Vegan Naan Pizza with Pesto and Sweet Potato
April 3, 2019
This easy vegan naan pizza recipe is a definite weekday favourite! Topped with vegan pesto, sweet potato, dairy-free cheese, red onion, spinach and walnuts.
Pizza is like, my favourite thing EVER. And today I realised that I have never actually shared a pizza recipe with you. To remedy that, I proceeded to make the most extra vegan pizza ever. Naturally.
Here’s what we’ve got going on with this baby: homemade vegan pesto, sweet potato, dairy-free cheese, red onion, spinach, basil, walnuts, and flaky sea salt.
Yes, you read that correctly. There’s SWEET POTATO on this pizza. Because we love carbs.
How to make Naan Pizza:
Making tasty pizza at home couldn’t be easier thanks to my clever hack – using naan for the pizza base! Yes, of course, you could make your own pizza base, but ain’t nobody got time for that, right?!
Naan is an Indian flatbread cooked in a Tandoori oven, and is sometimes topped with herbs and spices. It is bubbly and crispy making it the perfect cheat’s pizza base! If you cannot find naan in your supermarket, you could use a pitta bread or a wholewheat tortilla instead.
To make this vegan naan pizza, spread the pesto on your naan, load it up with your favourite toppings, cook on the grill setting of your oven for 5 minutes, and enjoy!
vegan Pizza toppings:
Trust me, making pizza this way is even quicker than getting it from your local takeaway. Plus, you can load it up with your favourite healthy vegan toppings! Here’s what I added to my pizza:
- Homemade vegan pesto – because tomato sauce is so last year 😉
- Dairy-free cheese – is a cheese-less pizza even really pizza anymore? Sounds more like a flavoured flatbread to me. (UK readers, Violife cheese is the BEST for melting on pizza!)
- Sweet potato – oh YES.
- Red onion + spinach – for extra tasty flavour.
- Garnishes – this pizza is all about the garnishes. Topping this freshly baked naan pizza with walnuts, fresh basil and flaky sea salt really takes things to the next level. Plus it makes me seem super fancy, which totally offsets the fact that I spent the whole weekend in my pyjamas.
My tips for making perfect pizza at home:
- Use quality ingredients: using the best quality ingredients you can find makes a dish as simple as pizza taste so much better!
- Use the grill setting of your oven: this ensures your crust is crispy and slightly charred, just like traditional pizza! Also, it cooks a lot quicker this way, minimising the time I have to wait before I can eat it 😉
- Make extras – because eating pizza for breakfast is my favourite pastime, and it’s probably yours too.
I hope you try this recipe! If you do, I’d love for you to tag me on Instagram @shivanilf so I can see how it goes. You can also keep updated with me on Facebook and Pinterest – I hope to see you there!
More tasty vegan dinner recipes:
Vegan Naan Pizza
Ingredients
- 1/2 Sweet Potato
- 1 Naan I used garlic + coriander naan
- 1 tablespoon Vegan Pesto see notes for recipe
- 20 grams Dairy-Free Cheese
- 1/2 Red Onion
- handful Spinach
- Black Pepper to taste
- small bunch Fresh Basil
- small handful Chopped Walnuts
- Flaky Sea Salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to the grill setting.
- Add the sweet potato to a microwaveable bowl filled halfway with water and pierce the potato with a knife. Microwave for 5 minutes (it will cook further in the oven).
- Meanwhile, spread the vegan pesto on the naan. (I like to cook my pizza on a pizza tray or grill tray, to allow the heat to cook it underneath too)
- Grate/ finely slice the dairy-free cheese and sprinkle on top. Chop the onion and spinach, and add to the pizza.
- Drain and peel the sweet potato then chop into large chunks. Spread them evenly on the pizza. Sprinkle with freshly cracked black pepper.
- Bake the pizza under the grill setting for 5 minutes. Keep an eye on it, as it will cook quickly! If you find your pizza is cooking too quickly, you can cover the crust with some tin foil to prevent it burning.
- Once golden, remove the pizza from the oven and top with fresh chopped basil, walnuts and flaky sea salt. Slice and enjoy hot!
Shivani’s Tips
- I used homemade vegan pesto for this recipe – it’s a lot cheaper than store-bought and it’s also super easy! Get my vegan pesto recipe here.
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge and enjoyed the next day, preferably for breakfast 🙂
- You might like to enjoy some homemade polenta chips alongside your pizza – they’re so easy and so healthy!
Did you make this recipe?
Tag me on Instagram @shivanilf and use the hashtag #shivanilovesfood!
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Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019 Shivani Raja
Hey that pizza looks so damn good. Making it tonight I have everything in my pantry.
Thank you so much Meghna! Save me a slice?! x
Man why did I never think about pizza on a naan yet!! Loving your toppings, totally trying it today!
It’s quite possibly my favourite hack EVER! I hope you like it Neha! x
I loved it! It was so easy and taste so good!
Yay I’m so glad you like it Toni! The sweet potato is a real game changer!
I am so obsessed with pesto right now that this pizza couldn’t have come at a better time! Wow, what a fantastic way to change up our Friday night pizza dinner. Love it!
Yayy! My pesto obsession is pretty high right now too hahah! so glad you like it Jen x
never tried to cook naan pizza at home but your post is really amazing thanks for sharing. I will definitely try to cook it at home
I hope you enjoy it Ryan!
But naan isn’t vegan- it’s made with yogurt.
Hey Lindsay! You are correct in saying that some naan is made with yogurt. However, I find that most varieties available in the supermarket are vegan-friendly – for example Riya’s. Hope this helps you 🙂
Hi lindsey, there are vegan yogurts. i made some today just from yogurt, self raising flour, parsley & garlic powder and they’re perfect
I shared your naan pizza recipe on my blog today as an outbound link. I have a recipe for naan, but I’ve never made pizza with it so I shared it with my audience to show them it can be used to make pizza. Thanks for the inspiration.