The Sauce Tip You Need For A Better-Tasting Vegan Pizza Order

Going out for pizza as a vegan isn't as complicated as you might expect. That's because, unless there's dairy or eggs in the crust (two things that aren't common, but are worth double checking), your order can be as simple as a vegetarian pizza without the cheese. While you always run the chance of the cook throwing cheese on out of habit and needing a refire, cheese-less pizza is hardly as disheartening as some people think — but you'll want to make some additional adjustments to your order to compensate for it not being there. The best tip for making your vegan pizza order more flavorful is to always ask for extra sauce when you're ditching the dairy.

Getting extra sauce on your cheeseless, vegan pizza is a way to give it more flavor and reduce the chances of it coming out dry. Fresh mozzarella, for instance, is a type of cheese that's considered high moisture, releasing water as the pizza cooks. Even though most pizza restaurants opt for low-moisture mozzarella, there's still a degree of moisture you miss out on when you go cheese-less that extra sauce can help mitigate. For even more flavor, it's also not a bad idea to ask for additional marinara sauce on the side, along with any other dairy-free sauce, oil, dressing, or dip that the restaurant might have on hand.

Obviously, this tip will rely mostly on the quality and flavor of the pizza sauce itself. But, if you see anything like an herb or chili-infused oil, an Italian hot sauce, balsamic glaze, or any vinaigrette dressing, those will make some great dairy-free additions to order on the side of your cheese-less pizza. They're also great things to keep on hand at home, for those nights you might choose or order your pizza in. 

Most vegans will likely have a bag of nutritional yeast, the best dairy-free parmesan alternative, in their pantry that they can add. Sprinkled on top of your pizza, nutritional yeast will add a funky, cheesy flavor to your slice — and, packed in a Ziploc baggie, it's an easy thing to sneak into a restaurant too — but only if they don't have any vegan cheese alternatives to offer you themselves. Generally, bringing your own food to a restaurant is frowned upon, but seeing as very few pizza places offer vegan cheese substitutions, dried nutritional yeast is best because it can be sprinkled on at the table without disrupting anything in the kitchen. Definitely let your server know beforehand, too.

In the comfort of your own home, any vegan cheese is fair game. Simply take your go-to vegan cheese shreds and top them on any of your leftovers before reheating them to crispy perfection in the oven. You won't miss a thing.