MNN - Mother Nature Network

If you love Tofurky and Daiya cheese, rejoice. The two have been brought together on a whole wheat crust topped with sauce in the new vegan Tofurky pizzas!

 

Being lactose intolerant, I almost never get to enjoy pizza. Once I found out Tofurky’s latest creations finally made their way into Ralph’s supermarkets this month, I stopped by my nearest one to grab a pepperoni pizza.

 

My verdict: Not bad! The whole wheat crust tasted especially impressive for a frozen pizza — a perfect crispiness after 12 minutes in the oven — and the sweetener-free tomato sauce had a nice, natural flavor.

 

The toppings were just OK — though faux meat lovers will likely have a more enthusiastic response. The somewhat synthetic tastes of fake cheeses and meats seems to rankle me more than others. I appreciate how Daiya cheese melts unlike most faux cheeses, but the stuff always tastes vaguely soapy to me. And while I do enjoy Tofurky on occasion, the sausage on the pizza dried out too much in the oven, ending up little, light dehydrated squares atop the otherwise well-cooked pizza.

 

 

Still, the Tofurky pizza works as an occasional frozen food indulgence — so long as you understand that well-traveled, plastic shrink-wrapped food products are not exactly the greenest of eats. The ingredient list is long enough to make purists blanch, and while most ingredients are recognizable, health- and eco-conscious foodies will find themselves Googling to figure out what exactly “liquid smoke” is while puzzling over what ingredients are grouped under the “natural flavor” and “vegan natural flavors” listings. On the upside, the sugar, tofu, and brown rice are organic; on the downside, all the major ingredients are conventionally grown.

 

But the vegan pizza is still healthier than most of the big brand name, factory-farmed meat-and-cheese pizzas at the supermarket. A 10-inch pizza makes  three servings — each with 270 calories, 330 milligrams of sodium, and 7 grams of sugar.

 

In addition to the pepperoni, Tofurky makes Vegan Cheese Pizza and Italian Sausage & Fire Roasted Veggies Pizza. Get them for $7.99 each at a Ralph’s near you now, or at Whole Foods stores by mid-September.