Let’s talk about pizza and tempeh: a match made in heaven. Sure, most say pepperoni is the penultimate pizza topper, but I feel quite certain that these people haven’t tasted tempeh (and certainly must not know about the plight of the piggies). It’s the only explanation because tempeh and pizza are so absolutely meant to go together.
Case in point: My dear friend, Allie, my most skeptical taste tester who wrinkled her nose at all things vegan when I met her a year and a half ago, now buys, bakes, and eats tempeh all the time. She just can’t get enough! Tempeh pizza is THAT good.
In three short days we will all toast to a new year and MORE Vegan Blog will celebrate its very first birthday. Wow. That happened ridiculously fast.
I didn’t blog nearly as much as I had intended (2014 kept me super busy with a new house, new job, etc.), but hey, if Allie now eats tempeh, I call it a success. After all, when I began blogging a year ago, I hoped to inspire and be inspired. I wanted to spread the word about how awesome eating vegan can be and Allie eating tempeh, well I’d say that’s pretty darn cool. Hooray for vegan food, hooray for animals everywhere, and bring on the vegan pizza. It’s pizza party time.
Each one of these scrumptious vegan pizzas is loaded with protein-rich tempeh, flavorful sauces and veggies galore. Oh yeah, and did I mention that they can all be made in 40 minutes or less? Now, the only hard part is going to be deciding which one to make…BBQ, curry, or Buffalo? If you’re like me, it’s probably best to make all three!
- 1-8 oz. pkg. tempeh
- 2 12-inch vegan pizza crusts
- 1½-2 cups BBQ sauce
- ¼ cup + 2 tbsp. vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp. soy sauce
- 2 medium red onions (thinly sliced)
- 2 tbsp. olive
- 1½ cups pineapple
- Vegan shredded cheese (optional)
- Caramelize the onions by heating the olive oil, onions, and 2 tbsp. vegetable broth over medium heat. Allow to cook for about 30 minutes, checking frequently and stirring to prevent burning.
- Preheat oven according to your crust's directions (usually 425-450 degrees).
- While the onions caramelize, slice the tempeh into quarter inch thick strips and then cut the strips into 1-inch long pieces. Add to a second skillet along with the soy sauce, ¼ cup vegetable broth, and ¼ cup BBQ sauce. Turn the heat to medium, cover, and allow to steam until all liquid is absorbed (about 8 minutes). Once, finished, leave covered, and set off to the side.
- Cut the pineapple into approximately 1 inch squares, about a ¼ inch thick. Mix in and cook with the onions for the last 5 minutes.
- Brush two pizza crusts with olive oil. Spread ¼-1/3 cups BBQ sauce over each pizza.
- Distribute the caramelized onions, pineapple, and tempeh evenly over the two pizzas.
- Sprinkle the pizzas with shredded vegan cheese if desired.
- Cook according to pizza crust directions (usually about 10 minutes).

- 8oz. pkg. tempeh
- 2 12-inch vegan pizza crusts
- ¼ cup vegetable broth
- ¾-1 cup Frank's Hot Sauce
- 1 tbsp. soy sauce
- 8 oz. pkg. vegan cream cheese
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp. lemon juice (optional)
- 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar (optional)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- peppers, thinly sliced or chopped (I used 2 poblanos and 3 hot chile peppers, but bell peppers would work too)
- Preheat the oven according to crust directions (usually 425-450 degrees).
- Slice the tempeh into quarter inch thick strips and then cut the strips into 1-inch long pieces. Add to a skillet along with the soy sauce, vegetable broth, and ¼ cup hot sauce. Turn the heat to medium, cover, and allow to steam until all liquid is absorbed (about 8 minutes). Once, finished, leave covered, and set off to the side.
- While the tempeh steams, whisk together the cream cheese, nutritional yeast, ½-3/4 cup hot sauce, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar together in a bowl.
- Brush two pizza crusts with olive oil. Divide the cheese sauce evenly between the two pizzas and spread it out so that the crusts are evenly coated.
- Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Saute the garlic for 1-2 minutes and then add the steamed tempeh. Cook for 5-10 minutes until lightly browned.
- Add the peppers and cook for about 5 more minutes.
- Divide the tempeh and peppers into two equal portions and spread evenly across the pizzas.
- Bake pizza according to crust directions (usually about 10 minutes).

- 2 12-inch vegan pizza crusts
- 8 oz. pkg. Tofurkey Coconut Curry Tempeh
- 15 oz. can coconut milk
- 4 tbsp. curry paste
- 1 tsp. corn starch
- 2 tbsp. water
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- yellow bell pepper, sliced or chopped
- 2 poblano peppers, sliced or chopped
- Preheat the oven according to crust's directions (usually 425-450 degrees).
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cut the tempeh strips into 1-inch pieces and add to the skillet. Cook until lightly browned (about 10 minutes).
- Add the peppers and cook for about 5 more minutes.
- Meanwhile, open the coconut milk and pour out as much of the water as possible. You want to use the cream part only. Add the cream part of the coconut milk to a saucepan and turn heat to medium.
- Add the curry paste to the coconut cream and continue to heat.
- Mix the cornstarch in water. Once dissolved, add it to the coconut curry sauce and bring to a boil for 1 minute to thicken the coconut-curry sauce.
- Brush two pizza crusts with olive oil. Divide the coconut-curry sauce evenly between the two pizzas and spread it out so that the crusts are evenly coated.
- Divide the tempeh and peppers into two equal portions and spread evenly across the pizzas.
- Bake according to pizza crust instructions (usually about 10 minutes).
On the crust…
Mama Mary’s Original Pizza Crusts are my favorite because they are super easy to use, available at my local grocery store, and are dairy-free. However, they do contain honey and are therefore not quite vegan. Whole Foods and other health food stores have lots of vegan pizza crust options or check out Vegan Richa’s site for lots of vegan crust recipes! Please share if you have a vegan pizza crust brand or recipe that you love!
these look amaziing!!! I need to try it at home 🙂
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I could not agree more that tempeh and pizza are a match made in heaven! Tempeh in general is a staple in my house and when you love pizza like it is your job…the 2 find themselves together quite often. These recipes look great! P.S. Do you love the Foodie template? Couldn’t help but notice haha, it is what I use as well. So simple and love the look!
Yes, I love the Foodie template! Thanks for stopping by!
I can’t wait to try the Coconut Curry Tempeh Pizza! It looks delicious with just the right amount of spice. I would also add in grilled radicchio as I love to sneak in superfoods to my recipes, but otherwise I would leave it exactly as it is. Thank you for the new recipe!
Ooo! Great idea. Let me know how it turns out. 🙂
Great recipe 🙂 I think you’d also be interested in checking out Ingredients for Change on Facebook for plant-based recipes and our videos on Youtube: http://youtu.be/TFCznK9GnHc You can also check out Instagram under raashmis. We hope you like it! 🙂
These look amazing! thanks for using tempeh!
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What a great recipe for pizza. I’m a big fan of pizza and turning vegan was a great decision – healthy and colorful!
Hey Elisabeth! I’ve been following your blog for a while now but this recipe has to be one of my favourites so far-it looks absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to try it!
http://www.wonderstruckfawns.com
I thought you also might like to check out my vegan travel blog? I want to change the stigma that it is too hard to travel and remain vegan, so i blog about my adventures of doing just that! Let me know what you think?!
hi there..
wow, i’ve never taste a tempeh pizza before.something new ..
Usually,we cook sambal tempeh and eat with rice.
thanks for the recipe.will try asap.
Thanks for the awesome recipes, Elisabeth (and nice name!) I need to put these on the list to make for my fiancé. He’s a pizza fiend! I LOVE tempeh and have won him over to it (he’s vegan, but much newer than me!), but for some reason didn’t think to put it on pizza! D’oh!
I’ve not yet tried tempeh, but I think I need these pizzas in my newly vegan life! Thanks for sharing 🙂
-Jade
Wow, love this Pizza. It looks great!
wow these look amazing! one thing I’ve never made yet is pizza! will have to try soon, thanks:)
sorry … general Vegan question~
I own a donut shop and am thinking about offering a vegan donut from a vegan recipe.
I only have one fryer, and need to use the same oil for both regular and vegan donuts. Does that break a vegan rule?
I’d say that you need to let your customers know. Some people will not want to eat anything that comes in contact with animal products, others might not be bothered by it.
Hi Elisabeth! You are amazing and your taste is also more amazing than that. You have great sense of cooking new dishes always . This recipe is also awesome and I want say that I tried it yesterday at home for dinner and I Can’t describe how delicious it is . Every body likes it very much . Every body say thanks to you for this recipe.
Yum, I have to say that those are some of the best looking pizzas on the internet! I am going to have to go home and make at least one of these. I think I am going to go with Buffalo first! That one looks the most delicious 🙂 Thank you
I like your recipe it looks yummy. I am super excited to try this new recipe.