Cauliflower Pizza Crust comes out crispy, you can hold the slice and use frozen cauliflower or cauliflower rice to make it. Tasty, low carb and the best recipe on the web with foolproof step by step video. Just read reviews for yourself!
For more lighter fair, make sure to check out almond flour pizza crust, cauliflower potato salad and Mexican cauliflower rice.
Table of contents
You are looking at the best cauliflower pizza crust on the web! It is crispy, cheesy and you can really hold the slice. Healthy dinner ideas is served.
I will not lie, the crust doesn’t taste like traditional pizza crust. Or that recipe is not time consuming. But crust is super tasty and I highly recommend to make 2 crusts!
Ingredients for Cauliflower Crust
- Cauliflower: You will need a large head of cauliflower, 6″ – 7″ in diameter, about 2.5 – 3 lbs.
- Egg: Egg is part of “the glue” that holds cauliflower pizza dough together.
- Cheese: As cheese melts during baking, it helps to bind small pieces of cauliflower into a crust. Cheese is crucial! So is the egg. Sorry cannot be vegan.
- Spices: Simple dried herbs like oregano, basil or Italian mix plus salt and pepper add flavor to the crust. Cauliflower itself is pretty bland. Also you can add garlic powder.
How to Make Cauliflower Pizza Crust
1. Separate Cauliflower Head into Florets
- Using cauliflower rice: Skip this step.
- Preheat oven: It is a good time to preheat oven to 375 degrees F. We first cook rice in it and after bake the crust, so it makes sense to keep the oven on.
- Separate cauliflower: Using a paring knife, remove outer leaves, rinse and cut off florets one by one. Here is easy tutorial how to cut cauliflower.
Tip: Core is used too – do not discard.
2. Rice the Cauliflower
- Food processor: Place cauliflower florets in a food processor and process until “rice” texture. Some coarse chunks are fine. You will be baking and then squeezing the cauliflower, so chunks do not matter.
- Using cauliflower rice: Skip this step.
3. Cook “the Rice”
- Dish: I spread rice on same baking sheet I will be using for baking or use pie plate for microwave.
- Oven: Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Or Microwave: For 8 minutes.
4. Let Cool a Bit
- Line large bowl with cheesecloth: You can also use linen tea towel. We will be folding and squeezing “rice” in this material.
- Transfer and cool: Then transfer cooked cauliflower “rice” to prepped bowl and let cool down until safe to the touch. We will touching the ball with hands to squeeze.
5. Squeeze All Water Out
- Fold, hold and squeeze: Holding by the four corners of a cheesecloth with one hand, squeeze out as much liquid as you can with another hand.
- How much to squeeze? Squeeze really well. Quite a few times. I mean it! Count it as an arm workout for the day. I squeezed and then moved the cauliflower around a bit, and squeezed again. If your arm is sore for a bit after, you did it well.
- Final product: You should be left with a cauliflower mash that is very-very dry.
6. Form the Crust
- Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F: If you cooked “rice” in the oven, it is a good idea to keep it on. And now is a good time to crank up the temperature for baking the crust.
- Make pizza dough: Transfer squeezed cauliflower to a bowl. Add egg, oregano or basil, cheese, salt and pepper, and mix well.
- Prep baking sheet: Line rectangle or round baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and spray with cooking spray well. Can also use pizza stone but line and spray!
- Flatten the crust: Using your hands, flatten pizza dough. Make it smaller than in the video. I made it a bit too thin and edges burnt a bit, which is not the end of the world though.
7. Bake the Crust
- How long to bake? Bake for 20 minutes at 450 degrees F.
- Make crispy: Flip and bake for a few more minutes until crispy.
- Ready! Your healthy pizza crust is ready for toppings.
8. Add Toppings and Bake
- Load it up in this order: Add pizza sauce, toppings, cheese and bake again until cheese is melted.
- Not too much: Do not overload the crust with heavy toppings as you won’t be able to hold the slice then.
Toppings Ideas – Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe
- Mediterranean: Tomato sauce, bell pepper, tomato, olives, red onion, feta cheese and parsley.
- Chicken and pepper: Tomato sauce, sliced grilled chicken breast or baked chicken breast or Instant Pot chicken breast, olives, red onion and cheese.
- Cheese: My favourite, tastes so good on low carb almond flour crust, too!!!
- Asian: Shredded honey garlic chicken breast , 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 mozzarella or provolone cheese. So good!
FAQs
Yes, you can use store bought fresh or previously frozen cauliflower rice instead of making your own. About two 12-16 oz packages.
Yes. No need to thaw, just cook from frozen. Same idea with cauliflower fried rice. It is best not to thaw it to avoid mushy dish.
Bake for 20 minutes, carefully flip with spatula and bake for a few more minutes.
Unfortunately not. Eggs and cheese act as a “glue” and hold tiny pieces of cauliflower together.
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.
More likely your crust will not cover as much of a pan as shown in the picture above. It depends on the size of your round pizza pan. And if you are using rectangular baking sheet, size will vary. Any baking sheet with parchment paper works. You can use pizza stone lined with parchment paper.
In the past few years, cauliflower pizza has gained huge popularity as a low carb gluten free alternative to traditional wheat flour pizza crust. Along the trends of chia pudding and almond flour banana bread. People are looking to eat healthier!
Nowadays, you can indulge in “pizza”, America’s favourite comfort food, and not overeat or feel bloated.
Cauliflower quick facts:
1. Vitamins: High in vitamins K and C, which keep your bones healthy.
2. Detox: Cruciferous vegetable like cauliflower help detox your liver. My grandma’s borscht recipe and lemon water recipe are super popular for this reason.
3. Heart and immunity: It helps to reduce high blood pressure and strengthens your immune system.
4. Also high in fiber and antioxidants: Never a bad thing, just like best ever vegetable soup. So much goodness!
5. Calories: Healthy pizza crust has 56 calories, 4 grams of carbs and 4 grams of protein.
But of course there is an egg and cheese too. A nice balance.
Tips for Best Results
- You will use oven 3 times: To cook “rice, to bake crust and then to bake pizza with toppings. It’s easier to keep oven running.
- Double the recipe: Make 2 pizza crusts at a time if you want to feed more than two. Means two large heads of cauliflower. It’s best to buy 2, you can always make roasted cauliflower with one if you change your mind later.
- Squeeze more than you think you can! The best advice I can give you for foolproof cauliflower crust – squeeze cooled cooked cauliflower very well. You really do need to squeeze out more water than you think you’ll ever be able to. Squeeze and then pass it to a husband/wife, if necessary. Cauliflower should be pretty dry. I squeezed and then moved the cauliflower around a bit, and squeezed again. If your arm is sore for a bit after, you did it well.
- If you don’t have a food processor, do this: Grate cauliflower on a box grater or buy cauliflower rice.
How to Freeze Cauliflower Pizza Crust
- Bake, cool and wrap in plastic wrap. Or place in a resealable extra large Ziploc bag.
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
- Thaw completely before baking with toppings.
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 let me know how your cauliflower pizza turns out.
What pizza toppings have you tried? I would love to hear your ideas!
More Low Carb Recipes
- Tex Mex chicken and zucchini
- Healthy turkey burgers
- Cauliflower mashed potatoes with healthy lemon chicken
- Ground turkey skillet
- Baked turkey meatballs
- Air fryer chicken wings
- Also check out recipe collections of healthy zucchini recipes and healthy salad recipes. So easy and good for you!
Step-by-Step Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs medium-large (6" – 7" wide) head of cauliflower 2 lbs of store bought cauliflower rice
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning or dried oregano/basil
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup Parmesan or Mozzarella cheese grated/shredded
- Cooking spray I use Misto
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper or silicone mat.
- Make "rice": Rinse cauliflower, remove the outer leaves, separate into florets and chop into smaller pieces. Process in a food processor in 2 batches, until "rice" texture forms (skip if using store-bought "rice").
- Cook "rice": Transfer cauliflower rice on a prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 mins. Remove cooked cauliflower rice from the oven, transfer to a large bowl lined with a double/triple layered cheesecloth or linen towel, and let cool for 10-15 minutes or until safe to touch.
- Squeeze: Then squeeze the liquid out of the ball (cauliflower inside the cheesecloth) as hard as you can. Be patient and do this a few times until barely any liquid comes out.
- Make dough: Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg with dried herbs, salt and pepper for 10 seconds. Add cheese and squeezed cauliflower; mix very well with spatula until combined.
- Form crust: Line same baking sheet with new parchment paper or silicone mat (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 forms. Make it thicker than in my video, I made it a bit too thin.
- Bake crust first: Bake for 20 minutes, carefully flip with spatula and bake for a few more minutes.
- Bake pizza with toppings: Top cauliflower pizza base with your favourite toppings and bake again until cheese on top turns golden brown. Cut into 8 slices with a pizza cutter and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Store:Refrigerate leftovers covered for up to 2 days.
- Freeze: Bake, cool and wrap in plastic wrap. Or place in a resealable extra large Ziploc bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw completely before baking with toppings.
- You will use oven 3 times: To cook “rice”, to bake crust and then to bake pizza with toppings. It’s easier to keep oven running.
- Microwave: You can also cook “rice” in microwave for about 8 minutes instead of baking in the oven.
- Can I use store bought cauliflower rice? Yes, about two 12-16 oz packages.
- Frozen cauliflower rice: No need to thaw, just cook from frozen.
- How to make crust even more crispy? Bake for 20 minutes, carefully flip with spatula and bake for a few more minutes.
- Squeeze more than you think you can! The best advice I can give – squeeze cooled cooked 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 and then moved the cauliflower around a bit, and squeezed again. If your arm is sore for a bit after, you did it well.
- Can I skip eggs and cheese – make it vegan? Unfortunately not. Eggs and cheese act as a “glue” and hold tiny pieces of cauliflower together.
- 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? More likely your crust will not cover as much of a pan as shown in the picture above. It depends on the size of your round pizza pan. And if you are using rectangular baking sheet, size will vary. Any baking sheet with parchment paper works. You can use pizza stone lined with parchment paper.
- If you don’t have a food processor, do this: Grate cauliflower on a box grater or buy cauliflower rice.
Nutrition
Recipes and images are a copyright of ifoodreal.com. It is against the law to republish recipes without permission. Nutritional info is approximate.
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.:)