If you follow a vegan diet, suffer from lactose intolerance or have other dietary requirements, you will have questioned what is in a pizza dough recipe. There are many special recipes outs there, including gluten-free, many people are unaware of the main ingredients in pizza dough.
In the main, the recipe for pizza dough does not contain eggs or milk – but there are some exceptions.
In this post, we are going to be taking a look at what ingredients you can expect to find in a common recipe for pizza dough.
What Is In Pizza Dough Recipes?
The traditional Italian pizza dough recipe never contained egg or milk – there are five main ingredients and these are flour, salt, sugar, water and yeast. The good news is that for anyone who struggles with a dairy allergy, pizza dough is one of the best recipes out there since it doesn’t contain milk, butter or any other animal products – also excellent for a vegan diet. Some will include olive oil in their dough, but this isn’t one of the important parts of the mixture.
A lot of pizza chefs will use olive oil to brush the pizza dough before putting it in the pizza pan for cooking. Although, at times, some have been known to use egg for this part of the recipe. This is not the norm and is only do to help the crust rise – if you are eating out, you can request that this isn’t done and would be well within your rights.
However, it is important to remember that some pizza restaurants and frozen pizza manufacturers may put other things in their version of pizza dough recipes. It is, therefore, essential that you always look at the allergen information to be sure that the pizza bread isn’t going to cause you harm.
What’s more, the toppings are another matter, so be careful to check this part of the recipe and find out what is included in the pizza sauce as well.
Restaurants And Pizza Dough Recipes
As we have mentioned, some eateries will add other ingredients into their food, and it is essential to check each place, every time you and your family pay a visit.
Potentially the most famous pizza restaurant, Dominos include certain things such as milk in some of their pizza crust recipes. This is particularly true of their deep pan and stuffed crust pizzas. However, they do offer a vegan crust and a gluten-free one.
Their sauce recipes also contain a variety of things that may not be suitable for those looking for pizzas without milk or eggs. The pizza toppings will vary, and you are free to choose which toppings you take – their pizzas are made fresh, but it is worth keeping in mind that the food will be prepared in a kitchen where all ingredients are present.
Pizza hut offers a variety of dough types; these include Pan, thin and crispy, hand-tossed and breadsticks dough. Whilst not all of these contain eggs or milk; they will have been prepared in a kitchen where they have been used.
Pizza hut does offer a variety of options for anyone following a vegan diet. If you like the texture of butter but don’t wish to eat products from animals, then the Buttery blend pizza crust is a great option. This dough is made using a soybean recipe.
Where toppings are concerned, the company is very open about what’s inside, and if you take a look at their breakdown, you will see that the cheese is listed as containing milk. There are a lot of meat products, but the chain does allow you to choose your own toppings and vegan crust recipe if you need to.
Frozen Pizza
If you are planning to buy a frozen pizza, there is a chance that the recipe will contain eggs or milk; once again, you should check the packaging for allergy advice.
Many pizza bread recipes will contain egg as a way to give added texture to the crust. However, you will still find the common ingredients like yeast, flour, water, sugar and usually a small amount of salt – in a home recipe, you would use perhaps a teaspoon salt, but some companies may add more.
Milk is sometimes added as a way of adding extra calcium and fat to the dough, but this could cause a problem for those who are lactose intolerant. So, before you add pizza to your shopping list, try to be mindful of what is in the dough mixture.
Conclusion
Whether you are making a dough mixture for pizza at home or buying a pre-made pizza dough, it is important to know what it contains. For people who do not eat eggs or milk, baked goods like pizza dough crust could be difficult at times.
The good news is that dough for pizza only contains flour, yeast, water, salt, sugar and a splash of olive oil – although this isn’t essential. Any cookbook will tell you that olive oil is great for brushing the dough before you place it on a baking sheet to be cooked, but some may use egg for this, so be sure to check if you are eating out at a pizza place.
Frozen pizza may also contain eggs, milk and others that aren’t the norm. The results of the crust will differ when using these, but it is best to stick to the traditional bread dough mixture.
You are within your rights to ask to see what is in your pizza dough and this is something you should get used to doing to ensure your pizza dough is always what you expect.
