National Pizza Day!
When I was in naturopathic medical school, eating pizza and studying with friends, our pizza was always seasoned with a little irony. Pizza was the trifecta of potentially problematic foods – gluten, dairy and nightshades! Oh my! I don’t consider pizza to be off the table for anyone, though and have compiled this list of pizza options for everyone to celebrate National Pizza Day. And if you think some of the options I’ve suggested are weird, watch Rhett and Link ask “Will it pizza?” and these options will seem very tame!
Dairy Free (and Vegan)
In 2015, I embarked on a delicious tour of Portland’s vegan pizza options based on this article. I have recommended a few of my favorites below – most of these places are not exclusively vegan, but all of them are great pizza places. Which means, they do pizza right and therefore, their vegan pizzas are also excellent. I’ve chosen to list these vegan places as dairy free, because any vegan pizza is by definition dairy free, so all of these options fit the bill, even if you end up with a less than vegan pizza.
Take Out Options
- Sizzle Pie – not only do they have vegan pizza, they have vegan breakfast pizza. Yes, breakfast pizza is a thing. And it’s wonderful!
- East Glisan
- Rudy’s Pizza I love this place because they have pizza for every taste and vegan wings. I don’t understand the appeal of chicken wings, but I LOVE vegan wings!
- Dove Vivi The corn pizza here was a huge hit – this was probably the biggest surprise of our pizza tour – everybody loved it. And it was deep dish, which is not my favorite, so that’s saying a lot.
- Mississippi Pizza Pub
- Tastebud – This is in my neighborhood and I have to confess I still haven’t tried their vegan pie. It looks amazing and I’ve had a few slices of their non-vegan za from their food cart days. Maybe I’ll use that to celebrate pizza day today…If I do, I’ll report back!
Recipes
- Vegan White Pizza – I love a garlicky white sauce for pizza and often find that if the sauce is done right, there is no need for any vegan cheez.
- Vegan Caprese Pizza – It takes a special kind of vegan cheese to really work on pizza, but this type of pizza seems like a great vehicle for it.
- BBQ Roasted Cauliflower Pizza
- Polenta Pizza with Pesto, Caramelized Onions and Potatoes – I just had a pizza with potatoes on it recently and it’s pretty great. As I love all of these ingredients, I’m pretty sure this recipe is going to become a Friday night staple at my house!
Gluten Free
I am not gluten free, so I have to admit I haven’t tried all that many gluten free options out and about or at home. Many of the places that offer vegan options also offer gluten free, so I’ve included those here. At home, I have tried a cauliflower crust and it was both easier than expected and pretty good. I also always advise my patients that if they are going gluten free not to go crazy with gluten free baked goods and to sub in vegetables where possible. The recipes below show that you can pizza almost anything!
Take out options
- Flying Pie Pizza – They had vegan options last I checked, but this is a favorite of a gluten free friend of mine, so I included them in this list.
- Sizzle Pie – not only do they have vegan pizza, they have vegan breakfast pizza. Yes, breakfast pizza is a thing. And it’s wonderful!
- East Glisan
- Rudy’s Pizza I love this place because they have pizza for every taste and vegan wings. I don’t understand the appeal of chicken wings, but I LOVE vegan wings!
- Mississippi Pizza Pub
Recipes
- This isn’t a recipe per se, but a suggestion. I love making tortilla and English muffin pizzas. I’ve even heard of bagel pizza. If you have a good gluten free tortilla etc. that you like, you could add sauce and toppings for a quick snack of a gluten free pizza.
- Squash crust
- Cauliflower crust
- Zucchini pizza sticks
- Polenta Pizza with Pesto, Caramelized Onions and Potatoes – I had to list this one twice, because it’s also a gluten free option. I love polenta and can’t wait to try this!
There are also commercially available gluten free pizza crusts that you can purchase for making pizza at home. When my in-laws are visiting, we like to get mini-crusts (or English muffins) and have a pizza bar so everyone can make their mini pizza just how they like. This would be a great option especially for families with different dietary needs.
Nightshade (Tomato) Free
I didn’t do a ton of sleuthing on this section, but if pizza means red sauce to you, I hope this blows your mind. Options include:
- White sauce – lots of white sauce options, I’m partial to the heavy garlic in a white sauce
- Pesto – any kind of pesto works, but I really like Trader Joe’s vegan kale pesto
- Beet pesto – I said any kind and even I was surprised by this one!
- Butternut squash sauce
- This Strawberry Balsamic Pizza uses a balsamic reduction as sauce to apparently good effect (not a vegan recipe, but could be veganized)
- Caramelized Onions – though technically not a sauce, they can serve some of the savory function of a sauce as seen in this simple Caramelized Apple and Goat Cheese Pizza
- No sauce – yep, some monsters eat pizza without any kind of sauce at all…
Honorable Mentions
I just recently learned about Curry and Crust and Bombay Pizza, which are both restaurants featuring Indian food on pizza. I love both and can’t wait to try this fusion!
Happy National Pizza Day and bon appetite!