Cauliflower Pizza Crust (2024)

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This Cauliflower Pizza Crust is a delicious and nutritious gluten free alternative for when you’re craving pizza night! It bakes up firm and crisp on the bottom, so you can handhold this low carb crust! Top your cauliflower pizza with veggies, pepperoni, herbs, or anything that makes it the perfect pizza for you.

If you LOVE cauliflower, check out this Mexican Cauliflower Rice and these tasty Cauliflower Fritters.

An AMAZING Low Carb Pizza Crust Recipe

What is life without pizza? Not a life I am interested in living!

Pizza is one of those universal things. Who can resist a saucy slice with melty mozzarella? This cauliflower pizza crust is a great gluten free, grain free and low carb option that you can load up with any of your favorite toppings.

We adore pizza, so we get creative and make bases out of healthier ingredients, like this Sweet Potato Pizza Crust and this yeasted Paleo Pizza Crust.

For this cauliflower pizza crust, you’ll need:

• 1 large cauliflower (8 cups riced cauliflower). You can also use frozen cauliflower rice (2 of the frozen pouches from Costco work here!)
• Almond Flour (This helps bind the crust. Because it’s used, you can omit the parmesan cheese if you need a dairy free cauliflower pizza crust).
• Eggs
• Parmesan Cheese
• Italian Seasoning (You can also use dried oregano, basil, and garlic powder).
• Salt

Is Cauliflower Pizza Crust Healthy?

Cauliflower pizza crust is gluten free, low carb, and grain free. It’s a healthier option than a standard wheat based pizza crust.

Besides being low in carbs, cauliflower is also much higher in fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K and potassium.

Eggs, almond flour, and parmesan cheese are all high protein ingredients, and give this low carb pizza crust a good dose of healthy fats as well. Because this pizza crust is low in carbs, high in fat and has moderate protein, it’s the perfect option for the keto diet.

What are the Cauliflower Crust Calories?

A regular pizza crust made from wheat flour will have 100-200 calories per slices. One slice of the cauliflower pizza crust has 70 calories.

This is a big calorie savings, especially if you’d like to have several slices!

What’s the Difference Between Frozen Cauliflower Pizza Crust and Homemade Cauliflower Pizza Crust?

The convenience of frozen cauliflower pizza crust is appealing, but not the healthiest choice. You can buy frozen cauliflower pizza crusts at Trader Joes or Costco, and many health food stores as well.

Store bought versions use a very processed form of cauliflower, and then add starch to hold the crust together. They are not keto friendly or low carb.

This homemade cauliflower pizza crust recipe uses almond flour and freshly riced and steamed cauliflower, meaning it retains more nutrients and also is lower in carbs and starch.

How to Make a Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Step 1: Rice the Cauliflower

• Chop the cauliflower into chunks, and then put the florets into a food processor. Pulse the processor until the cauliflower is broken down into rice-sized pieces.
• Be careful not to over process the cauliflower into too small of pieces. Similarly, too large of pieces won’t stick together well in the cauliflower pizza crust.

Step 2: Cook the cauliflower

• Place the cauliflower rice in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it for 4-5 minutes
• OR – put it in a steamer and steam it over medium high heat for 15 minutes on the stovetop.

Once the cauliflower is steamed, cool it for at least 15 minutes. Then, place the cooked cauliflower rice into a bowl that is lined with a thin towel or piece of cheese cloth. Twist the towel over the cauliflower, and squeeze the excess liquid out of the cauliflower. *Out of this amount of cauliflower, you should expect to get nearly a cup of water.

Step 3: Add the cauliflower and the rest of the crust ingredients into a mixing bowl.

Step 4: Stir until the eggs fully coat the cauliflower mixture.

Step 5: Form your pizza crust on your chosen pan.

• Deep Dish Pizza: Add a generous amount of avocado oil to a 10 inch cast iron pan. Heat the cast iron pan over medium high heat, and wait until the skillet is hot. Pour the cauliflower “dough” into the pan, and use the bottom of a metal measuring cup to press the dough into the pan, allowing the edges of the crust to come up the sides to form a rim.
• Regular Crust: Line a pizza pan or baking sheet with parchment paper. Dump the cauliflower dough onto the baking tray, and then use your hands to press the dough into a pizza shape, leaving a rim around the outside to form the crust of the pizza. Using a preheated pizza stone makes the bottom of the crust even more crisp!

Step 6: Bake the pizza crust at 425º F for 30 minutes. Allow the crust to start to brown and then continue cooking for a few more minutes. Don’t worry about over-cooking this crust. It will get sturdier and more crunchy on the bottom the longer it bakes.

*See notes in the recipe card for more specific instructions on baking the deep dish cauliflower pizza in a cast iron pan.

Step 7: Top the pizzas as desired, starting with sauce, cheese.

Step 8: Leave these as cheese pizzas, or go ahead and add veggies and meat. Do not overload these delicate pizza crusts or they will not hold together as well.

Return the pizza to the oven long enough for the cheese to melt and start to brown and bubble, about 10-14 minutes.

Serve the pizza hot!

To Freeze a Cauliflower Crust or Reheat Leftovers:

To freeze: Follow the directions through pre baking the crust, but do not top the crust with any sauce or toppings. Wrap the pizza up tightly in plastic wrap or if it’s small enough, in a gallon sized zip lock bag. Freeze the crust for up to 3 months. To use the crust, allow it to thaw, and then bake it for 5 minutes before topping it and returning it to the oven to melt the cheese.

Reheat Leftovers: Cauliflower pizza is actually delicious cold, but it’s more like a casserole than pizza when cold.

To reheat it and enjoy it like it’s fresh again, preheat the oven to 450º, and return the pizza to the oven for about 10 minutes to remelt the cheese and crisp up the bottom of the crust again.

Does Cauliflower Pizza Crust Taste Good?

I might prefer cauliflower pizza to a regular pie! The crust bakes up firm, but is light, and doesn’t leave you with a food coma like a slice deep dish pie normally would.

It does not taste exactly like a regular wheat-based pizza crust. There is a time and a place for both options.

Tips for Baking this Pizza Deep Dish Style

There are a few steps to follow to make this crust.

1. Prepare the cauliflower “dough,” and press it into a hot cast iron pan (using a measuring cup) to form a deep dish crust shape.
2. Continue cooking the crust on the stovetop for about 7-10 minutes, until you see the edges of the crust browning.
3. Slide the cast iron skillet and crust into the oven to bake for 25 more minutes. This leaves a mostly-cooked crust that is a little crunchy and brown on the bottom and around the edges (the long baking time removes excess moisture!).
4. Top the pizza any way you’d like — sauce, cheese, veggies, or even pepperoni and salami. Make it your own!
5. Slide the pizza back into the oven for 10-14 minutes, depending on how many toppings you added. A cheese pizza will bake in 10, one loaded with veggies will take about 14.

Love cauliflower? Try these recipes!

• Roasted Cauliflower Soup
• Cauliflower Fritters
• Whole30 Mexican Cauliflower Rice
• Keto Broccoli and Ham Casserole

Other Gluten Free Pizza Crust Recipes

• Sweet Potato Pizza Crusts, by Sunkissed Kitchen
• Paleo Pizza Crust, by Sunkissed Kitchen
• Grilled Quinoa Pizza Zucchini Boats, by Sunkissed Kitchen
• Zucchini Pizza Crust, by Sunkissed Kitchen

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