Transforming naan into a vegan naan pizza is my favourite hack for an easy dinner! This recipe features homemade pesto and sweet potato, but you can use any toppings you like.
What is naan?
Naan is an Indian flatbread which is traditionally cooked in a large oven called a tandoor. It is often topped with garlic and coriander, and served alongside curries.
Fun fact: The word 'naan' literally translates to 'bread', so if you're calling it 'naan bread', you're really saying 'bread bread'!
How to make naan pizza:
Naan is bubbly and crispy making it the perfect cheat's pizza base! It's a great way to use up leftover naan and is super customisable so perfect for enjoying with others. If you cannot find naan in your supermarket, you could use pita or a wholewheat tortilla instead.
To make this vegan naan pizza, spread the homemade 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.
On this pizza, I added homemade pesto, dairy-free cheese, sweet potato, onion and spinach. But the topping options are endless! A few of my favourites include cherry tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, olives and jalepeños. And if you're a fan of jalepeños, you'll love my creamy jalepeño hummus recipe!
Also feel free to swap the pesto for some marinara sauce or even white sauce.
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/broiler 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 you have to wait before eating it 🙂
- Make extras. Because eating pizza for breakfast is my favourite pastime, and it's probably yours too.
FAQ
You can purchase naan in most supermarkets in the bread section or world foods aisle. Alternatively, buy naan from your local Indian takeaway. If you cannot find naan, you can also make this recipe using pita or a wholewheat tortilla!
Traditional naan usually contains dairy products such as yoghurt or curd. However, certain supermarket brands of naan are vegan friendly! In the UK, the brand Riya's makes delicious vegan-friendly naan which is perfect for this recipe.
If you are purchasing naan from your local Indian takeaway, be sure to check with the restaurant that it is vegan-friendly.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you make it, please leave a rating + review below and share your photos on Instagram tagging #shivanilovesfood!
More simple dinner recipes
Vegan Naan Pizza
LEAVE A REVIEW PRINT RECIPEIngredients
- ½ Sweet Potato
- 1 Naan I used garlic + coriander naan
- 1 tablespoon Vegan Pesto see notes for recipe
- 30 grams/ 1 oz Dairy-Free Cheese
- ½ Red Onion finely chopped
- handful Spinach
- small bunch Fresh Basil
- small handful Chopped Walnuts
- Black Pepper to taste
- Flaky Sea Salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to the grill/broiler 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 or 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!
Notes
- 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.
- You can use any toppings of your choosing in this recipe.
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge and enjoyed the next day, preferably for breakfast 🙂
Meghna
Hey that pizza looks so damn good. Making it tonight I have everything in my pantry.
Shivani Raja
Thank you so much Meghna! Save me a slice?! x
Neha
Man why did I never think about pizza on a naan yet!! Loving your toppings, totally trying it today!
Shivani Raja
It's quite possibly my favourite hack EVER! I hope you like it Neha! x
Toni
I loved it! It was so easy and taste so good!
Shivani Raja
Yay I'm so glad you like it Toni! The sweet potato is a real game changer!
Jen
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!
Shivani Raja
Yayy! My pesto obsession is pretty high right now too hahah! so glad you like it Jen x
Ryan Tomlinson
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
Shivani Raja
I hope you enjoy it Ryan!
Lindsay
But naan isn’t vegan- it’s made with yogurt.
Shivani Raja
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 🙂
Annie Bamber
Hi lindsey, there are vegan yogurts. i made some today just from yogurt, self raising flour, parsley & garlic powder and they're perfect
Deborah
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.