Pizza is back! This Keto Cauliflower Pizza Crust bakes up sturdy with a bit of crunch in the crust, and is perfect for piling on your favorite low carb toppings. Keep this keto pizza crust classic, or experiment with pesto, different cheeses, and your favorite meats. 3 GRAMS NET CARBS PER SLICE (no toppings)
Meet my FAVORITE Keto Pizza Crust
Low carb, but having pizza cravings? There are lots of creative ways to enjoy pizza on a keto diet. This nutritious, fiber packed Keto Cauliflower Pizza Crust is my favorite.
If you’ve never tried a cauliflower pizza crust before, now is the time to do it! Mixed with eggs, almond flour, cheese, and spices, the crust bakes up firm, a little crunchy on the bottom, and tasting more like… well, bread… than cauliflower.
There are a range of low carb pizza crust recipes, from using zucchini or chicken, to high fat ingredients in fathead dough. I don’t think any of them are as good as this!
This recipe is adapted from this deep dish cauliflower pizza crust.
It’s pretty difficult to resist the smell of pizza when you’re on a low carb diet. Thankfully, you don’t have to forgo pizza night.
Add some sugar free pizza sauce (or try pesto or ranch dressing!), mozzarella cheese, your favorite low carb veggies, and some pepperoni, and you’ve got an enviable pie!
If you’re craving Italian flavors – you’ll also want to try this Keto Chicken Alfredo with Zoodles and Keto Chicken Meatballs.
What You’ll Need
- Cauliflower (1 large head of cauliflower is perfect!)
- Almond Flour (or almond meal!)
- Parmesan Cheese
- Large Eggs
- Italian Seasoning (add a bit of garlic powder if desired!)
- Sea Salt
To Top the Pizza:
- Marinara Pizza Sauce, Pesto, or try Keto Alfredo Sauce.
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Add Your Favorite Toppings: Pepperoni, sausage, salami, olives, artichoke hearts, bell peppers, zucchini, fresh garlic, mushrooms, bacon, etc. See below for ideas!
How to Make a Keto Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Step 1: First, rice cauliflower by breaking it into pieces. Add the cauliflower florets into a food process bowl, and pulse until rice-sized grains form. Use this post on how to make cauliflower rice if you haven’t made it before.
If using a steamer: Heat water in a large pot with a vegetable steamer until it’s boiling. Add the cauliflower rice, and steam for 15 minutes. Allow the cauliflower rice to cool before handling. Line a large bowl with a thin kitchen towel and add the steamed cauliflower rice into the bowl.
If using microwave: Line a large bowl with a thin kitchen towel or cheese cloth, then add the cauliflower rice into it. Microwave the cauliflower for 4-6 minutes, until the cauliflower is very hot throughout.
Step 2: With the cauliflower inside a thin kitchen towel, squeeze out any excess moisture in the cauliflower. The more water you can squeeze out, the more sturdy your curst will be. Keep squeezing until you have over a cup (maybe 1 1/2 cups!) of water removed.
Step 3: Add the drained cauliflower to a bowl, along with eggs, parmesan cheese, almond flour, Italian seasoning, and salt.
Step 4: Stir the crust ingredients together to form a sticky pizza dough.
Step 5: Line a baking sheet or pizza stone with parchment paper. It will be hard to remove the pizza slices cleanly if you do not using a parchment liner or a silicone mat. Using hands, press the dough into the shape of a pizza.
Step 6: Pre-bake the pizza crust at 425º for 30 minutes. This seems like a long time, but it removes more of the excess moisture from the crust and starts to get it crisp on the edges and the bottom. The edges should be golden brown.
Step 7: Add tomato sauce, cheese, and toppings to your pre-baked cauliflower keto pizza crust. Do not overload this delicate crust (but you can use more toppings than shown in these photos).
Step 8: Return the pizza to the oven for 10-14 minutes, until the toppings are cooked through and the cheese is bubbling.
How to Store Leftover Low Carb Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Once your pizza crust or fully made pizza has cooled, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To Reheat: Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F. Place the pizza back on the baking sheet or pizza pan. Reheat the pizza for about 12 minutes, or until the cheese is fully melted.
How to Top a Cauliflower Crust Pizza
Keto Pizza Sauce Ideas:
- Sugar free marinara or pizza sauce (beware that tomato sauces are high in carbs, so use a small amount to add flavor without too many carbs).
- Pesto
- Keto Alfredo Sauce
- Ranch Dressing
- Keto BBQ Sauce
Low Carb Keto Pizza Toppings: (add your favorite pizza toppings!)
- Any full-fat cheese
- Green or red bell peppers
- Jalapeno peppers
- Mushrooms
- Olives
- Zucchini
- Minced Garlic or chopped onions
- Fresh herbs, like basil or parsley
- Pepperoni
- Canadian Bacon
- Bacon
- Pre-cooked ground beef
- Sausage (check for and avoid added sugar, such as maple sweetened sausages)
- Shredded Chicken
- Fresh Basil
Tips for Making the Perfect Keto Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe
Don’t fret if your first time making a cauliflower pizza isn’t perfect. It might take a few tries to make the best cauliflower pizza crust! Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you won’t even need the recipe!
1). Don’t skip cooking the cauliflower rice and squeezing out the excess water. If you do, you will end up with a soggy crust and lots of water will come out (along with the other crust ingredients) while baking. It will still be delicious, but you’ll have to eat it with a fork.
If you’ve never made cauliflower rice before, use this tutorial.
2). Save time by using frozen cauliflower rice. Yes, you can use the frozen cauliflower rice from the store! I buy it at Costco, and 2 bags of it works for this crust. Add the frozen cauliflower rice to your steamer basket, and cook it exactly as you would fresh cauliflower rice. Some grocery stores are even selling fresh pre-riced cauliflower!
3). Bake the crust for the full 30 minutes prior to topping it. Yes, it sounds like an excessive amount of time, but most of that baking time is just steaming out extra water, so the caulilflower gets firm and isn’t soggy.
4). Freeze an extra keto cauliflower pizza crust. This keto pizza crust freezes well! Just use a large pot so you can steam enough cauliflower for 2 crusts at once, and then divide it into 2 bowls with the rest of the pizza crust ingredients. Pre-bake the crust, and then wrap it tight and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to use your frozen cauliflower pizza crust, just pull it out, place it on a lined baking tray, and when it’s defrosted, top it and bake it.
Other Delicious Keto Cauliflower Recipes
Cauliflower is a life saver on a low carb diet! It’s super low in carbs, high in fiber, and full of nutrients our bodies need.
It’s great for making soups, as a sub for grains, and it makes the best keto pizza crust around.
You’ll love these Keto Cauliflower Recipes too:
- Loaded Keto Cauliflower Soup
- Cauliflower Fritters
- Cauliflower Cheese
- Keto Broccoli Casserole
- Mexican Cauliflower Rice
Try this recipe? Be sure to share your cooking with me on Pinterest, Facebook, or Instagram, and tag @BlissfullyLowCarb !
Keto Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 8 cups cauliflower riced (about 1 large head of cauliflower)
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Instructions
- First, rice cauliflower by breaking it into florets, and pulsing them in a food processor bowl until rice-sized grains form. Use this post on how to make cauliflower rice if you haven’t made it before.If using a steamer: Heat water in a large pot with a vegetable steamer until it’s boiling. Add the cauliflower rice, and steam for 15 minutes. Allow the cauliflower rice to cool before handling.If using microwave: Line a bowl with a thin kitchen towel, then add the cauliflower rice into it. Microwave the cauliflower for 4-6 minutes, until the cauliflower is very hot throughout.
- Preheat oven to 425º F.
- With the cauliflower inside a thin kitchen towel, squeeze out any excess moisture in the cauliflower. The more water you can squeeze out, the more sturdy your curst will be. Keep squeezing until you have over a cup (maybe 1 1/2 cups!) of water removed.
- Add the drained cauliflower to a bowl, along with eggs, parmesan cheese, almond flour, Italian seasoning, and salt.
- Stir the crust ingredients together to form a sticky pizza dough.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper. It will be hard to remove the pizza slices cleanly if you do not using a parchment liner or a silicone mat. Using hands, press the dough into the shape of a pizza.
- Pre-bake the pizza crust for 30 minutes. This seems like a long time, but it removes excess moisture from the crust and starts to get it crisp on the edges and the bottom.
- Add sauce, cheese, and toppings to your pre-baked cauliflower keto pizza crust. Do not overload this delicate crust (but you can use more toppings than shown in these photos).
- Return the pizza to the oven for 10-14 minutes, until the toppings are cooked through and the cheese is bubbling.
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