Looking for Papa Murphys vegetarian options? Order the Gourmet Vegetarian, a plain Cheese pizza or the 4-Cheese Papa’s Pick, or build your own. Papa Murphy’s says its original, thin, pan and stuffed crusts are vegan. The chain also uses non-animal rennet in its cheese. So what about the vegetarians who skip dairy too? They can order the Dairy-Free Cheese Garden Veggie with Violife shreds and red sauce.
A Quick Look at Papa Murphy’s
Two small chains started the story. Papa Aldo’s Pizza opened in Hillsboro, Oregon, in 1981. Murphy’s Pizza followed in Petaluma, California, in 1984. Terry Collins bought both and folded them into Papa Murphy’s, and the merged company dates to 1995.
Papa Murphy’s keeps its headquarters in Vancouver, Washington. MTY Food Group agreed to buy the chain for $190 million in April 2019 and owns it today. Technomic counted 1,014 U.S. locations at the end of 2025, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. In July 2026, MTY said it would close 45 to 50 company-owned Papa Murphy’s stores within nine months. Call your store before you go.
The take-and-bake model helps vegetarians. You order at the counter or online, the crew builds the pizza in front of you, and you bake it at home. You see every topping go on, and nobody touches it after you leave.
Papa Murphys Vegetarian Options: What to Order
Papa Murphy’s sorts its pizzas into six groups, from Papa’s Picks to Dairy-Free Cheese. Calzones, salads, sides and desserts round out the menu. The chain calls its online menu a preview and asks you to start an order to see your store’s items. We checked every row below against the item descriptions on papamurphys.com in October 2026.
Papa Murphy’s Vegetarian and Vegan Options
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Original, Thin, Pan and Stuffed crusts | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Udi’s gluten-free crust (medium only) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (eggs) |
| Gourmet Vegetarian pizza | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (cheese, Creamy Garlic Sauce has dairy) |
| Cheese pizza | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (mozzarella, cheddar) |
| 4-Cheese Papa’s Pick | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (four cheeses) |
| XLNY 3 Cheese | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (three cheeses) |
| Dairy-Free Cheese Garden Veggie | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (dairy-free, but Papa Murphy’s doesn’t call the red sauce vegan) |
| Dairy-Free Cheese pizza (plain) | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (same red sauce question) |
| Dairy-Free Cheese Gourmet Vegetarian | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (swap Creamy Garlic for Traditional Red or Olive Oil Blend & Garlic) |
| Mini Murph Cheese kit | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (mozzarella) |
| Gourmet Vegetarian (Keto Friendly) crustless | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (cheese, dairy sauce) |
| Scratch-made 5-Cheese Bread | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (cheese) |
| Garlic Knots | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (Herb & Cheese Blend) |
| Garden Salad | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (mozzarella, cheddar) |
| Mediterranean Salad | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (feta) |
| Caesar Salad | ⚠️ Check (dressing not listed) | ❌ No (Parmesan) |
| Marinara Dipping Sauce | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check |
| Ranch Dipping Sauce | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (buttermilk) |
| Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough | ⚠️ Check | ⚠️ Check |
| Cinnamon Wheel with Cream Cheese Frosting | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (cream cheese frosting) |
| Jack-O-Lantern pizza (through Oct. 31, 2026) | ❌ No (pepperoni face) | ❌ No |
| Cowboy, Papa’s Favorite, Hawaiian, Murphy’s Combo and other meat pizzas | ❌ No | ❌ No |
Papa Murphy’s puts each item’s ingredients on its nutrition page. Open an item there to read its full list before you order a sauce, dessert or dressing we marked ⚠️.
Vegetarian Pizzas at Papa Murphy’s
Papa Murphy’s sells one vegetarian specialty pizza and several cheese pizzas. Each one skips meat, and you can trade toppings on any of them.
- Gourmet Vegetarian: Spinach, zucchini, mushrooms, marinated artichoke hearts, Roma tomatoes and mixed onions. The crew adds cheddar, Herb & Cheese Blend, mozzarella and Creamy Garlic Sauce. This is the pick if you want vegetables, not just cheese.
- Cheese: Whole-milk mozzarella and cheddar on Traditional Red Sauce. Add your own vegetables for an extra charge per topping.
- 4-Cheese Papa’s Pick: Mozzarella, cheddar, Parmesan and an Herb & Cheese Blend made with Parmesan and Romano, on Traditional Red Sauce. Papa Murphy’s prices a large at $9.99 on thin or original crust, and a family size costs $3 more.
- XLNY 3 Cheese: Parmesan, mozzarella, Herb & Cheese Blend and zesty herbs on red sauce with garlic. You get an XL foldable New York-style crust.
- Create Your Own: Pick your size, crust and up to five toppings. Papa Murphy’s also sells a Half & Half, so a vegetarian and a meat eater can split one pie.
Cheese answers the question most vegetarians ask. Papa Murphy’s says the enzymes or rennet it uses in its cheese come from a non-animal source. That covers the Parmesan and Romano too, which often use animal rennet at other chains.
Calzones and Stuffed Pizzas
Papa Murphy’s puts meat in both set-menu calzones. Order the Create Your Own Calzone instead, with your sauce, up to four toppings and a dipping cup. Every named stuffed pizza has meat inside, so build a Create Your Own Stuffed with up to five vegetable toppings.
The Dairy-Free Cheese Menu
Papa Murphy’s added Violife dairy-free cheese in May 2022. The chain called itself one of the first national pizza chains to offer it. The chain describes Violife as plant-based and lactose-free. You can swap it onto almost any pizza on the menu, and Papa Murphy’s runs a full Dairy-Free Cheese section.
Two dairy-free picks have no meat. On the Dairy-Free Cheese Garden Veggie, the crew piles mushrooms, black olives, mixed onions, green peppers and Roma tomatoes on Violife shreds and Traditional Red Sauce. If you want it plain, order the Dairy-Free Cheese pizza with just the shreds and red sauce. Papa Murphy’s also sells a Dairy-Free Cheese Mini Murph Cheese kit for kids.
Watch the sauce on the Dairy-Free Cheese Gourmet Vegetarian. Papa Murphy’s warns that its Creamy Garlic Sauce contains dairy. Ask for Traditional Red or Olive Oil Blend & Garlic instead. Your crew preps dairy-free orders in the same kitchen areas as regular cheese, so cross-contact can happen, and Violife may add a charge.
Crustless Keto-Friendly Pizzas
Papa Murphy’s sells crustless pizzas in a tray that serves eight. Papa Murphy’s builds the Gourmet Vegetarian (Keto Friendly) with the same vegetables, cheeses and Creamy Garlic Sauce as the regular pizza. Papa Murphy’s puts the whole tray at 79 grams of fat, 57 grams of protein and 23 grams of carbs. You can also build a Create Your Own Crustless with no sauce and up to five toppings marked KF.
What’s Vegan at Papa Murphy’s?
You can build a vegan pizza here with one check. Papa Murphy’s says its original, thin, pan and stuffed crusts are vegan. The chain also offers “a wide selection of vegan toppings.” Start with the Dairy-Free Cheese Garden Veggie or a Dairy-Free Cheese Create Your Own.
Sauce is the check. Papa Murphy’s lists Traditional Red and Olive Oil Blend & Garlic as dairy-free swaps. It doesn’t call either one vegan, and we couldn’t open the ingredient lists. Read both on the nutrition page or email the chain’s quality team before you count on them. Skip the Creamy Garlic Sauce, the Udi’s crust (eggs) and the Herb & Cheese Blend.
Sides, Salads and Desserts
Most sides here are vegetarian, and none is clearly vegan. For the Scratch-made 5-Cheese Bread, Papa Murphy’s spreads Herb Garlic Spread on fresh dough. Then it adds a quarter pound of mozzarella, Herb & Cheese Blend and cheddar, with marinara on the side. Garlic Knots come six to an order with Garlic Butter Sauce and Herb & Cheese Blend.
Two salads skip meat. The Garden Salad has green peppers, Roma tomatoes, black olives, mozzarella and cheddar on romaine, at 190 calories. The Mediterranean Salad adds spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, mixed onions and feta, at 320 calories. Papa Murphy’s doesn’t list what goes into its Caesar dressing, and many Caesar dressings use anchovies, so check the Caesar Salad before you order it.
For dessert, Papa Murphy’s sells Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough you can eat raw or baked. It also sells a Cinnamon Wheel with oatmeal crisp topping and Cream Cheese Frosting. We couldn’t confirm what’s in the dough, so read its list for eggs.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
Papa Murphy’s sells its Udi’s certified gluten-free crust in medium only. The crew tops it in a shared kitchen that also handles gluten. The chain also preps dairy-free cheese in the same areas as dairy options.
Nut allergies need care too. Papa Murphy’s warns that its vendors may use shared equipment, so it can’t promise any product is free of peanuts or tree nuts. Send questions about a specific ingredient to [email protected], the chain’s quality assurance address.
Tips for Vegetarians at Papa Murphy’s
- Start with the Gourmet Vegetarian: It’s the only specialty pizza with vegetables and no meat.
- Trust the cheese: Papa Murphy’s makes its cheese with non-animal rennet, Parmesan included.
- Swap the sauce for dairy-free: Ask for Traditional Red or Olive Oil Blend & Garlic instead of Creamy Garlic.
- Split a Half & Half: Order one side vegetarian and the other side however your family likes it.
- Skip the Jack-O: The Halloween pizza has a pepperoni face, even in its dairy-free version.
- Call ahead: Ask your store whether it has Violife in stock and whether it’s still open.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion: What’s Vegetarian at Papa Murphy’s?
Papa Murphys vegetarian options cover more than a cheese pizza. Order the Gourmet Vegetarian, the 4-Cheese Papa’s Pick or a Dairy-Free Cheese Garden Veggie, then add 5-Cheese Bread or a Garden Salad. For more help eating out, read our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants and browse the restaurants category. You can also see what’s vegetarian at Domino’s, Papa John’s and Little Caesars.
