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This scrumptious, vibrant veggie pizza is a must! The pizza crust is light, crispy and the juicy topping is made with creamy mozzarella, roasted vegetables, fresh basil and arugula.

It’s colorful, full of flavor, a breeze to make and totally delicious!

Top view of a veggie pizza full of roasted vegetables and arugula over a white background.

Jump to recipe

This has been one of my favorite vegetarian pizza recipes as long as I can remember. Every pizzeria in Italy has its own veggie pizza on the menu. It’s called “vegetariana”, sometimes “ortolana” (greengrocer), and tastes amazing.

The vegetarian topping is made with roasted or grilled vegetables: bell peppers, zucchini, eggplants, tomatoes and red onions. And you’ll never see broccoli, just saying. : )

This easy recipe is inspired to this classic Italian pizza.

To enhance all the flavors, I love roasting the vegetables. It’s easy: I just pop a baking sheet with the sliced veggies in the hot oven before baking the pizza. Believe me, it’s so worth it!

For the pizza crust I use this easy no-knead pizza dough. It’s a high-hydration pizza dough, so easy to whip up in 1 bowl, and it tastes amazing. But feel free to use your favorite pizza crust if it makes your life easier, and bake and enjoy the best veggie pizza ever.

Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, but I’m such a pizza lover! : )

Ingredients for the no-knead pizza dough

All-purpose flour or bread flour
Instant yeast (or Active yeast)
Fine salt
Water
Extra virgin olive oil or olive oil

Please, follow this recipe with helpful step-by-step photos and video.

The ingredients to make veggie pizza dough are arranged over a white background.

Ingredients for the veggie pizza topping

Once you’ve made the pizza dough, prepare the vegetarian topping with:

Vegetables (zucchini, red onion, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers)
Fresh mozzarella ball (shredded mozzarella is ok too)
Arugula
Fresh basil or oregano
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper

The ingredients to make the vegetarian pizza topping are arranged over a white background.

How to make veggie pizza topping

Scatter the sliced vegetables on a baking sheet without overlapping them.
Roast them for 20 minutes in the preheated oven before baking the pizza.

Top view of the roasted vegetables over a white baking sheet.

While the veggies are in the oven prepare the pizza crust.
Top with chopped mozzarella, roasted vegetables, cherry tomatoes.
Season with salt and pepper. I added oregano too.
Bake for about 12-15 minutes, until golden and crusty.

Top view of a round pizza with vegetables before and after baking.

Serve warm with arugula, fresh basil leaves and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy!

Top view of a round vegetarian pizza over a white background. Cherry tomatoes and basil leaves in the background.

Recipe notes

Veggie pizza ingredients

Vegetables: the best vegetables for this pizza recipe are zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, red onion, tomatoes, arugula and basil. But the recipe for the topping is pretty flexible, feel free to use your favorite combination of these vegetables (I skipped the eggplant this time!).

Flour: unbleached, all-purpose flour is perfect for this recipe, but bread flour will do too.

Instant yeast: you can stir it directly into the dry ingredients and doesn’t require any activation in water. Alternatively, Active dry yeast works fine too, but it needs to be activated in water before you add it to the dry ingredients (check the manufacturer’s instructions).

Mozzarella: whole milk mozzarella in water is best, but make sure you don’t overload the pizza because fresh mozzarella contains plenty of water which can make the crust soggy. Alternatively, the shredded mozzarella that you find at your local store is ok too.

Olive oil: use a drizzle of good-quality extra virgin olive oil to enhance all the flavors!

Close-up of a veggie pizza topping and crust.

Tips to make a delicious veggie pizza

Vegetarian topping: bake the vegetables, their flavor shines once they’re roasted in the oven, while the raw arugula and fresh basil add freshness. Season them with salt, pepper and don’t forget a drizzle of olive oil before and after baking.

Pizza crust: follow these simple rules to make a crispy homemade pizza!

Make sure the oven is preheated and hot to give a burst of initial heat.
Place the rack in the lowest position close to the heating element.
Use hot pizza stone or pizza steel to make a crispy crust. Alternatively, you can use a preheated baking sheet (see my tips in the recipe card!).
Use parchment paper and a pizza peel to transfer your pizza to a hot stone. This helps when you deal with sticky high-hydration dough like this.

Close-up of a pizza with vegetarian topping made with roasted veggies and arugula.

More easy delicious pizza recipes:

If you make this veggie pizza, or if you have any questions, let me know! Leave a comment or rate it. I would love to hear from you!

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Print Recipe

Veggie Pizza

This scrumptious, vibrant veggie pizza is a must. The pizza crust is light, crispy and the juicy topping is made with creamy mozzarella, slightly roasted vegetables, fresh basil and arugula. It's colorful, packed with vegetables and totally delicious!

Quantities yield 2 regular servings (or 1 large pizza)

Prep Time10

Cook Time35

Proofing time1

Total Time1 45

Course: Pizza

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Veggie pizza

Servings:

Author: Katia

Ingredients

Easy pizza dough

1 ½ cup + 2 Tbsps (210 grams) all-purpose flour (leveled cups, see notes), plus more flour to sprinkle
½ tsp Instant yeast (or dry Active yeast, see notes)
½ tsp fine salt
¾ cup (180 grams) water, lukewarm
¾ Tbsp Olive oil or extra virgin olive oil

Veggie topping

5oz (150 grams) fresh mozzarella (or from ½ to ⅓ cup shredded firm mozzarella)
1 red onion, sliced
1 zucchini, cut it into ¼ inch slices
2 bell peppers, cut it into ¼ inch slices
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters or into halves
1 handful arugula, washed
10 basil leaves
1 tsp dried oregano (optional)
salt & pepper

Instructions

Pizza dough: follow the easy no-knead pizza recipe to prepare the dough. It takes 5 minutes of prep time and 1 hour of proofing time. When the dough has doubled in size and looks bubbly, start making the veggie topping.
Veggie topping: preheat the oven to 240°C/465°F and place the rack on the lowest position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the sliced vegetables without overlapping; season with salt, pepper, and spray or drizzle a little olive oil. A good pinch of oregano is optional, but tastes lovely.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until they get golden. I leave the baking sheet on the lowest shelf for 15 minutes, and I move it closer to the broil for the last 5 minutes. Using the broil is optional, keep an eye on them because they might burn easily if they're too close.
Shape the dough: while the veggies are in the oven, prepare 2 parchment paper sheets. Using a spatula, divide the dough by pouring half of it onto each sheet (you'll find all the tips and video here). Sprinkle some flour over and, starting from the center, gently press it out with your fingers to get approx 2 13-inch round pizza (or you can make a whole large pizza without diving the dough).
Remove the veggies from the oven, but don't turn the the oven off and place a pizza stone or a large baking sheet on the lowest rack instead. You want to preheat a pizza stone or a baking sheet for at least 10-15 minutes to make a nice pizza crust.
Topping: Scatter the diced mozzarella, the roasted vegetables and the cherry tomatoes over the pizza. Season with salt, pepper, and sprinkle with oregano.
Bake: Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone or onto the hot baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden and crusty. Each oven is different, keep an eye on it (e.g. in a forced fan oven it will take about 8-10 minutes). Repeat for the second pizza.
Serve warm, top with a handful of fresh arugula, some fresh basil leaves and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy.

Notes

Yeast: Active dry yeast and instant yeast can be used interchangeably in this recipe.

How to measure flour: I use both US cups and grams. The cups of flour are leveled: fill the measuring cup all the way to the top letting the flour flow over a little. Then, use the back of a knife to level the top off. However, a digital scale is an excellent kitchen tool and gives a more correct weight.

Flour: all-purpose flour is perfect for pizza, but you can use bread flourinstead, it’s totally fine.

What to use instead of a pizza stone? Each oven usually has a rimmed baking sheet that you can simply invert it and place on the lowest shelf of your oven before you preheat the oven. Then place your pizza and parchment paper on a pizza peel or on a large tray and, when the oven is hot and it’s time to bake, slide the pizza onto the hot reverted baking sheet. This way, taking the pizza in and out of the oven will be easier than if the baking sheet was right-side up, and at the same time the preheated baking sheet will make a crisp pizza crust.

How long does veggie pizza last? Once pizza is cold, place it in a large freezer bag and refrigerate for up to 2 days in the fridge. Alternately, remove arugula and basil, wrap your pizza in cling film or place it in a freezer bag, make sure you squeeze the air out and freeze it up to 2 months. Defrost at room temperature, and toast and serve the leftover warm.

Thank you!