A thick spread of creamy buffalo hummus over a thin, crispy pizza crust topped with spinach, celery, buffalo-seasoned chickpeas, celery, sweet peppers, red onion, topped with mozzarella, some crumbled blue cheese and a lovely drizzle of ranch, this vegetarian pizza has a nice buffalo kick with plenty of crunch and creamy goodness.
I thought a buffalo chickpea pizza was a fun idea for turning a buffalo chicken pizza into a plant-based, vegetarian meal, but I honestly didn’t expect to love it as much I did when I sank my teeth into the first bite. It was the hummus “sauce” I was kind of worried about … after all, hummus isn’t exactly a sauce and I wondered how well it would go with cheese? I shouldn’t have worried … hummus is like a wonderful cream sauce with loads of good garlic flavor, especially when you use BUFFALO hummus to up that addicting spicy buffalo-ness. Serious yum factor. Every bite with all the textures and flavors and beautiful colors coming together in my mouth was total bliss to my taste buds.
The idea for this pizza came to me after I made that buffalo hummus a couple weeks ago, so I saved some just to make this pizza. And then I found the perfect recipe for crispy crunchy whole wheat cracker-style pizza crust … it was seriously CALLING for buffalo pizza! It was hard saving that hummus because I really did want to munch it all up, but really, I told myself, you can always just make it again if you love it THAT much.
If you don’t want to make your own buffalo hummus, you can totally cheat for this recipe by using store-bought hummus mixed with some buffalo sauce of your choosing. Me, I always go for the hottest buffalo sauce I can find (the HOT version of Frank’s RedHot Wings sauce is my fave), but I know some people don’t like that level of heat so choose the level of kick that works for you.
Mmmmm! Just look at that spicy pizza-liciousness! It’s full of vitamins, protein and fiber. It can even clear your sinuses if you’ve got a bit of congestion going on.
Can you make this pizza vegan? Dairy free? Oh absolutely! This pizza lends itself perfectly to a dairy free vegan version simply by either skipping the cheese or substituting vegan shreds and vegan blue cheese for the regular. (Did you know you can make your own vegan blue cheese? I’m so intrigued by that idea!)
Ranch dressing is easily made vegan by using aquafaba (the liquid you’re draining off that can of chickpeas-win win!), with cashews or you can go the simple route and use a store-bought vegan ranch. Personally, I am so interested in the idea of cashew ranch so I think I might have to make it–not because I’m vegan, but because I seriously LOVE cashews! I’ve tossed cashews into many a sauce (including salsa) and they always seem to add a lovely creamy texture that tastes so much like real cream.
Back to the pizza … I recommend a nice sturdy but thin crunchy crust for this pizza–this whole wheat cracker-style thin crust recipe is what I used and it was absolutely perfect. BUT in case you were wondering if you could make yours gluten free–absolutely you can! I sought out a gluten free cracker-style crust recipe just for those of you who are leading a gluten-free lifestyle, my GF foodie friends.
Seriously if you’re a lover of buffalo sauce, you’ll adore this plant-rich buffalo chickpea pizza.
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Buffalo Chickpea Pizza
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 30 min (not including the crust)
- Yield: About 4 servings 1x
- Category: Pizza
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup cooked chickpeas (or half a can)
- 1/8 cup buffalo wing hot sauce
- 1 12-inch crunchy thin pizza crust (recipe here or use this gluten free version)
- 1/2 cup buffalo hummus (recipe here)
- About 1 cup fresh baby spinach (or baby kale)
- 1 large stalk celery, sliced
- 1 mini sweet pepper, seeded and chopped
- 2 – 3 Tablespoons chopped red onion
- About 4 oz. shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese or vegan shreds
- About 2 Tablespoons blue cheese crumbles or vegan blue cheese (optional)
- Ranch (or blue cheese) dressing, for drizzling (see vegan options above for dairy-free)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, toss together the chickpeas with the buffalo sauce.
- Prep the pizza crust as directed, then spread the crust with a good layer of buffalo hummus. Spread a layer of baby spinach over the hummus, then top with the chickpeas, celery, pepper, and onion. Add a sprinkle of cheese (if using), then if you still have any veggies or chickpeas left, make a second layer. Cover with the rest of the cheese and a sprinkle of the blue cheese (if using).
- Bake at 450 F. for about 10 – 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and everything is good and hot. Remove from oven, drizzle with dressing, then slice and serve!
Notes
© Copyright 2020, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. I love it when you share, but please do not use my images on your own site/page without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. Sharing, pinning, and tweeting is always appreciated as long as the shares and pins link back to here for the recipe. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of a pizza
- Calories: 414
- Fiber: 8.2 g
- Protein: 19.6 g
Nutrition information is an estimate … it includes the blue cheese crumbles, but not the dressing
5 comments
Healthy and delicious. Lots of protein.
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