Vegan Frozen Pizza for Parents

I’m a busy parent who just loves to put together last minute dishes.

No, not really – haha! But it’s a requirement of the job so I’ve gotten used to it.

This Vegan Frozen Pizza for Parents recipe started off as a simple Instagram post and isn’t one of my more thought out posts and recipes that have been tested a million times. But I’m posting anyway. Why? Because it’s just so easy to pull off for what it is: a quick, pizza dinner that’s decent in the tummy! Components can easily be switched out and I wanted something chill to refer back to and share with other busy people – especially fellow busy parents. But obviously, this is a pizza for anyone who wants to save time – not just my fellow busy parents!

So obviously this isn’t in any way an authentic recipe.

I actually didn’t start making these Vegan Frozen Pizza for Parents until I had 10 frozen crusts in my freezer. And, no, keeping 10 frozen crusts (not dough, mind you, so it’s already shaped) is not something I normally do! When I had family visiting, I ran out of time to make pizza dough and a friend picked up these crusts for me at the store. And with everything awful going on at the same time, even using frozen crusts were too much for me so we ended up just ordering from one of my favorite restaurants in the neighborhood, Cibo.

So the crusts just sat in my freezer for a while until one day, when I was overwhelmed and tired but happened to have ingredients, I made a frozen pizza. And another. And another.

They were frozen pizzas, sure…but they were very decent! This Vegan Frozen Pizza for Parents isn’t a revolutionary recipe. It’s just that in the age where people are praised for making everything from scratch despite the labor and time it takes but shamed the minute they take any shortcuts so they can rest a little, I thought it was important to stay authentic and admit that, hey, we all need to take shortcuts and that’s totally fine. We can’t always do every single thing ourselves and most people can’t afford to eat takeout daily. And obviously, I’m not into debt so there’s that. So we do what we can to find that middle ground.

And this Vegan Frozen Pizza for Parents is that perfect middle ground.

Four things that make an awesome Vegan Frozen Pizza for Parents:

A decent frozen pizza crust: I use the one from Trader Joe’s. I’m talking about pizza crusts, again and not dough. There’s no thawing time and you don’t have to shape it yourself. So that’s a lot of time saved.

Good canned pizza sauce: So far I like Pomi or Mutti canned tomatoes. Save yourself having to handwash a knife and have your fingers smell like garlic unless you really want to make your own. If you are indeed not wanting to labor this time and/or if basil is out of season, I would use the canned pizza sauce from Italy. Repeat: The tomatoes have to be from Italy.

Vegan Mozzarella Cheese: So far, I like both Planet Foods and Violife, both which I have purchased from Costco.

Colorful toppings: I usually like to stick to three toppings and the toppings simply are dependent on what’s available. For this pizza, I used garden cherry tomatoes, homegrown basil, windowsill green onions and Mama Lil’s Hot Peppers. In the fall, I’ll have no tomatoes so I’ll have to use other seasonal ingredients but most likely will have to pre-cook them first as part of the prep. If I wanted to use that kale in the picture, I’d obviously have to massage it with olive oil and sprinkle it with some kosher salt before I put it on the pizza.

In terms of assembly, I just use ¼ cup, give or take, of the pizza sauce for a ten inch pizza to avoid any sogginess while still getting good coverage. Simply sprinkle the cheese around and then add the everything else with the exception of the basil which goes on after baking.

We bake our Vegan Frozen Pizza for Parents it in a preheated oven. In terms of what temperature, I followed the instructions of the package but it made the pizza take even longer than the listed time. Because we’re using a frozen pizza crust that’s already been cooked, I was nervous about burning but I still wanted to adjust to something higher. Turning up my conventional oven all the way (at broiler temp and with the pizza at least 8 inches away from the to) for the next pizza turned out to be better. It also only took a minute or two. However, I suggest following the instructions on the frozen pizza package first and then adjusting to what works in your own oven, kitchen, situation, etc. I have a conventional induction range so I do find that it’s a lot more powerful in terms of heat.

Hope you find this Vegan Pizza for Parents recipe helpful!

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