This Perfect Cauliflower Pizza Crust is a low carb & gluten-free recipe with just 3 ingredients—enjoy this healthier take on your fave pizza!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Cauliflower – you could also buy cauliflower rice at the store then bake or sauté it for 10-15 minutes. Frozen cauliflower would also work.
- Parmesan cheese – nutritional yeast is a great vegan substitute for parmesan.
- Egg – use fresh eggs or eggs from a carton, although fresh eggs are recommended.
Optional toppings
- Pizza sauce – use your favourite store-bought version or make your own homemade sauce.
- Grated mozzarella – or another cheese variety of your choice like low-fat or vegan cheese.
- Pepperoni – swap out for another protein like sausage, bacon, chicken or ground beef.
- Fresh basil – add on other veggies like bell peppers, broccoli, spinach, summer squash or zucchini.
How to make cauliflower pizza crust
- Cook and drain the cauliflower.
- Blend the cauliflower.
- Whisk the egg and add in the parmesan.
- Drain the cauliflower mixture.
- Mix the cauliflower into the egg and cheese.
- Press the dough onto a sheet pan.
- Bake in the oven.
- Add on your fave toppings, cook and enjoy!
Getting out the excess moisture
Because cauliflower contains almost 60% water, the water needs to be removed from the cooked cauliflower rice so you get the perfect crispy pizza crust. Squeeze out as much moisture as possible using a cheesecloth or a linen kitchen towel to avoid a soggy crust!
Cheesecloth is the best option (buy some here) because its fibres have enough space between them to allow liquids to pass through easily. It also has a smooth surface that helps prevent the rice from sticking to it. If you can't find any cheesecloth, you can use a linen kitchen towel. You can still get a ton of liquid from the riced cauliflower, it just takes a good 5 minutes of squeezing and squeezing it in batches.
You should expect to remove about 1 to 1 ½ cups of water from the cooked cauliflower rice. After squeezing, the rice should have a very dry texture. When you form it into the dough, it will feel sticky and sort of similar to pizza dough.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! One plain, 12-inch traditional pizza crust has 804 calories and 64 net grams of carbohydrates. You’ll end up adding less sauce, cheese and toppings to cauliflower crust pizza than a traditional pizza because it's smaller and has a thinner crust, so in the long run you save on calories as well as carbs. Plus, you're getting far more protein! If you’re concerned about the higher fat content, you can use low-fat cheese.
Cauliflower pizza crust is a low-carb alternative to traditional pizza crust, but it does still contain some carbs. This recipe has 10 grams of carbs per serving.
If you want to cut down on prep time, you can buy a package of fresh or frozen cauliflower rice from the grocery store. Cook or sauté it for about 10 to 15 minutes first, then mix it into the cheese and egg mixture to make your cauliflower pizza crust.
Roll the crust out to approximately one-half inch thick. You can go thinner if you'd like a thinner crust and longer, larger pizza but I find 1/2 inch to be a nice size and fills a baking sheet very well. I also find the crust to be a bit sturdier if you make it thicker. There's less risk of it falling apart during the cooking process.
While you could replace the parmesan cheese with nutritional yeast, the egg is pretty essentially to keeping your cauliflower pizza crust together. You can try using a flax seed instead, but it might not have the same results. Instead, I’d try a dedicated vegan pizza crust recipe like this one.
Storing and reheating
You can make this cauliflower pizza crust a couple days ahead of time. Just follow all of the instructions in the recipe card below and then store in a large Ziploc bag in the fridge for up to 2 days.
To serve, just pull the crust out of the fridge, put it on a parchment-lined baking sheet, load it up with toppings and bake at 450 F for 5 to 10 minutes. You may need a little longer to ensure the crust gets re-heated all of the way since it will now be cold but it should reheat and taste just like new so it's a great option to make it ahead of time.
Store any leftover pizza wrapped in foil or in a large Ziploc bag in the fridge for up to 5 days. I’ll sometimes reheat my leftovers in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes if I'm in a rush and want my pizza ASAP. However, the crust will get a bit soggy and you will have to eat it with a fork and knife. The best way to reheat leftover pizza is in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes at 450 F.
Can you freeze cauliflower pizza crust?
Yes, you can freeze cauliflower pizza crust! Just be sure that it is completely cool first. Once it's cool, wrap the crust tightly in plastic wrap, then add a layer of aluminum foil over that. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
For easy meal prep, you can also freeze cauliflower pizza crust ahead of time. Freeze the baked crust without any sauce or toppings on it. A few hours before you're ready to use the crust, transfer it to the refrigerator so it can thaw.
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More low carb cauliflower recipes
Meal Prep Tools
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls to pack up individual servings of this cauliflower crust pizza.
- Get some cheesecloth to drain the cauliflower.
- Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months.
- **Get my full list of tools here**
Perfect Cauliflower Pizza Crust {3 Ingredients}
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 2 cups grated parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
Optional toppings
- 1/4 cup Pizza sauce
- 1/2 cup Grated mozzarella cheese
- Pepperoni
- Fresh basil leaves
- Any other toppings you'd like! Note: I would not reccomend mushrooms because they release water and can make the crust fall apart
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook cauliflower in boiling water for 3-5 minutes until softened. Drain, then add cauliflower to a blender or food processor. Pulse until fully blended.
- Whisk egg in a large bowl, then mix in parmesan cheese. Drain cauliflower mixture with a linen towel or cheesecloth (squeeze out as much liquid as possible), then mix cauliflower into cheese/egg mixture until well-combined.
- Press the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet or silpat mat. Make the dough 1/2" thick. Bake for 20 minutes, then flip the crust using the parchment paper (make sure there is another sheet of parchment underneath) and bake another 10 minutes.
- Top with pizza sauce, cheese and other desired toppings (don't add too much or it will become soggy). Put back into oven and bake until the cheese has melted, about 5 minutes.
Comments & Reviews
Ivy Perez says
My family and I LOVE this recipe. I’ve been using active dry yeast because that’s all I could find. I mix it with about a half cup of the warm water and dissolve the hard bits before adding it to the recipe.
Pam says
I’ve tried cauliflower pizza crust before and was not impressed. This one is intriguing and I will try it. The Parmesan cheese is that fresh or already grated?
Taylor Stinson says
You’ll want to grate the Parmesan cheese..I buy a big block of it since it also lasts longer in the fridge that way. Hope you enjoy 🙂