Vegan Pizza Pinwheels

Vegan pizza pinwheels are made with oil-free dough and full of your favorite pizza toppings. Rolled into bite-sized treats, this vegan pizza pinwheel recipe is easy to make and disappears from the plate in minutes. My kids LOVE them!

I love pizza, so today, I made vegan pizza pinwheels! As a child, my mom made those frozen pizza rolls as a snack when we came home from school. Of course, we loved them, even though I probably would die if I knew what was in them. However, my vegan pizza pinwheel recipe is healthy, vegan, and oil-free. 

Jump to:

• Pizza Pinwheels Ingredients
• How to Make Vegan Pinwheels
• Serving Suggestions
• Recipe FAQs
• Tips
• More Family Pleasing Vegan Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

Whenever I cook, I keep my family in mind. Since the kids come to dinner on the weekends, they test my food. So let's say these vegan pizza pinwheels disappeared before my eyes.

Pizza Pinwheels Ingredients

Although any ingredients work well with this recipe, I chose some essential ingredients my family loves. First, choose the dough. To make these pizza pinwheels, I used both my Oil-Free Pizza Sauce and Pizza Dough. 

As a reminder, my oil-free pizza dough recipe makes 2 medium pizzas, twice the necessary dough for this pinwheel recipe. 

For easy food prep, I always double recipes and freeze the second batch of dough and sauce. Then, when I want to use it, I place both in the refrigerator overnight to thaw. 

Also, store-bought dough and oil-free pizza sauce can be substituted for the homemade version, but I suggest homemade whenever possible.

Pizza Sauce Ingredients

• Tomato Puree: I used Muir Glen Organic or POMI crushed tomatoes (these don't have sugar or oil).
• Onion Powder: Onion powder is dehydrated ground onion commonly used as a seasoning. It is a common ingredient in seasoned salt and spice mixes.
• Garlic Powder: Garlic powder is a spice derived from dehydrated garlic and used in cooking for flavor enhancement.
• Oregano: I prefer fresh oregano when possible.
• Basil: Fresh basil is best when available.
• Crushed Red Pepper: Crushed red pepper or red pepper flakes are condiments or spices consisting of dried and crushed red chili peppers. This condiment is most often produced from cayenne-type peppers.
• Black Pepper: I prefer fresh ground pepper.
• Maple Syrup: Maple syrup provides a little sweetness.
• Smoked Salt: Smoked Salt is an aromatic salt smoked with several select bark-free woods for up to 14 days. The kind of wood used for smoking impacts the flavor, ranging from subtle to bold or even sweet.

Pizza Sauce Ingredient Substitutions

• Choose a store-bought pizza sauce.
• Use tomato sauce instead of puree.
• When using dried herbs, use half the amount of fresh herbs in a recipe.
• Date syrup or agave are substitutions for maple syrup.
• Try a pinch of sea salt if you don't care for a smokey flavoer.
• Add ½ teaspoon of liquid smoke if smoked salt isn't available.

Oil-Free Pizza Dough Ingredients

• Warm Water:
• Dry Active Yeast: Active dry yeast is a dried, granulated form of baker's yeast, a single-celled micro-organ known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae that consumes sugars and starch and produces carbon dioxide, gas, and alcohol.
• Whole Wheat Flour: Whole-wheat flour or wholemeal flour is a powdery substance, a basic food ingredient, derived by grinding or mashing the whole grain of wheat, also known as the wheatberry.
• Vital Wheat Gluten (optional): Although it's not technically flour, vital wheat gluten is a flour-like powder that contains nearly all gluten and minimal starch. It's made by hydrating wheat flour, which activates the gluten protein, and it is then processed to remove everything but the gluten.
• Flaxseed Meal: Whole flaxseeds are ground into flaxseed meals. Consuming ground flaxseeds offers more health benefits since it is far easier to digest than whole seeds. The ground seeds increase the absorption of nutrients that are beneficial to the body, such as omega-3 fatty acids.
• Pure Maple Syrup: Maple syrup is a natural sweetener.
• Salt: A pinch of salt provides additional flavor.

Oil-Free Pizza Dough Ingredient Substitutions

• Store-bought pizza dough is a quick and easy alternative to making homemade pizza dough.
• Any flour works well.
• To substitute vital wheat gluten, chickpea flour, soy flour, xanthan gum, psyllium husk, almond flour, guar gum, and potato starch are all great.
• Skip the vital wheat gluten, especially when following a gluten-free recipe.
• Chia seeds can be used to substitute flaxseed meal.
• Agave or date syrup replaces maple syrup.

Pizza Filling Ingredients

• Mushrooms: I like baby portobello mushrooms. I also cook them before adding to the pizza pinwheel filling.
• Yellow Onions: Yellow onions are sweet, especially when sautéed.
• Garlic: I prefer fresh garlic whenever possible.
• Sun-Dried Tomatoes: Buy the sun-dried tomatoes in a package, not the ones packed in oil.
• Fresh Basil: Fresh basil provides the best flavor.
• Vegan Parmesan Cheese: Vegan Parmesan Cheese
• Vegan Mozzarella Cheese (Optional): Mozzarella Cheese for Pizza is a homemade vegan cheese option to add inside the vegan pizza pinwheel recipe.

Pizza Filling Ingredient Substitutions

• Combine your favorite veggies pizza toppings for the inside of the vegan pizza pinwheels.
• White or red onion substitutes yellow onion in recipes.
• Use ¼ teaspoon of granulated garlic in place of each clove. Garlic powder: Use ⅛ teaspoon of garlic powder in place of each clove. Garlic salt: Use ½ teaspoon of garlic salt in place of each clove. This will add an extra ⅜ teaspoon of salt, so decrease the salt in your recipe accordingly.
• Roasted red peppers are a great substitute for sun-dried tomatoes.
• If you're using dried basil, you can only use half the fresh basil suggested.
• Store-bought vegan cheeses are an alternative to homemade or skip the vegan cheese.

How to Make Vegan Pinwheels

• To roll the dough out and avoid sticking, I roll the dough on parchment paper. This step saves time since I use parchment paper to roll and transfer the pizza pinwheels. 
• Once the dough is rolled out thin (less than ⅛ inch), spread the pizza sauce evenly across the entire surface.

• In a skillet, saute garlic and onions until translucent.
• Add sliced mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are browned.
• Use a small amount of vegetable broth or water if the mushrooms begin to stick.
• Saute until any liquid dissipates; remove from heat and allow to cool.

• Spoon the pizza sauce evenly over the dough base, ensuring a thin layer covers the entire area.
• Then, spread the mushroom, garlic, onions mixture (now cool) evenly across the sauce layer.
• Next, add sun-dried tomatoes, again sprinkling evenly across the surface.
• Add whole basil leaves over the surface and sprinkle generously with vegan parmesan cheese.

• Now, tightly roll the dough evenly toward you, keeping the ingredients inside the dough. But don't cut the dough yet! 
• Using the parchment paper underneath, roll the cylinder, covering the dough.
• Fold at both ends to avoid any moisture getting into the tube.
• Place the wrapped pizza pinwheel dough in the refrigerator until it is firm again.

• Fold at both ends to avoid any moisture getting into the tube.
• Place the wrapped pizza pinwheel dough in the refrigerator until it is firm again.

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Unroll the dough's cylinder, use a sharp knife, and cut the now firm dough into one-inch slices.

• With the same parchment paper, line a baking sheet and place each pizza pinwheel piece an inch apart.
• Bake for 35 minutes.

Serving Suggestions

I served my pizza pinwheels with extra homemade pizza sauce, but my kids also like Vegan Ranch Dressing with these bite-sized treats.

Recipe FAQs

Tips

• Make the dough in advance and chill until ready to roll out the dough.
• Instead, use the parchment paper and roll it around the dough cylinder. Because the dough is soft, since you have been working with it, it's too soft to cut it cut now; the slices collapse and do not keep their form. 
• To avoid sloppy pinwheels, place the rolled parchment paper with the pizza pinwheel inside into the refrigerator for at least an hour. This way, the dough firms up and cuts slices beautifully. 
• Enjoy your favorite pizza toppings for the vegan pinwheel recipe.
• Place the rolled tubes of filled dough into the freezer for quick chilling for 15 minutes.
• Use tortillas instead of pizza dough for another option.

The next time you are looking for an appetizer, snack, or entree your family will love, try vegan pizza pinwheels. 

More Family Pleasing Vegan Recipes

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