Mushroom Pizza

Change up your pizza night plans with this cauliflower crust vegan mushroom pizza!

What mushrooms are best for pizza?

• Cremini: the best simple option for mushroom pizza, in my opinion. They're easy to find at most stores and have a bit more flavor than white button mushrooms. (However, white button mushrooms work well, too as an alternative.)
• Shiitake: fantastic paired with cremini mushrooms, they add a bit more earthy, rich flavor.
• Maitake: maitake mushrooms have a fantastic meaty texture and strong flavor, making them a favorite for this pizza.
• Portobello: not my favorite choice due to their large size, but if you dice them finely and cook until most of the moisture is released, they can work.
• Oyster: If you can find oyster mushrooms, add a handful to this pizza for a meatier option that keeps its shape when cooked.
• Chanterelles: chanterelle mushrooms are on the expensive side, but packed with flavor.

How to make a vegan cauliflower crust

The key for our crispy cauliflower crust is to use frozen riced cauliflower, which is widely available at most grocery stores.

After letting it thaw for about 10 minutes, wrap it in a cheesecloth or nut milk bag and squeeze out as much excess moisture as possible. This is the most important step for making your pizza crust extra crispy!

If you can't find frozen cauliflower rice or would rather use fresh, you'll need to rice it yourself in a food processor. Then, steam the riced cauliflower for 4-5 minutes, let cool and remove excess moisture. (Frozen allows you to skip 2 steps - much easier!)

Next, add in the remaining ingredients to a food processor along with the cauliflower and process until the dough comes together. You should be able to pinch it between your fingers without it falling apart.

Knead the dough into a ball. If it's not coming together, add a tablespoon of water and continue kneading. Once the dough comes together into a smooth ball, refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

This allows for the flax meal to soak up liquid, which helps the crust stay together when rolled out.

Place the dough between two layers of parchment paper and roll as thin as possible. The thinner the crust, the crispier it will be!

Pre-bake the crust for 17-19 minutes before adding toppings. If you don't pre-bake the crust, it won't get crispy. Add the toppings and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the cheese is sufficiently melted.

Substitutions

• Feel free to use a store-bought crust mix or a pre-made crust instead of the cauliflower crust. If you're gluten free, we love this mix from Bob's Red Mill.
• If you're not vegan, I would use a mix of fresh mozzarella and goat cheese, which work well with mushrooms. Ricotta would be a nice alternative.
• No fresh herbs? Feel free to use dried instead. Red pepper flakes are always a great addition, too!
• Make your pizza extra fancy with a drizzle of truffle oil (fantastic with mushrooms!). Balsamic reduction would also be delicious.
• You can add fresh arugula after the pizza is out of the oven.

More vegan pizza recipes to try:

• Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza with Vegan Ranch
• Garlic Bread Pizza via Chickpea Express
• Cauliflower Crust Pizza with Artichokes, Mushrooms, Arugula and Roasted Red Pepper
• Margherita Pizza with Cashew Mozzarella via Vegan Richa

If you make this vegan mushroom pizza with a cauliflower crust, we’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below! We also love to see your creations on Instagram – tag us at @crowded_kitchen so we can see what you’ve been cooking.

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