Is Pizza Vegetarian?

Pizzas are a common meal for vegetarians; there’s nothing more vegetarian than a plain cheese pizza. But, importantly, pizzas are not vegan. When it comes to pizza, whether it’s vegetarian or vegan usually has to do with the toppings.

Is Pizza Crust Vegetarian?

The pizza crust is vegetarian but not vegan. Pizza crust includes:

• Flour (V)
• Eggs (V)
• Milk (V)
• Oil (V)
• Salt (V)

It’s very rare that pizza crust would not be fully vegetarian. The only time it might not be vegetarian is if it’s cooked in lard rather than oil.

It’s more common that the toppings of a pizza, rather than the crust, wouldn’t be vegetarian.

Is Pizza Sauce Vegetarian?

Pizza sauce is traditionally vegetarian. The ingredients in pizza sauce include:

• Tomatoes (V)
• Sugar (V)
• Spices (V)

But not all pizza sauce is vegetarian. Some people add meat to pizza sauce.

Vegan & Vegetarian Pizza Toppings

Let’s first note that vegetarian pizzas are not vegan pizzas. Vegan pizzas cannot use eggs, milk, or cheese. Even a pizza with no toppings may not be vegan because the crust will have eggs in it. Still, you can make a crust such as a cauliflower crust. If you do, then you also need vegan toppings.

Vegan toppings include:

• Nutritional yeast
• Bell peppers
• Onions

Vegetarian toppings include:

• Cheese
• Mushrooms
• Broccoli

Vegetarian Pizza Recipies

Of course, the quintessential vegetarian pizzas are cheese. A cheese pizza is made with crust, sauce, and whatever cheese you desire. It can be a thin crust, flatbread, pan crust, or regular crust. But you can also get creative and create a vegetarian pizza that includes things like broccoli and carrots. Most people will use a store-bought crust.

Summary

So, is pizza vegetarian? Cheese pizza is almost always vegetarian, but it’s rarely vegan. If you want to make sure, you need to ask about the ingredients.