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This vegan bbq chicken pizza is chewy, crispy, saucy and absolutely mouthwatering. It’s topped with homemade seitan chicken that is covered in a sweet, tangy BBQ sauce that when baked becomes crispy and caramelized!
Top this vegan pizza off with red onions and some charred sweet corn for the perfect end of summer or early autumn dinner. Just like my vegan buffalo pizza, this one is sure to be in your recipe rotation!
Why You’ll Love This Vegan BBQ Pizza
Growing up, one of my family’s go-to restaurants to eat at on the weekends was California Pizza Kitchen. There was this BBQ chicken pizza on the menu that everyone would order, but I couldn’t without modifying it since I was vegan.
This pizza is reminiscent of CPK’s, but I’d go as far as saying it’s better. In fact, I think it’s the best vegan BBQ chicken pizza ever. I made this recipe a few times in the past week, and well…there’s none left. We ate it up very quickly. Here are a few more reasons we love it and you will too:
Emily’s Recipe Notes:
- Flavor: Tangy, slightly sweet, just salty enough and super savory.
- Texture: Crispy yet chewy crust with lots of caramelized bbq seitan chicken.
- Customizable: I highly recommend the homemade seitan chicken and pizza dough, but this recipe is adaptable. Use your favorite store-bought versions instead!
Ingredients
Ingredient Highlights
Homemade seitan chicken
The highlight of this pizza is the seitan chicken in my opinion! I like to prep this ahead of time and store it in the fridge until I’m ready to use it. The seitan is sliced into strips or shreds and tossed in a sticky BBQ sauce.
Then just spread the vegan chicken out over the cheese and sauce. If you don’t have time to prep homemade vegan chicken, you can sub in your favorite store-bought version. Look for one without breading if possible, like Morningstar’s Unbreaded Chick’n Strips.
Red Onion
A bit of diced red onion gets super tender when baked and adds so much flavor.
Sweet Corn
I used frozen, fire roasted sweet corn which a give a quick pan fry with some vegan butter before sprinkling on the pizza. Fresh corn on the cob can also be used!
Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
To make this pizza quicker and easy (since the chick’n and crust are homemade), I used a combination of store-bought vegan mozzarella cheeses: a liquid one by Miyokos and shreds by Violife. The pourable vegan mozzarella gets bubbly when baked and the shreds provide a nice crispy crunch when sprinkled on the outer edges of the crust.
You can use your favorite store-bought version or you could even use this delicious homemade vegan mozzarella.
Homemade Pizza Dough
What makes this pizza so tasty is, in part, the dough. My Easy Weeknight Pizza Dough has a touch of sweetness in it from agave nectar which plays into the sweetness of the corn and BBQ sauce.
The key to getting a nice texture is making sure the dough is kneaded long enough. I used a stand mixer to make this recipe extra simple and I kneaded my dough for 5-6 minutes with the dough hook attachment. This dough can certainly be kneaded the good ole’ fashioned way by hand. If kneading by hand, you’ll want to do so for at least 8 or 9 minutes.
How to Make Vegan BBQ Chicken Pizza
You only need one pan to prep the ingredients for this homemade vegan pizza. Plus all the prep work can be done while the oven preheats. The crust doesn’t need to be pre-baked which is awesome. All you have to do is toss your ingredients on and bake for a short 12 minutes until golden brown. Perfecto.
Prep the pizza dough according to this recipe, or remove store-bought dough from the fridge to come to room temp.
Prep the homemade vegan seitan chicken according to this recipe.
Oil the pizza dough and stretch out to an oval. Spread a layer of pizza sauce or marinara on top, leaving a border for the crust.
Spread the vegan mozzarella over the sauce. I used a combo of Miyoko’s liquid mozzarella and Violife shreds.
Add the prepped toppings like charred sweet corn, red onion and the bbq seitan chicken.
Bake at 475F for about 12-15 minutes, or until the crust is golden, the cheese is bubbly and the seitan chicken is caramelized.
Serving Ideas
Once the pizza is out of the oven, it’s ready to be sliced and served. I love adding another drizzle of BBQ sauce on top and sprinkling everything with lots of fresh cilantro. This pizza would also be so good with vegan ranch!
If you have leftovers, then you can wrap them well or store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Homemade Vegan Pizza FAQ
Yes, you can absolutely substitute store-bought chicken. The end result will be slightly different as store-bought chick’ns have a different texture than homemade seitan chicken. I recommend using vegan chicken by the brands Gardein or Morningstar.
This pizza has red onion, corn, and vegan bbq seitan chicken on it. It also has vegan mozzarella cheese and red pizza sauce. Other toppings that would be delicious on this pizza are basil, nutritional yeast, cherry tomatoes, or mushrooms.
Yes, absolutely. Trader Joe’s pizza dough is actually vegan and super delicious if you don’t have time or energy to make your own crust.
More Vegan Pizza Recipes
Best Vegan BBQ Chicken Pizza
Rate this RecipeIngredients
Pizza Dough
- 1 recipe Homemade Pizza Dough, or use store-bought
Toppings
- 1 recipe Vegan Seitan Chicken, or store-bought vegan chicken strips (you'll need about 150g or ~1½-2 cups)
- 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup frozen fire roasted sweet corn
- ⅓ cup BBQ sauce, plus extra for topping
- ⅓ cup marinara pizza sauce
- ½ cup Miyoko's Liquid Vegan Mozzarella Cheese, see notes
- ¼ cup shredded vegan mozzarella cheese, like Violife, plus more as needed
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, to topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 475℉. Prep the pizza dough according to this recipe. Prep the vegan chicken according to this recipe. This homemade seitan chicken recipe makes enough for 2 pizzas. Once baked, slice or shred into pieces.1 recipe Homemade Pizza Dough, 1 recipe Vegan Seitan Chicken
- Heat a pan with ½ tablespoon of olive oil on medium-low heat. Add the frozen corn. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally until warmed through. Remove the corn from the pan.2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, ⅓ cup frozen fire roasted sweet corn
- Add the shredded seitan chicken to the same pan. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until slightly golden and firmer in texture. Then pour BBQ sauce on top. Stir to coat, and cook for another 1-2 minutes over low heat. Remove from the heat and set aside.⅓ cup BBQ sauce
- Coat a baking sheet or pan with 1-2 tbsp olive oil. Place the dough on the pan and rub olive oil into both sides of the dough.2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Add a layer of pizza sauce leaving a border around the edges, followed by a layer of vegan cheese. Sprinkle the corn, red onion and BBQ seitan chicken on top.⅓ cup marinara pizza sauce, ½ cup Miyoko's Liquid Vegan Mozzarella Cheese, ¼ cup diced red onion, ¼ cup shredded vegan mozzarella cheese
- Bake the pizza at 475℉ for 12-15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown, the cheese is bubbly and the BBQ seitan chicken is caramelized and slightly charred.Remove from the oven and top with fresh chopped cilantro and a drizzle of extra BBQ sauce to taste.½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Recipe notes
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