Like trying new things? Want to expand your culinary norms? Just straight up curious whether vegan cheese is any good? Me too. So, I decided to make a vegan pizza, sans recipe. Which is a big deal for me. In addition to being vegan, I also wanted a pizza that was easy to make and quick to bake. Two reasons: one, I have a toddler, and two: I sometimes have my own unnecessarily high expectations for how quickly a meal should come together.

Obviously, being a vegan pizza, the biggest question mark was the cheese. How would the cheese toast? Would it melt? Would it be ooey gooey and ever-so-slightly chewy? I was interested to find out, so I quickly got to baking.

4 steps to the perfect vegan pizza

1. Mama Cozzi’s Pizza Dough

This dough is available at ALDI and doesn’t get much easier — let it sit out until room temp, flour your surface, then roll it out. All set. When using any store-bought dough, I like to first bake just the dough for about four to five minutes. It makes for a better crust and avoids creating pizza with a soggy center. After the crust has had a few minutes in the oven, I remove, then add sauce, cheese, and toppings. 

2. Rao’s Homemade Pizza Sauce

When I’m just not up for making my own pizza sauce, Rao’s is my go-to. It’s impossible to go wrong with Rao’s. Their sauces and marinaras consistently deliver — and their pizza sauce is no exception. That’s about all there is to say about that. 

3. Daiya Shredded Mozzarella

At first, I was especially skeptical because, out of the bag, the cheese smelled a little like Parmesan. However, once baked, it smelled like mozzarella. Not sure what that was all about, but I was very pleasantly surprised with this cheese. The taste and texture were surprisingly close to the real thing. While it didn’t melt exactly the way real cheese does, Daiya did a good job of replicating the stretchiness of dairy-based cheese.

4. Sauteed vegetables 

For added flavor, and as a possible distraction in case the vegan cheese wasn’t great, I sauteed bell peppers, mushrooms, and red onion for this pizza. A splash of olive oil in a pan on medium heat for a few minutes turned out great. 

The bottom line on my vegan pizza experiment

All told, this pizza took about 15 minutes to put together and about 15 more to bake. The plant-based cheese was much better than I expected. Of course, it’s not the exact same as cheese made from milk. But this is a great option for anyone looking for a vegan cheese option, particularly for pizza. One final note — my favorite aspect of this pizza is that I didn’t feel weighed down or greasy after eating it.