Friends! We’re SO excited about this one. This dish is inspired by a recipe from the talented Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen. We’ve simplified and veganized her delicious recipe for the ultimate “cheesy” and saucy plant-based entrée!
This zippy and savory meal takes all the things you love about pizza and pasta and pairs them with fiber- and protein-rich beans! And (if you can believe it) it requires just 10 ingredients and 30 minutes. Yep, that’s including the homemade cheese sauce! Let us show you how it’s done!
How to Make Vegan Pizza Beans
With a name like pizza beans, there are a few essential ingredients that we must include. First, garlic and red pepper flakes sauté in olive oil for a slightly spicy and super savory base.
Next, we add more potent pizza-ness with crushed tomatoes and dried Italian herbs. Maple syrup adds an optional touch of sweetness and balance. Then we add the white beans, toss it all together, and let it simmer to soften the beans and meld the flavors!
While the beans are getting saucy, it’s time to blend up our “cheese” sauce! We blend raw cashews with water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, tapioca starch, and salt. The result is a milky mixture that gets poured over the beans. This is the time to trust the process, friends! The “cheese” firms up by covering with a lid and steaming.
Then after (optionally) broiling, the “cheese” becomes deliciously browned on top and perfectly creamy underneath. Yep, it’s pretty life changing!
We hope you LOVE these vegan pizza beans! They’re:
Cheesy
Saucy
Zippy
Savory
Herby
& SO easy!
They make a delicious dinner alongside salads, garlic bread, sautéed greens, or roasted vegetables. After that, the leftovers keep well in the refrigerator or freezer. Who doesn’t love meal-prepped pizza?! Count us in.
Love Beans? Try These Recipes Next:
- 1-Pot BBQ Baked Beans
- Smoky BBQ Bean Tacos (Vegan, GF)
- Super Garlicky Tomato Soup with Smashed White Beans
- Hearty White Bean Caesar Salad Bowls
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo @minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
Cheesy Vegan Pizza Beans (30 Minutes!)
Ingredients
CHEESE SAUCE
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 ½ Tbsp nutritional yeast (for cheesiness)
- 2 Tbsp tapioca starch (for stretchiness // also called tapioca flour)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
BEANS
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 (15 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 Tbsp dried Italian herbs*
- 1 tsp maple syrup (optional)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 (15 oz.) cans white beans, drained and rinsed (we used cannellini // or ~3 ½ cups cooked homemade beans)
FOR SERVING optional
- Freshly chopped basil
- Vegan garlic bread
Instructions
- CHEESE SAUCE: Add cashews to a heatproof bowl and cover with hot water by at least 1-2 inches. Let them soak while you get started on the beans.
- BEANS: Heat a large stainless steel or enameled cast iron skillet (or other oven-safe skillet) over medium-low heat. Once hot, add olive oil and garlic and sauté until fragrant — about 1 minute. Add red pepper flakes (optional) and stir to infuse flavor. Turn down heat if cooking too quickly.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, 1/4 cup (60 ml) water, Italian herbs, maple syrup (optional), and salt. Stir to combine, then add the white beans and mix to evenly distribute. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, cover, and let cook for 15-20 minutes until the beans are tender and the sauce is bubbly.
- CHEESE SAUCE: While the beans simmer, make your cheese sauce. Drain the cashews and add them to a high-speed blender along with 2/3 cup (160 ml) water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, tapioca starch, and salt. Blend on high until very smooth and milky in texture, about 1 minute. Set aside.
- Once the beans are tender, reduce the heat to low and carefully pour the cheese sauce over the beans in an even layer. Cover and steam for 2-3 minutes to encourage the cheese to firm up, then transfer to the oven to broil (optional) for another 2-3 minutes, or until the cheese is darkened in spots and dry to the touch. Optionally, garnish with fresh basil.
- Serve warm with vegan garlic bread, sautéed greens, roasted vegetables, or alongside a salad. Leftovers keep for 3-4 days in the refrigerator or 1 month in the freezer.
- Reheat leftovers in oven or microwave until warmed through.
Video
Notes
*Recipe adapted from the talented Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated without optional ingredients.
Rhi says
This looks lovely. Can I use corn starch instead of tapioca please?
Hi Rhi, corn starch might work, but tapioca has more of a stretchy quality! Corn starch will likely thicken it, but not provide stretchiness. Another option that might work better would be arrowroot!
Jill says
This is such a delicious recipe! My cheese sauce didn’t really stay on top of the beans but it was still delicious kind of swirled throughout. I topped this with the vegan pesto from this site and served with cauliflower rice. Super yummy!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Jill! Thank you for sharing! You might try cooking longer or at a higher heat in step 3 so that the bean/tomato mixture is thicker. That should help the cheese sauce stay on top!
Bel says
Ok, I have to admit I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular from this recipe – after all, it’s just beans in tomato sauce, right? I couldn’t have been more wrong!
As suggested in some of the comments, I added onion and some more herbs to the mix. The cheese didn’t really taste like cheese to me on its own, but really added flavour to the dish. And the combo with some homemade garlic bread was to die for! My husband commented that eating this kind of food felt really relaxing. Definitely making this again soon!
Yay! We’re so glad it was a pleasant surprise. Thank you for sharing, Bel! xo
Faith says
This is fantastic, thank you so much for this recipe! I’ve also used the cheese sauce portion of this recipe as a liquid mozzarella for topping baked ziti (eager to try for pizza too!). Any reason the cheese sauce can’t be made in advance and stored in the fridge until use?
Thank you for the lovely review, Faith! Now we’re craving ziti and pizza – YUM :) Freezing the cheese sauce should work well! It may separate slightly, but we think a good shake after defrosting will fix that. Let us know if you try it!
Faith says
Thanks so much for the reply! I didn’t freeze the sauce, but I did make it early in the day then stored in a jar in the fridge so I could assemble my ziti right before baking at dinnertime. Worked perfectly!
Great! Thank you for sharing, Faith!
Jarro Lightfeather says
Exceptional. I substituted cashews for tofu and tapioca starch for potato. Noticeably burnt it, exeryone still loved it. Thank you <#
We’re so glad everyone enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing, Jarro!
Alessia Love says
I made your white bean skillet meal and it was DIVINE, so I want to try this! If I don’t have tapioca flour, will that ruin the recipe leaving it out?
We’re so glad you enjoyed that one, Alessia! The tapioca flour is what makes it “cheesy,” so it won’t have the stretchiness of cheese, but it would still be tasty without it. We would recommend using less water though to compensate. Hope that helps!
Trish says
I made this last week for a quick dinner and it was so good! I did have a few modifications, I added zucchini, onion, capsicum and celery as I’m trying to up my veggies and to the sauce added a teaspoon of liquid smoke and a dash of soy. It was really delicious and leftovers heated up well a couple of days later to bring to work for lunch. Thank you!
Amazing! Thanks so much for the lovely review, Trish!
Annabelle says
My family loved this. My son is an avid meat and vegetable eater (variation of paleo) and he even liked it but ate it without the pasta. I had leftover cannellini beans so this was a perfect fit. I didn’t have a 15 oz can of tomatoes so added 28oz and decided to serve it over pasta. (Trader Joe’s Rice/Quinoa). I did add sautéed onions and doubled some of the spices. Next time I would add mushrooms & peppers too. I loved the hint of spice…. I don’t like a lot so I did cut down the chili flakes to about 1/8t for the whole amount. The cheese sauce was easy and worked well.
Amazing! We’re so glad you and your family enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing, Annabelle! xo
Amy says
Made this again today. This time with a sunflower seed cream. DELISH!!!!!!
Amazing! Thank you for sharing, Amy! xo
Coby says
Oh man, these beans are delicious! Before sauteing the garlic, I first sauteed green bell pepper and red onion so it would taste like a pizza supreme. To that end, I also added sliced black olives. I served the beans over lentil pasta. Such a fantastic and filling dish!
LOVE your modifications, Coby! Thank you for sharing! xo