
Welcome back to another Pizza Friday! This week we made this delicious and easy Smoky Tempeh Pizza topped with a yummy basil sauce! It’s so good and super flavorful! Y’all are going to love this easy vegan pizza recipe!
I love this vegan pizza recipe for two reasons: it has so much flavor, and it’s loaded with delicious veggies!
Ingredients you’ll need to make this Smoked Tempeh Pizza Recipe:
- Vegan pizza dough – Our go-to overnight pizza dough is vegan. It only has 5 ingredients: flour, salt, water, yeast, and olive oil.
- The best pizza sauce: olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic, red pepper flakes
- Tempeh
- Spices: smoked paprika, sweet paprika, dried oregano, salt, black pepper
- Maple syrup
- Olive oil
- Liquid smoke
- Apple cider vinegar
- Broccolini
- Campari tomatoes

The best part of this recipe is the basil cream sauce! It’s creamy, garlicky, and slightly sweet. Add the sauce on top of the pizza, or dunk it in the sauce! It’s so delicious, and it pairs really well with the smoked tempeh!
The ingredients you need to make this easy basil cream sauce:
- Fresh basil leaves
- Garlic cloves
- Cashew Butter – this is what makes this sauce super creamy. You barely notice the cashew flavor when everything is blended up. We like to use Artisana Cashew Butter and Maisie Jane’s Creamy Cashew Butter.
- Water
- Lemon Juice – add a little acidity to balance everything out.
- Dijon Mustard – adds a nice tangy flavor with a little spice.
- Salt and pepper

Tips for making the smoked tempeh:
I like to sauté the crumbled tempeh with spices, maple syrup, liquid smoke, apple cider vinegar, and olive oil. I sauté it for about 10 minutes. This enhances the spices and flavor. The pizza only takes about 10-12 minutes (depending on the size of the pizza dough you use) to make. When you sauté the tempeh first and then add it to the pizza before making it, the tempeh becomes more crispy!

Frequently Asked Questions:
It takes about 10 minutes to prep all the ingredients. The pizza takes about 10-12 minutes to make, depends on the size of the pizza dough. We like to sauté the tempeh first before adding it to the pizza. This takes about 10-minutes.
Store pizza in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop until hot. We like to add olive oil to a pan and love how it crisps up the pizza crust. Goodbye to soggy leftover pizza dough.
This is truly a great vegan pizza recipe! It’s full of flavor, packed with plant-based protein, and super delicious. We hope you all enjoy it! ♡

If you love this recipe, try one of these delicious vegan pizza recipes next:
Simple Veggie Pizza + Herbed Green Goddess Dressing
If you make this recipe, please share feedback and leave a rating (below). This helps our readers and us. – Thanks! xx Jake & Tracey
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Easy Smoky Tempeh Pizza
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4–8 slices 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This delicious and easy Smoky Tempeh Pizza is topped with delicious veggies and a yummy basil cream sauce! It’s so good and super flavorful!
Ingredients
Smoky Tempeh Ingredients:
- 1/2 block (4 oz) Tempeh, crumbled
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- pinch of salt and black pepper
- 1 tsp pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp olive oil
Pizza:
- pizza dough, homemade or store-bought
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- pinch of salt, black pepper, and red chili flakes
- 3–4 Campari Tomatoes, sliced
- 4–5 broccolini, chopped
Basil Cream Sauce:
- 1/4 cup raw cashew butter
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- A handful (about 1 cup) fresh basil leaves
- pinch of salt and black pepper
Instructions
Smoky Tempeh:
- Crumble the tempeh and add it to a pan over medium heat. Add the spices and whisk together the liquid ingredients in a small bowl and pour it over the tempeh and mix to combine.
- Sauté the tempeh for about 10 minutes, or until brown.
Pizza:
- Preheat the oven to 550 degrees F or as hot as your oven gets.
- Prepare pizza dough. Flour the surface and flour a rolling pin to roll the dough from the center to the edges until the circle is about half an inch thick. Once fully rolled out, place parchment paper on your pizza peel, gently pick up the dough, and lay it on top.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, minced garlic, salt, black pepper, and red chili flakes. Use a pastry brush to evenly add the sauce on the dough.
- Add sliced tomatoes and chopped broccolini, and sprinkle the smoked tempeh evenly on top.
- Gently slide pizza onto the pizza stone and bake for about 10-12 minutes.
- Remove pizza from the oven, add basil sauce on top, and cut into slices to serve immediately.
Basil Cream Sauce:
- Add all ingredients to a high processed blender and blend until smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides until fully blended.
- Category: Entree, Pizza
- Method: Baking, Sauté
- Cuisine: Italian-Inspired
Keywords: vegan pizza, tempeh, basil sauce, smoky tempeh, Pizza Friday, Vegan
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