Cauliflower Pizza Crust
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Published Jan 13, 2021, Updated Sep 27, 2023
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Love pizza, but want to keep it healthy? Make this low-carb cauliflower pizza crust. Only 6 ingredients and so easy!
Cauliflower has blown up in recent years. No more soggy steamed cauliflower… now there’s cauliflower rice, cauliflower tortillas and cauliflower pizza crust.
You name it, cauliflower can do it!
That said, cauliflower pizza crust is arguably the most fun way to eat cauliflower! It’s obviously not the same texture or flavor as a traditional doughy pizza crust, but it’s so delicious! It’s crunchy around the edges, has a hint of roasted cauliflower flavor and tastes just like pizza.
Cauliflower Pizza Crust Ingredients
There are two parts to this recipe – the crust and the toppings!
Here’s what you need for the cauliflower pizza crust:
- riced cauliflower – learn how to make cauliflower rice or use store-bought
- garlic
- part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
- egg
- dried basil
- dried oregano
Some topping ideas:
- pizza sauce
- shredded mozzarella cheese
- fresh basil
- crushed red pepper
Notes & Substitutions
Riced Cauliflower – The star of the show is riced cauliflower. If you’re new to the cauliflower rice world, don’t be intimidated! Simply place cauliflower florets in your food processor and pulse until the cauliflower is broken up into rice-sized pieces. If you don’t have a food processor you can use a blender or cheese grater to manually make rice. You can also buy pre-riced cauliflower, but make sure it’s fresh and not frozen as frozen has excess moisture that won’t work well with the crust.
Dairy-free – You can either use dairy-free mozzarella cheese or try omitting the cheese. I personally prefer this with cheese, but others have tested the recipe without cheese and it turned out just fine.
Vegan – If you want to skip the egg in the crust, you could try a vegan egg replacer or a flaxseed egg. I haven’t tried either, but it should work!
Toppings – You can top the pizza with whatever you like, just make sure the toppings are already cooked since you’ll only be broiling the pizza for a few minutes. Also keep in mind that the cauliflower pizza crust is less firm than most regular dough-based crusts so you don’t want to weigh it down with a ton of ingredients. Keep is simple.
How to Make Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Make cauliflower rice – Remove the stems and leaves from your cauliflower and chop florets into chunks. Add to a food processor or blender and pulse until the texture is similar to rice. If you don’t have a food processor or blender, you can grate the cauliflower with a cheese grater or chop it or buy pre-riced cauliflower.
Sauté cauliflower rice – In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook the riced cauliflower until translucent – about 6-8 minutes. This step is key and really helps to dry out the cauliflower.
Combine crust ingredients – In a large bowl, combine the cooked cauliflower with the garlic clove, shredded cheese, egg, dried basil and dried oregano. The cheese may melt a bit during this process, but that’s okay.
Make crust – Line a baking sheet or pizza stone with parchment paper and grease with olive oil. Spread the dough out evenly on the baking sheet and form into a circle. You’ll want it to be about 1/4 inch thick.
Bake crust – Bake at 400ºF for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is golden, crispy on the edges and cooked through the middle.
Add toppings – Remove the crust from the oven and set the oven temperature to broil. Top the crust with pizza sauce, cheese and any other toppings you’d like.
Broil – Broil the pizza for 5 minutes or until the toppings are hot and the cheese has melted. Allow the pizza to cool for 2-3 minutes before cutting and serving.
Can Pizza Be Healthy?
YES! 100%. If you cut this crust into 8 slices, each piece of crust (without toppings) has only 75 calories, 5 carbs and 5 grams of protein! There’s no need to feel guilty about eating a few slices… several times a week. Enjoy!
More Healthy Pizza Recipes
- Spaghetti Squash Pizza Crust
- Low Carb Eggplant Pizza
- Naan Pizza with Butternut Squash and Pesto
- Tortilla Pizzas with Hummus
- Easy Tortilla Pizzas
- Cloud Bread Pizza
- Protein Pizza
Want More Cauliflower Recipes?
- Cheesy Cauliflower Nachos
- Cauliflower Grits with Blackened Shrimp
- Turkey Cauliflower Baked Ziti
- 6-Ingredient Healthy Mashed Cauliflower
- Low-Carb Cauliflower Potato Salad
- Cauliflower Fried “Rice”
- Cauliflower Soup
- Baked Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
- Roasted Cauliflower
- Cauliflower Gratin
Be sure to check out all of the cauliflower recipes here at EBF!
Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- Crust
- 2 cups riced cauliflower, about ½ head
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 cup part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Olive oil spray or 1 teaspoon olive oil, for greasing
- Toppings
- ⅓ cup pizza sauce
- 1 cup part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
- Fresh basil
- Crushed red pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 400° F.
- Prep a baking sheet or pizza stone: Line a baking sheet or pizza stone with parchment. Grease the parchment with olive oil spray or rub on regular olive oil.
- Prep cauliflower: If using whole cauliflower, remove the stems and leaves from the cauliflower and chop the florets into chunks. Add to a food processor or blender and pulse just until the texture is similar to rice. If you don’t have a food processor or high powered blender, you can grate the cauliflower with a cheese grater or chop it. Another (much faster option) is to buy riced cauliflower.
- Cook cauliflower rice: Sauté cauliflower “rice” in a non-stick skillet over medium heat and cook until translucent, approximately 6-8 minutes. (You can use the microwave for this as well. Just place cauliflower in an uncovered microwave-safe bowl and cook for 8 minutes.)
- Mix cauliflower dough: In a bowl combine the cooked cauliflower with garlic, mozzarella cheese, egg, basil and oregano. The cheese will melt a bit and this is okay.
- Spread dough to make the crust: Spread dough out evenly on your parchment lined baking sheet and form into a circle. You’ll want it to be about 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch thick. The pizza should be about 9-10 inches in diameter.
- Bake: Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is golden, crispy on the edges and cooked through the middle.
- Remove the crust from the oven and set oven to broil.
- Add toppings: Top with pizza sauce and cheese. You can also add additional toppings, but be careful not to add too many heavy toppings as you don’t want to weigh down the crust.
- Broil: Broil the pizza for 5 minutes, or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted. Allow the pizza to cool for 2-3 minutes then cut and serve immediately. Serve with fresh basil and crushed red pepper.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
WOZA! 😳
This was amazing! 🙌
We are huge fans of so many of your recipes-we make your baked oatmeal weekly! So I had high hopes for this recipe too and turns out my family absolutely loved it!
This will be on regular rotation in our home for sure!
We made two pizzas- one was topped with fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes,prosciutto. After baking we added a light drizzled of olive oil, Trader Joe’s Balsamic Glaze & fresh arugula. (The prosciutto & arugula version was my person favorite! ). The second pizza had a light spread of Trader Joes pizza sauce, fresh and shredded mozzarella, onion, red bell pepper, thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms & Lil mama’s Peppers.
Both pizzas were so good!
I was curious to know if the crusts can be made in advance or even baked and then frozen ? Hoping to speed up weeknight dinner prep.
Thank you so much Brittany!
Hi, Jessica! I’m thrilled you loved this pizza crust! I haven’t tried freezing this crust before, but I bet it would freeze just fine. I would just make sure the crust has cooled completely before freezing and I’d recommend storing it without toppings in a freezer-safe container. Once you’re ready to bake, you can remove it from the oven, add your favorite toppings and bake! Let me know how it turns out if you try it.
Does the kcal count include the tomato sauce and the cheese on top of the crust?
Hi Bernadette – Yes it does include the tomato sauce and cheese! If you give this recipe a try, I can’t wait to hear how you like it. Enjoy!
What should I do if I have frozen cauliflower rice? How should
I make the dough with it? Do I have to still
Cook it?
Hi Lucie – I do not recommend using frozen cauliflower rice for this recipe. It has excess moisture that won’t work well with the crust.
Thank you, is there a way to replace the cheese with something non dairy and non soy? I don’t want fake cheese alternatives and am nut free… also can it be made a day before making? If so, how to store it?
Hi Lucie – If you do not want to use dairy free cheese, I would recommend omitting the cheese. I personally prefer the cheese, but others have tested the recipe with out cheese and it turned out just fine. I haven’t tried making this crust in advance before, but I bet it would work. I would just make sure the crust has cooled completely before putting it in an airtight container and storing it without toppings. Once you’re ready to bake, you can remove it from the container, add your favorite toppings and bake! Let me know how it turns out if you try it.
Loved it. Easy to prep and tasty!
It cooked well too but it came out a little soggy.
I didn’t mind it but it was more like a tortilla than a pizza base :-/
What shall I do to make it more crusty?
Hi Simona – Few things that could have caused it to be a bit soggy. Did you make sure to leave it 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch thick. When baking your crust for 25-30 minutes, make sure the crust is golden, crispy on the edges and cooked through the middle. It may take a little longer depending on your oven. Glad you enjoyed this recipe!
So good! I did use frozen cauliflower rice because that’s all I had on hand. I cooked it first in a fry pan on stove top to cook out moisture. I am sure the oven would work the same.
came out perfectly browned and edges crispy cooked in my air fryer. added topping and cooked again until cheese was bubbly.
Thanks for such a good healthy recipe.
Ah this is great, Audra. Thank you for sharing that frozen cauliflower worked for you. I am so glad this recipe turned out great for you and that you are loving this recipe. I appreciate your star rating + review, it means so much to me!