Pizza. The ultimate drunk food. Your go-to late-night study snack. Also known to be a pretty damn effective hangover cure. Unfortunately, vegan or lactose-intolerant college students usually miss out on the pleasure of munching on a steaming slice of dough topped with gooey cheese-covered toppings.
Photo by Jessica Fedin
Fortunately, many pizzerias have kept up with the vegan trend and have started offering vegan options such as vegan cheese and tofu. But what happens when you’re at home, in sweatpants, hair tied, chillin’ with no makeup on, and all you want is pizza delivered straight to your front door? Here’s how you order vegan pizza from a local pizzeria or pizza chain:
Ditch the Cheese
Photo by Bernard Wen
Obviously. Unless your local pizzeria offers vegan cheese as an option, ditch the cheese. Once your pizza is delivered, feel free to add your own vegan cheese and bake your pizza for a few more minutes to create a gooey cheesy vegan concoction. Or sprinkle on some nutritional yeast, also known as magical cheese dust.
Do Your Research
Photo by Kai Huang
Popular pizza chains provide their nutritional information on their websites. Watch out for pizza dough that contains diary and pizza sauces that contain parmesan cheese. Calling beforehand also doesn’t hurt.
Pick Your Toppings
Photo by Libby Perold
Pretty much every pizzeria offers a long-list of vegetable toppings, so skip the meats and take your pick. My personal favorites include mushrooms, black olives, spinach, jalapeños, banana peppers, basil, broccoli, roasted red peppers, red onions, and sun-dried tomatoes.
Here’s a little cheat sheet for the most popular pizza chains:
California Pizza Kitchen
Pizzas with Neapolitan crust are vegan if you order without cheese.
Domino’s
A photo posted by Mandy Dunn Ⓥ ? (@vegamandarosedunn) on Apr 27, 2014 at 3:57pm PDT
The thin crust, gluten-free crust, BBW sauce and original pizza sauce are vegan, and Domino’s offers an extensive list of vegetable toppings. Additionally, the BBQ, garlic, and marinara dipping sauces are vegan as well.
Pizza Hut
A photo posted by #eatforpeace ॐ (@eatingforpeace) on Nov 22, 2013 at 12:10pm PST
The Thin n’ Crispy crust and dessert crusts are vegan. The BBQ, buffalo, and classic marinara pizza sauces are vegan as well, and an extensive list of vegetarian toppings are offered.
Little Caesar’s
The veggie pizza is vegan if ordered without cheese, as well as the BBQ dipping sauce. Unfortunately, Little Caesar’s is less customizable than the other pizza chains on this list and their vegan options are limited.
Papa John’s
The original hand-tossed crust is vegan, as well as the red pizza sauce and BBQ sauce. The garlic, buffalo, and pizza dipping sauces are vegan and many vegetable toppings are available.