Cauliflower Pizza Crust comes out crispy, you can hold the slice and use fresh or frozen cauliflower, or cauliflower rice to make it. Tasty, low carb, naturally gluten-free and grain-free pizza crust with rave reviews!
We also love this almond flour pizza crust, cottage cheese pizza crust and cottage cheese flatbread!
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients for Cauliflower Pizza Crust
- What Is the Best Cauliflower to Use?
- How to Cook Each Type of Cauliflower
- How to Make Cauliflower Pizza Crust
- Toppings Ideas for Cauliflower Pizza Crust
- Tips for Best Results
- How to Freeze It
- FAQs
- More Pizza Crust Recipes
- More Cauliflower Recipes to Try
- Foolproof Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe
You are looking at the best cauliflower pizza crust on the web! It is crispy, cheesy and you can really hold the slice. Nobody likes a soggy pizza crust!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Foolproof recipe: Well-tested recipe with detailed video instructions and over 480 five star reviews!
- Low carb: One slice of cauliflower pizza contains 4 grams of carbs compared even to my cottage cheese pizza crust with 28 grams of carbs per slice.
- Tasty: I will not lie, this low carb crust doesn’t taste like traditional pizza crust and has a bit of cauliflower flavor. But it is still very tasty and cheesy!
- Crispy: This cauliflower crust pizza is not soggy, you can hold the slice and it will satisfy your pizza cravings!
- Versatile: You can make it with fresh or frozen cauliflower, or cauliflower rice.
Recipe Tip
But I won’t lie, making cauliflower crust is time consuming and labor intensive, so I highly recommend to make 2 crusts. You can freeze one for later too!
Ingredients for Cauliflower Pizza Crust
To make this cauliflower pizza crust recipe, you will need just 7 simple ingredients, including salt and pepper.
- Cauliflower: You will need a large head of cauliflower, 6″ – 7″ in diameter, about 2 – 2.5 pounds. Or you can use two 12-16 oz packages of store bought fresh or frozen cauliflower rice.
- Egg: Egg is part of “the glue” that holds cauliflower pizza dough together.
- Parmesan cheese: As cheese melts during baking, it helps to bind small pieces of cauliflower into a crust. Cheese is crucial, so is the egg. If you need to avoid both, try vegan cauliflower pizza crust.
- Spices: Simple dried herbs like oregano, basil or Italian seasoning plus salt and pepper add flavor to the crust. Also you can add garlic powder. Otherwise, cauliflower by itself is pretty bland vegetable.
What Is the Best Cauliflower to Use?
This is the most asked question! There are a few options when it comes to making cauliflower rice for the pizza crust.
- Fresh head of cauliflower
- Cauliflower rice (fresh or frozen)
- Frozen cauliflower florets
I have tested all options and it truly doesn’t matter which cauliflower you use for this recipe. It comes down to your budget and your grocery store’s stock. You will save time by using cauliflower rice and frozen florets, and you will save money (in most cases) if you use a head of cauliflower.
If you are wondering, I used fresh cauliflower this time.
How to Cook Each Type of Cauliflower
Here is a quick breakdown how to cook each type of cauliflower for the cauliflower pizza crust.
Fresh Cauliflower
- Separate cauliflower: Using a paring knife, remove the outer leaves, rinse it and separate florets one by one. Here is easy tutorial on how to cut cauliflower. Core is used too, so do not discard.
- Rice it: Place cauliflower florets in a food processor and process until “rice” texture, some coarse chunks are fine. Here is detailed tutorial how to make cauliflower rice.
- Cook it: There are 2 options. You can either spread “the rice” on same baking sheet you will be baking crust on or in a baking dish and bake at 375 F for 15 minutes. Or cook it in a microwave-safe bowl for 8 minutes.
Cauliflower Rice
To cook pre-made cauliflower rice, all you have to do is microwave it in a large bowl for 8 minutes or bake in the oven at 375 F for 15 minutes. Same process as with homemade cauli rice above.
No need to defrost first!
Frozen Cauliflower Florets
Thaw cauliflower in the fridge overnight and then process in your food processor. Cook it as with other types of cauliflower.
How to Make Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Now that you have your cauliflower ready, here is step-by-step process how to make cauliflower pizza crust with it. There is also a full recipe card and video below.
- Cool cooked cauliflower: If you cooked the cauliflower, you will have to let it cool first because we will be touching the ball with hands to squeeze. Line large bowl with cheesecloth or linen kitchen towel, transfer cauliflower to it and let cool until safe to the touch.
- Squeeze the water out: Holding by the four corners of a cheesecloth with one hand, squeeze out as much liquid and moisture as you can with another hand. I squeezed and then moved the cauliflower around a bit, and squeezed more. You should be left with a cauliflower mash that is very-very dry and about 1 1/2 cups of liquid.
- Make pizza crust dough: Transfer squeezed cauliflower to a large bowl. Add egg, Italian seasoning, cheese, salt, pepper, and mix well.
- Shape the crust: Line rectangle or round sheet pan, or pizza stone with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray well. Transfer cauliflower mixture onto it and using your hands, flatten the dough into about 11 inches wide crust. Make edges same thickness too.
- Bake it: Bake cauliflower crust at 450 degrees F for 20 minutes or until golden brown and crispy edges. For more crispy crust, flip and bake for a few more minutes.
- Add toppings and bake: Add pizza sauce, toppings of choice, cheese and bake again until cheese is melted. Do not overload the baked crust with heavy toppings as you won’t be able to hold the slice then.
Toppings Ideas for Cauliflower Pizza Crust
- Mediterranean: Marinara sauce, bell pepper, tomato, olives, red onion, feta cheese and fresh parsley or fresh basil.
- Chicken and pepper: Marinara sauce, sliced grilled chicken breast or baked chicken breast or Instant Pot chicken breast, olives, red onion and cheese.
- Cheese: My favorite!
- Asian: Shredded baked honey garlic chicken, finely chopped broccoli, thinly sliced white onion, sriracha and mozzarella cheese.
- Shrimp: Cook shrimp and make sauce as per my shrimp taco recipe, and use fresh mozzarella or provolone cheese. So good!
Question for You
What are your favorite pizza toppings that you tried with this cauliflower crust pizza? I would love to hear your ideas in the comments below!
Tips for Best Results
- Squeeze more than you think: The best advice I can give you for foolproof cauliflower crust is to squeeze cooled cauliflower very well. You really do need to squeeze out more water than you think you’ll ever be able to. Cauliflower should be pretty dry. I squeezed for about 3-4 minutes, until I couldn’t get any more liquid out. If your hands and arms are sore for a bit after, you did it well.
- Size and thickness: You should end up with 10-11 inches wide crust. Make it too thick, and it will be soggy. Make it too thin and it will fall apart.
- Edges: Don’t make edges too thin because they will burn. After you get the crust right size, go around the edges and push them lightly with a palm of your hand.
- Don’t add too many toppings: Do not overload cauliflower crust pizza with too many ingredients because it will become soggy and fall apart.
- Let it cool a bit: If you really want to be able to hold the slice, let cauliflower pizza cool on a baking sheet for 2 minutes, then slice, transfer carefully onto a plate and cool for another minute. Crust will set and solidify on a cool plate!
- Double the recipe: Make 2 cauliflower crust pizzas at a time if you want to feed more than two people. Means two large heads of cauliflower.
- If you don’t have a food processor: Grate cauliflower on a box grater.
How to Freeze It
Because making cauliflower pizza crust is pretty labor intensive, I highly recommend to double or triple the recipe and freeze at least one crust for later! You can freeze 2 larger crusts or 4 smaller individual pizza crusts.
To do so, bake and cool pizza crust and wrap it either in a few layers of plastic wrap or place smaller crusts in a resealable large Ziploc bags.
Freeze for up to 3 months. When you are craving pizza, place frozen crust on a pizza sheet and bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes. Then add toppings and bake for another 5-10 minutes.
FAQs
First step is to make sure you squeeze as much water as possible from your cooked cauliflower before shaping the crust. I got about 1 1/2 cups out! However, after you baked the crust for initial 20 minutes and if you would like it to become even more crispy, carefully flip it with spatula and bake for a few more minutes.
Yes, you can taste a little bit of cauliflower in this pizza crust. But because you will add other toppings and cheese, the taste will be minimal. It tastes really good!
In the past decade, cauliflower pizza has gained huge popularity as a low carb gluten free alternative to regular pizza crust. Along the trends like chia pudding and almond flour banana bread.
While cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable, high in vitamins, fibers and antioxidants, cauliflower crust contains egg and cheese which means saturated fat and cholesterol. But it is lower in calories and carbs. You simply choose whatever works better for your dietary goals!
Unfortunately not. Eggs and cheese act as a “glue” and hold tiny pieces of cauliflower together. Check out this vegan cauliflower pizza crust recipe.
If you have been waiting to jump on the cauliflower pizza crust bandwagon, here is your chance. I think I took all the guessing out for you. Make it and please let me know how your cauliflower pizza recipe turns out!
More Pizza Crust Recipes
More Cauliflower Recipes to Try
- Cauliflower breadsticks
- Cauliflower biscuits
- Air fryer buffalo cauliflower
- Cauliflower mashed potatoes
- Cauliflower potato salad
- Cauliflower fried rice
Foolproof Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 2.5 pounds medium-large (6" – 7" wide) head of cauliflower 2 x 12-16 ounces packages cauliflower rice or frozen cauliflower
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese or Mozzarella cheese grated or shredded
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or mix of dried oregano and basil
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Cooking spray I use Misto
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper.
- Make "rice": Rinse cauliflower, remove the outer leaves, separate into florets and chop into smaller pieces. Process in a food processor in batches, until "rice" texture forms. Do the same with frozen (thawed) cauliflower and skip this step if using store-bought cauliflower rice.
- Cook "rice": Transfer riced cauliflower on a prepared sheet pan or any oven safe baking dish and bake for 15 minutes or microwave in a microwave-safe bowl for 8 minutes. Transfer cooked cauliflower to a large bowl lined with double layered cheesecloth or linen towel, and let cool for 10-15 minutes or until safe to the touch.
- Squeeze: Then hold onto 4 corners, twist cauliflower into a ball and squeeze the liquid out as hard as you can. Be patient and do this quite a few times until barely any liquid comes out. It takes about 3-4 minutes, you should get about 1 1/2 cups water out and your hands will be sore.
- Make dough: Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F. In a large bowl, add dry cauliflower, egg, cheese, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Mix very well with spatula until combined.
- Form crust: Line same baking pan or pizza stone with new parchment paper (just make sure to scrape off any bits of cauliflower) and spray with cooking spray. Transfer cauliflower pizza dough in the middle and flatten with your hands until thin pizza crust of about 11 inches in diameter forms. Be sure to avoid thin edges, so push them in with a palm of your hand.
- Bake it first: Bake crust for 20 minutes. If you would like more crispy crust, carefully flip it with spatula and bake for a few more minutes.
- Bake pizza with toppings: Top cauliflower pizza base with your favorite toppings and bake again until cheese on top turns golden brown. Let cool 1-2 minutes, cut into 8 slices with a pizza cutter and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
- Freeze: You can freeze 2 larger crusts or 4 smaller individual pizza crusts. Bake, cool and wrap crust in plastic wrap. Or place in a resealable extra large Ziploc bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. When you are craving pizza, place frozen crust on a pizza sheet and bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes. Then add toppings and bake for another 5-10 minutes.
- Frozen cauliflower rice: No need to thaw, just cook from frozen.
- Squeeze more than you think: The best advice I can give you for foolproof cauliflower crust is to squeeze cooled cauliflower very well. You really do need to squeeze out more water than you think you’ll ever be able to. Cauliflower should be pretty dry. I squeezed for about 3-4 minutes, until I couldn’t get any more liquid out. If your hands and arms are sore for a bit after, you did it well.
- Double the recipe: Make 2 pizza crusts at a time if you want to feed more than two. Means two large heads of cauliflower.
- Where can I find cheesecloth? You can find cheesecloth in most well-stocked supermarkets, dollar store or on Amazon for a very reasonable price. Linen towel works great too. You can throw both in the washer after.
- What baking sheet can I use? Any sheet pan that can fit 11 inch wide crust or pizza stone works.
- If you don’t have a food processor: Grate cauliflower on a box grater or buy cauliflower rice.
What brand/type/store of mozzarella cheese do you use on top?? It browns so perfectly!!
That was mozzarella from Costco. I believe shredded one. Green and red label. Can’t remember the brand but you will know once you see it. Saputo maybe?!
Hello! I am excited to try this recipe tonight! I was wondering though…..I can’t have cheese so would the crust still turn out if I left it out?
Hi Nikki. I haven’t tried it without cheese but I don’t think it will work out. I know some readers tried to make the crust with cornmeal and vegan cheese. Not sure about the proportions.
I made this tonight and it was perfect! I also made your cauliflower breadsticks. Flipping it over works really well for crispy crust!
OK, I really have to try flip over the crust next time. You guys keep raving about it.:)
Finally, a cauli crust recipe that doesn’t use a microwave! Thanks!
Yeah, no microwave cooking in my house. I’m actually thinking about getting rid of the microwave completely.
Can’t wait to try this!
Yum, yum, yum!!! I was looking for a low carb alternative to pizza and stumbled upon this recipe. It turned out great!! For my toppings I added garlic, butter, spinach, and mozarella. The only downside for me was the size of the pizza– they really do end up being pretty small. I will definitely double the recipe next time. Thank you for this!!!
I love your toppings!:) Double is the way to go with this recipe for sure!
I tried this last night and i’m very impressed. I gave some to my colleagues and they couldn’t believe it was cauliflower!! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
You are welcome, Kelly. High five for sharing. I have hard time sharing this one even with my kids and husband.:)
Just tried making cauliflower pizza for the first time tonight! It turned out to be more of a casserole than a pizza (fork was completely necessary because it didn’t stick together as I’d hoped).. Although it was still really good! I put on tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh basil, some calamata olives, and lots of onions! The recipe I used didn’t call for a bake then squeeze so I’m excited to try again with that method!! And definitely trying the mediterannean:) thanks for all your awesome recipes!!
Hi Jen. You have to pre-cook the cauliflower and squeeze the moisture out. A must! I have seen recipes online that do not call for this step and pizza photos looks legit but I honestly don’t believe it works because cauliflower has high water content. Let me know how this recipe turns out for you.
Made this for dinner tonight and I was a little skeptical being a pizza puritan. It was surprisingly delicious and I almost wish I made two! I will definitely be using this as a go to recipe ^_^
but don’t have to cook what goes ON the pizza? If I put on cheese I’d like for it to melt. I also want the sauce to be hot. So do I decrease the amount of time the crust is in the oven initially and then put it back in? Will that make it soggy?
You cook the crust first and then add your toppings and bake again until cheese is melted. Recipe is for the crust only and I left the toppings part up to you.:)