and vegan cheese. In addition to these, remember to grab your favourite pizza toppings when grocery shopping! 

• Active dry yeast: Make sure to use active dry yeast, not instant yeast. Both are typically stocked next to each other in the baking aisle of the grocery store, but are not the same product! Active dry yeast has a longer rise time compared to instant yeast, allowing for a much greater depth of flavour! 
• All-purpose flour: I have only tested this vegan pizza dough recipe using regular wheat, all-purpose flour.
• Olive oil: When it comes to making the best homemade vegan pizza, you’ll want to use the best quality ingredients possible, so break out the good stuff for pizza night.
• Semolina flour: Dusting the bottom of the pizza crust with semolina flour helps it become crispy and results in a crust that’s perfectly golden and chewy. It also will help prevent the pizza from sticking, making it easier to transfer to and from the pizza stone. If needed, the semolina flour can be replaced with additional all-purpose flour. 

How to Make Homemade Vegan Pizza Dough

Begin by activating the yeast. In a small mixing bowl, combine the warm water and the yeast. Set aside to activate for 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add the yeast mixture, stirring as you go, until a shaggy dough forms. It’s okay if there are some dry bits of flour in the dough at this point. 

Next, turn the shaggy dough out onto a floured work surface and begin to knead the dough gently with your hands. To start, the dough will feel clumpy, but over time, it should become smooth and plush (after about 10 minutes)! As you knead, add additional flour as needed until the pizza dough is no longer sticky to the touch. When it has enough flour, it will be soft, plush, and spring back when poked with your finger. 

Lightly drizzle a large bowl with oil and transfer in the dough, turning it to coat in oil on all sides. Lastly cover the bowl with plastic wrap or reusable wrap and let the pizza dough rise at room temperature, in a draft-free, warm place, for a minimum of 6 to 10 hours, or up to 24 hours. When ready, the dough should be covered with tiny bubbles and the dough should have doubled in size. 

Stretch the Pizza Dough

After 6 to 10 hours, punch the dough down and transfer the doubled pizza dough ball to a lightly floured work surface and gently shape into a circle. Divide into four equal dough balls (I like to do this with a bench scraper!), molding each into a round pizza dough ball. Cover them with a tea towel and let rest for 10 minutes. 

Using your fingers, press one of the dough balls into a flat disk. Stretch and pull the dough gently with your hands to shape the dough into a thin pizza crust, about 9-inches in diameter. For the best visual, watch me do this in my episode of Vegan Afternoon with Two Spoons: How To Make Vegan Pizza At Home!

Sprinkle a rimmed baking sheet with semolina flour, then transfer the pizza dough onto the baking sheet. 

Decorate and Bake

Onto arguably the best part! Start by painting the crust with your favourite marinara sauce, leaving approximately 1/4-inch around the edges for the crust.

Add your favourite sliced vegetables, then sprinkle with salt and black pepper, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the pizza is puffed, the bottom is golden brown and the top is lightly blistered. 

Lastly remove the pizza from the oven, and season with additional salt, black pepper, red chili flakes, and fresh basil, if desired. Slice and serve immediately while hot! 

Make this Vegan Pizza Dough at Home with Me!

Join me on my YouTube Channel, where I teach you just how easy it is to make this Homemade Vegan Pizza & Pizza Dough recipe!

Quick Tips

• Let your dough rest. If as you shape the dough you find that it is tearing, let it sit for 10 minutes, and then come back to it. You’ll find the additional rest helps the dough relax and become more malleable again. 
• Preheat your oven! This is a must, no matter if you’re using a regular oven or pizza oven. If you skip this step, you’ll find that the top of your pizza will cook much faster than the bottom, meaning your toppings will be perfectly golden and ready, while the bottom if still uncooked. Additionally, if you are using an oven, make sure to preheat your baking sheet, pizza pan, or pizza stone, if you have one! You want the surface you cook your pizza on to be HOT right away! 
• Don’t skip the semolina flour. This not only helps prevent the pizza from sticking to your baking sheet or cooking surface, but is also necessary to helping your pizza slide off of the pizza peel. With that being said, if you are using an Ooni pizza oven (or a similar wood fire burning pizza oven), make sure to wipe off any excess flour around the edge of the pizza peel. This will help prevent the flour from catching fire in the oven and making a mess.
• Bake directly on a baking sheet or stone. Since homemade pizza is cooked at a very high temperature, lining the pizza stone or baking sheet with parchment paper is not recommended. The high heat is very likely to make it burn! 
• Rise the pizza dough in the (off) oven. In order for homemade pizza dough to rise properly, it’s important to set it in a warm, draft-free area. This can be tricky, especially in the colder months! If your home is on the cooler side, stick the bowl in the oven and simply turn on the oven light (note the oven itself should be completely off!). The residual heat from the oven light bulb will make it the perfect warm location!

I hope you love this Vegan Pizza Dough recipe as much as I do! If you do make this recipe for pizza night, please let me know in the comments below what you think and check out The Two Spoons App for more wholesome vegan recipes like this! I truly love hearing from you, and I’m always here to answer any questions you might have. 

And of course, tag me on Instagram with your pictures using the hashtag #twospoons. Nothing makes me happier than to see your recreations. 

• 10 ingredients or less