• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Curious Chickpea

vegan food for everyone

  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Quick Recipe
    • Entree
      • Burger
      • Tacos
    • Breakfast
    • Dessert
    • Salad
    • Soup
    • Pizza
    • Pasta
    • Bread
    • Drinks
    • Snack
    • Cheese
    • Gluten Free
    • Condiment
    • Side Dish
      • Vegetable Dish
  • About

March 29, 2018 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

Crispy Kale, Roasted Tomato, and Vegan Chicken White Sauce Pizza

Pin5K
Share17
Tweet
Shares 5K

Crispy Kale, Roasted Tomato, and Vegan Chicken White Sauce Pizza

Sometimes you eat pizza just for the indulgence of it (potato pizza, anyone?). Other times, you can eat pizza and have your veggies too (potatoes don’t count, it’d be like calling chips a vegetable). This pizza is one of those times. When piled high with kale, that extra slice is really just an extra dose of leafy greens. You’re practically doing your body a favor, and you’re certainly doing your taste buds a favor! Garlicky white sauce, creamy dairy-free cheese, seared vegan chicken, flavor packed roasted and marinated tomatoes, and crispy chip-like kale all on top of my favorite savory vehicle–pizza dough. 

All good pizza starts with a good base. To me, this usually means starting the pizza process a day early with my easy overnight pizza dough, but last minute pizza cravings have been known to hit and in that case the pizza dough they sell at grocery stores makes good pizza too (I like Whole Foods pizza dough, was less impressed with Trader Joe’s, and haven’t explored outside those two store bought options). Also, pro-tip: pizza shops will often sell dough to you!

Next we have the sauce base, and for this pizza that means my vegan garlic white sauce. The simple béchamel style sauce makes for the creamiest base, building garlicky flavor for an incredible pizza. Some might say that the vegan mozzarella isn’t necessary, but I think a light sprinkling of your favorite vegan cheese makes this pizza next level.

Sliced Crispy Kale, Roasted Tomato, and Vegan Chicken White Sauce PizzaSlice of crispy kale, roasted tomato, and vegan chicken white sauce pizza

When it comes to pizza toppings, I don’t like to go overboard. Too many toppings and the pizza has trouble cooking properly, not to mention it’s messier to eat. Usually 2-3 toppings is the sweet spot. For this one I chose 3. First, there is chicken-style seitan which I fried up for barely blackened edges and crispy crumbles. The vegan meat adds some nice texture and a good dose of protein.

Next up comes the roasted tomatoes. I picked up some from the store, any grocery store with an olive bar should have some! They’re roasted and marinated in olive oil, garlic, and some herbs and provide a huge punch of flavor to the pizza. If you can’t find them, you can make them, or you can substitute oil packed sun dried tomatoes (chop them up a bit before using as they are much chewier than roasted tomatoes).

Lastly the pizza is topped with a nice big pile of kale. The kale is massaged in oil with a pinch of salt. The oil helps protect the kale against burning in the oven. Massaging helps the kale break down and tenderize, both the oil and salt help this process. In the oven the kale shrinks and turns crispy, to a kale-chip effect.

The overall effect is crispy, melt in your mouth kale, juicy roasted tomatoes bursting with flavor, chewy mild tasting vegan chicken, and the creamiest base of vegan mozz and garlic white sauce. All on top of a doughy crust. It’s pizza perfection. And one I’ll happily eat over and over again. I like to finish it off with a generous sprinkling of crushed red pepper and then eat anywhere between 1/2 and 1 whole pizza (hey, they’re like practically individually sized!).

I hope you guys enjoy this delicious cripsy kale, roasted tomato, and vegan chicken white sauce pizza. I know we did! Let me know if you make it! Comment and rate the recipe below and tag recreations @thecuriouschickpea and #thecuriouschickpea on Instagram, or share with me on Facebook! Have a happy pizza night!

Crispy kale, roasted tomato, and vegan chicken white sauce pizza cut in half

Notes:

  • I used Tofurky Slow Roasted Chick’n – Lightly Seasoned on this pizza. You can use whatever vegan chicken (Gardein, Beyond Meat, Quorn, Upton’s, etc.) you like and have access to!
  • For the vegan mozzarella I used Violife Just Like Mozzarella. To be honest, I brought it back from London when I was there a few months ago. They do sell it in the US but it’s not widely available yet! Use any store bought vegan mozz you enjoy or try making your own, like my Same Day Vegan Mozzarella Cheese.
  • Check out my pizza dough recipe for tips on shaping and baking pizzas!
  • You can make the garlic white sauce in advance. It will thicken in the fridge, so warm it up and thin with water as necessary to a spreadable consistency.
Crispy Kale, Roasted Tomato, and Vegan Chicken White Sauce Pizza
 
Print
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
30 mins
Total time
40 mins
 
Pizza dough is topped with a creamy vegan garlic white sauce, vegan mozzarella, torn kale, roasted tomatoes, and seared seitan chicken then baked for the most delicious and flavorful vegan pizza.
Recipe type: Pizza
Cuisine: Italian
Yield: 3 12" pizzas
Ingredients
  • 3 large leaves of kale
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • pinch of salt
  • vegan garlic white sauce
  • 8oz vegan chicken style seitan
  • roasted tomatoes
  • 8 oz vegan mozzarella, shredded or crumbled, homemade or store bought
  • 3 10 oz balls of pizza dough, homemade or store bought
Directions
  1. One hour before you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 550 ºF, or as hot as it will go. Place a rack in the middle of the oven, and place a baking steel or baking stone on that rack. You want the oven to saturate with heat for 1 hour before baking pizza for best results.
  2. At this time also remove the pizza dough from the fridge so it can come to room temperature and the gluten can relax.
  3. Wash the kale thoroughly, remove the stems and toughly tear the leaves into pieces. Put the torn kale in a bowl with the teaspoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Massage the kale and then set aside to rest for a half hour.
  4. In a skillet over medium heat, fry the vegan chicken in a teaspoon of oil until it's lightly browned, 4-5 minutes. Set aside.
  5. When the oven is nice and hot, prepare your pizzas one at a time. Stretch (don't roll!) your dough to around 12" diameter and place on a lightly floured pizza peel. Spread the garlic white sauce over the dough then sprinkle ⅓ of the seitan chicken over top. On top of that sprinkle about ⅓ of the vegan mozzarella. Add ⅓ of the massaged kale and some roasted tomatoes.
  6. Transfer the pizza onto the baking steel or pizza stone and bake for 8-10 minutes. Watch the kale for burning towards the end. Drizzle on a little extra olive oil to protect it from burning if needed.
  7. If baking on a baking sheet, assemble the pizza straight on the metal and place directly in the oven.
  8. Repeat the pizza assembly and baking with the remaining dough.
  9. Let the pizza cool for a couple minutes before cutting and enjoy while hot!
3.5.3226
This ultra flavorful vegan pizza has a creamy garlic white sauce base, and is topped with seared seitan chicken, juicy roasted tomatoes, and torn kale which bakes up nice and crispy! | thecuriouschickpea.com #vegan #veganpizza #pizza

 

Pin5K
Share17
Tweet
Shares 5K

Other Recipes You May Like

  • vegan asparagus pizza spicy chickpea sauce
    Vegan Asparagus Pizza with a Spicy Chickpea Sauce

    Spring is in the air! At least, it is in the lower latitudes of the Northern…

  • Vegan Cheeseburger Pizza Vodka Sauce Caramelized Onions
    Vegan Cheeseburger Pizza with Vodka Sauce and Caramelized Onions

    Caramelized onions, crumbled veggie burger, fresh basil, and delicious creamy vodka sauce. That is all it…

  • Vegan Meatball Pesto Pizza
    Vegan Meatball Pesto Pizza

    I rarely repeat recipes. It's not that I don't like to eat the same things over…

Filed Under: Dinner, Pizza Tagged With: garlic white sauce, Italian, kale, mozzarella, pizza, roasted tomatoes, seitan, vegan, vegan chicken



Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe:  

Primary Sidebar

Hi I'm Eva, my favorite animal is the tiger, but I'd rather hug a chicken. I love to cook and bake and want to share that passion with you. More About Me→



Some links on The Curious Chickpea are affiliate links. This means, if you make a purchase through one of these links I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. These links in part monetize my site and allow for free content. Thank you for your support!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

vegan smothered burritos with red sauce, baked and served on a hot skillet with a cilantro garnish

Vegan Smothered Burritos with Red Sauce

Mexican red chile sauce

Mexican Red Chile Sauce

hoisin glazed tempeh bowls with sesame kale and hoisin sauce drizzle

Hoisin Glazed Tempeh Bowls

vegan singapore noodles

Vegan Singapore Noodles

Load More...
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2018 · thecuriouschickpea.com · Affiliates Disclosure · Privacy Policy