The Ultimate Low Carb Pizza Crust

**IF YOU WANNA USE SAUCE ON THE CRUST RECIPE BELOW: grab a jar of Eat Happy Kitchen Tomato Basil Marinara!

Recipes are fluid…always evolving, always improving.  In my case, I’m always improvising based on what I have available in the kitchen.  I love it when you guys find a new way–a better way–to make my recipes, and then tweet me a picture.  It means that we’re having a conversation, and there’s nothing that food does better than invoke wonderful conversation.

I have tinkered with this crust to get it where I want it–just a tad more chewy and moist, with some added dried herbs for some solid Italian flavor components.  Hope y’all enjoy.  Be sure to tweet me a pic when you change it up and make it your own.

This recipe, along with 153 more, can be found in my very first cookbook Eat Happy. Sure do hope you head over to Amazon to grab yourself a copy.

Side note: this pizza crust can be repurposed into sandwich rounds, taco shells, bagel-flavored rounds (as found in Eat Happy Too), and biscuits. Or whatever your genius mind can come up with–let me know what you made!

Want more Eat Happy inspiration? Make sure you sign up for the 31 Days of Meals plan and free recipe sampler here!

The Ultimate Low Carb Pizza Crust 

(makes a 10-12 inch thin crust pizza)
Course Main Dishes
Cuisine Keto, Low Carb, NSNG

Ingredients
  

  • For crust:
  • 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella (fresh is bestest, pressed dry with a paper towel)
  • 3 tablespoons cream cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 2/3 cup almond meal
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
  • For topping:
  • Eat Happy Kitchen Marinara
  • Your choice of meat, veg, cheese, etc.

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Microwave the mozzarella and cream cheese in a large bowl until soft and pliable, about 30 seconds.  Add egg, almond meal, oregano, and basil and blend well into a dough ball.  Press into a circle or square shaped pizza on a parchment lined baking sheet sprayed with a thin coating of olive oil or coconut oil.  Sprinkle garlic salt over surface of pizza crust. Pierce surface with fork to prevent rising of the crust while baking.
  • Bake crust in oven for 8-10 mins.  Pierce more holes with fork if bubbles form.  Flip pizza crust over. Bake another 2-4 minutes.  Do not over bake as it will dry out!
  • Add your pizza sauce and toppings, pop back in oven for 4-5 more minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Keyword celiac
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90 Comments:

  • Looks really good, but my daughter is highly allergic to nuts. Will substituting coconut flour for the almond flour work here or do other changes need to be made, too?

    • Eric, I am so sorry to hear about your daughter’s nut allergy. I have the same response to macadamias–not fun. I am not confident that coconut flour will net the same result, but give it a shot. It’s very absorbent, so I would increase the liquids and maybe add an extra egg. There are numerous low carb cauliflower crust recipes on the internets, but most I’ve found still have that stinky cauliflower odor, so I’m working on a recipe that I’ll post ASAP when it’s perfected!
      XOXO
      Anna

    • Carrie Standish / Reply

      Eric, my son is allergic to nuts as well, and I have successfully made it with 1/4C coconut flour and 2 eggs. My family loves it!

      • That’s fantastic to hear! (about the coconut flour, not the nut allergy) You are awesome, Carrie, thanks for popping by!!

      • Thank you so much for posting this reply. I cannot digest nuts and all almond flour recipes are out for me. I made this Pizza last night with coconut flour, as you recommended, and it was delicious! Thank you!

      • Oh awesome! I too and my son have a nut allergy and have been searching for a substitute for the almond flour or almond meal that a lot of recipes call for! Thanks!!

    • I am on another site and they make fathead crust by using same amount of flaxseed meal in place of Almond flour

      • That’s a great idea–and much more friendly to those of us who have nut allergies!

    • Lindsey / Reply

      Ground pork rinds or ground raw pumpkin seeds might work

  • Bob Tranquilli / Reply

    The Fat Head Pizza even gets rave reviews from carb-lovers.
    I shall try your ‘tweaked’ proportions. BTW, your directions are a lot more clear & direct than the original!

  • Kristina Hardesty / Reply

    Once again – great recipe hon!

  • i can not wait to try this in the #ppnsng version …i miss pizza so much! …will tweet! =)

    XO.
    tiffany.
    http://dropsofjupiterBLOG.com

    • Thanks, Tiffany!! It’s only 8:30am here, and I could go for a slice of this pizza. XOXO

  • Made the pizza tonight…best version of a lo-carb crust I have had and I have had a lot!!
    Unfortunately mine did not look like yours but tasted great! It was very thin, is that right?
    Did not get as brown…I was afraid to overcook. Thanks Anna for all you do.

    • I love it! Thanks, Cindy! This one looks pretty brown b/c I used unblanched almond meal. If you use the blanched almond meal, it looks a little more golden. XOXO

  • Pizza was great! How do you keep it from sticking to the parchment paper? Thanks!

  • Erc @TriLeesburg / Reply

    Anna – Loved this recipe! The crust was the best gluten-free crust I’ve ever had! Not only did my 2.5yr old toddler help add the toppings and gobbled it up, but she asked for a leftover slice after coming home from preschool the next day… unheard of with other foods! Many thanks – another keeper!

  • Corrine / Reply

    This recipe was awesome! We are pizza junkies ordering out at least once a week before starting NSNG. I just started listening to Anna on the America’s Angriest Trainer with Vinnie. My husband and I are new to the NSNG and this pizza was one of my first adventures into my newly revamped and de sugared kitchen. Thank you Anna for sharing your creativity with us, we need all the help we can get to eat better!
    Corrine

    • Thank you so much, Corrine!! I love hearing from you all, it keeps me inspired to post more recipes!!
      XOXO

  • Serves 2?

    • Serves 3-4 depending on how big of pizza eaters y’all are!

      • Anna, I have made the pizza three times it tastes great. However the bottom part of the pizza does not seem to get toasted as the top part, sometimes a bit raw. I think next time I will flip it and roast on both sides. Any ideas?

        • I think flipping it is a great idea–or you can also foil the edges (like you would with a pie crust) so that it doesn’t burn the edges to a crisp but the middle can cook more. It also could be an airflow issue in the oven. This is why I pine for a convection oven.

  • Chris Wood / Reply

    Seriously!!?? Wow!!! I made this and ate all weekend on it. My Non-Healthy eating GF even loved it! Making another double batch today to have “Snacks” for the week.
    Great job Anna! Thank you.

  • Donna Magrini / Reply

    Anna, do you think I could soften the cream cheese and the mozzarella in a double boiler? My kitchen is minus a microwave right now…..and I have been dying to try this recipe!

    • Absolutely! I bet you could even let the cheese just come to room temp and that would be enough softening.

  • Instead of tomato sauce I make a Garlic butter. Use that instead of the sauce, cheese & spinach (or any other topping) Yum!

  • Could you give the nutrition data, especially the carbs. Thanks.

    • Hi Sharon-

      Thanks so much for stopping by!

      Cutting out sugars and grains is more of a lifestyle than a diet, so I don’t count carbs, nor do I post carb content/nutritional data of my recipes. However, I understand completely that counting carbs can be a very important part of the process to understand what it feels like to truly lessen the carb loading we’ve all been doing when we were eating the SAD.

      I personally stay in a low level of nutritional ketosis most of the time, and this recipe does not kick me out of ketosis. If you are trying to get into nutritional ketosis, are new to low carb, or are sensitive to the carbs contained in almond meal and/or cheese, I wouldn’t recommend eating this recipe as there are a higher level of carbs in almond flour and cheese.

      I’m gonna indulge for a sec and do a quick google search to give me the following carb count (but lemme reiterate that I don’t personally count carbs because I wanna get away from the counting–it triggers some counterproductive OCD with me):

      Almond meal, net carb count of 4 per half cup. This recipe contains 2/3 cup, so let’s guess 6-7 net carbs on the almond meal.

      Mozzarella: 1 gram per 1/4 cup, so 6 grams of net carbs for the 1 and 1/2 cups of mozzarella in the crust, plus any mozzarella you put on the pizza.

      Cream Cheese: 1 gram per 1 ounce, and one tablespoon equals one half ounce, and there are three ounces, so let’s round up to 2 grams of carbs.

      Tomato sauce: 2 grams of net carbs per 1/2 cup, so let’s say 2 grams for this recipe, even though you might use a little less or a little more than 1/2 cup of pizza sauce/marinara for this recipe.

      So we are up to 16-17 grams of carbs for the whole recipe, and we haven’t factored in the toppings yet.

  • I have to thank you for this recipe! I made it over the weekend and was amazed. I have not eaten pizza since starting Intermittent Fasting and a low carb/no refined sugar regime in June. I used fresh mozzarella, fresh oregano, sage, and rosemary from my garden (in the crust) along with minced garlic cloves, and then our fave toppings. I made a double batch and used parchment to line a shallow boiler pan. My husband doesn’t like cheese, so I told him that it was just a “low carb/no grain” crust and did not put any grated cheese on top of his part. He scarfed it down and happily declared it to be the best pizza he ever had. I felt the same way. And, it was the first time in my life that I have ever quit eating pizza after one good sized slice. I was full but I did not feel sick as I would from regular pie. It wasn’t greasy at all. Obviously with the calorie content, not an everyday food. But when I get that craving for pizza, I now have something that won’t make me sick with gluten and grains.

  • This Old Housewife / Reply

    You can skip the microwave step by buying and grating mozarella cheese in ball form (with liquid) instead of whole or pre-shredded. This cheese can be found in the deli section–not the dairy section, as it is a specialty item. Grate the ball moz with a food processor, because the shreds come out snow-like, and readily mixes with the other ingredients to form dough–NO MICROWAVING NEEDED. Drain the cheese before grating, or drain into a measuring cup and use–just remember to subtract the amount of “cheese liquid” from the other liquid going into the recipe, so you don’t end up with too much total liquid.

  • hi, is it possible to make batches up an leave dough frozen in freezer ready foraking pizza faster?
    Does this crust go crispy? We luv crispy pizza 🙂 but need to adapt low carb an not buy pizza

    • Sharn, I haven’t tried to pre-make the crust and freeze it, but I say give it a shot–and please lemme know how it works. As for being crispy, like most homemade crusts that can get soggy if you don’t prebake it enough, this one is no different. Bake it until it’s crispy enough (but not burned) b/c when you put on tomato sauce, you don’t want it getting soggy.
      XOXO
      Anna

  • Amorette / Reply

    I just started THM on Tuesday and was sent by someone who was raving about this pizza crust! I can’t wait to try it!

  • Amorette / Reply

    I just started the THM plan onTuesday and can’t wait to try this pizza for an on plan alternative to the unhealthy kind we usually eat!

  • Made this for my family tonight. They told me it was National Pizza day. I don’t know if that is a real thing or if they were tricking me into making pizza but we loved it. The kids didn’t even complain about the low-carb crust! Success.

  • melissa / Reply

    I use grated skim milk mozzarella (0 carbs). No garlic salt (skim mozz is salty) just garlic powder and oregano. Threw everything plus 1 tbs olive oil in my Ninja blender bowl and processed. Put parchment paper on 10″ pizza pan, plopped on the dough. Put parchment on top and spread evenly in the pan with a soup can and hands (longest part) remove top parchment. Cooked crust until lightly browned, topped with homemade sugar free pizza sauce, and toppings, and then broiled for couple minutes until cheese was done. Best grain free low carb crust ever. My son is on Modified Atkins diet for epilepsy.
    He cant eat the whole thing but its way better than none at all! Thank you.

    • Melissa, this makes me so happy to hear–and thank you for laying out your process! A little pizza goes a long way! Hugs to you and your family.
      XOXO
      Anna

  • Oh man! I’m not sure how I missed this recipe, but I am TOTALLY making it ASAP because I have been struggling with staying away from the pizza lately when the family eats it. (Argh.) Thank you Anna!!! <3

  • Michele m / Reply

    Made this tonight. It was great! Can’t wait for the cook book!

  • Finally tried this tonight and it was fantastic! Thank you! LOVE having pizza again!

  • Hubby (fussy eater) and I had this tonight and we both LOVED it! The only thing I will do different next time, is to wet my hands before patting the crust out (sticky stuff!) or of course now that I have come back and read all of the comments, I could just put a second piece of parchment paper over it, LOL.

    • I have two half sheet pans- i just put it between the two (parchment on both sides of course) and squish down- perfect circle and even every time.

  • Hi Anna… Thanks for the recipe… However is there a tried and tested fathead pizza without egg? I tried with egg replacer and flaxmeal egg but didn’t get to eat much… It tasted like rubber… Please help. Thanks a lot. Anu

    • Hi Anu–
      I wish I had an answer for you. If neither the egg replacer nor flax meal egg worked, we might be out of luck. You could certainly try it without any egg or egg substitute. that’s what I do for the cauliflower tots, and you don’t miss the egg at all for those. This egg thing is a work in progress!
      xoxo
      Anna

  • Hi Anna,
    I love listening to you on the Angriest Trainer Podcast–you and Vinnie sure do know how to have a fun, entertaining show!
    I am eliminating dairy now, and I was wondering if you had a substitute for the mozzarella cheese part of the recipe?
    Thanks,
    Natalie

    • Natalie–thank you so much for your kind words! I use Daiya brand non dairy cheeses as a substitute b/c I don’t eat dairy either. My next cookbook is “Eat Happy: Dairy Free” just for folks like you and me!

      • please do this quickly! i NEED this! i was wondering about the daiya. thanks for the update.

  • i would really love to have the metrics for the measurements, I use a kitchen scale and find it to be so much easier and more accurate, any chance the cookbook will have it?

    • So sorry, Jenn! The cookbook will not have metrics, but you’re inspiring me to do a blog post to talk about the conversion amounts for my friends in the UK, Australia, and NZ!

  • OMG. I just got done finishing up eating this. It was amazing! I work around pizza daily and I haven’t had one in 5 weeks Bc of my NSNG diet but I hit a goal today so I wanted to celebrate. This was good enough for me as celebration food. I was skeptical at first how this would turn out, but even my wife who mocks me for dieting found it delicious. She said it was better than most pizzas she eats. Thank you so much for putting this out there. I actually never used any measuring cups and it came out just fine. Lol

    • Devon, that’s AWESOME! And I love the no measuring cups–that’s when you know you’re comfortable in the kitchen! So glad you enjoyed it and got to share it with the ones you love.
      xoxo
      Anna

  • Annelise / Reply

    Hi Anna — thank you for another great recipe. My husband and I are new to NSNG — a byproduct of listening to you and Vinnie for a while now. Thoroughly enjoy the podcast. Your recipes make the change so do-able. That’s something I didn’t think I’d ever be able to say.

    This pizza is a new favorite in our home. I’m really looking forward to your cookbook in July.

    Many,many thanks for your dedication and hard work. Thanks to Vimnie, too, please.

    Take good care,

    Annelise

    • Annelise–THANK YOU for your kind words and for stopping by the blog to tell me as such. Encouragement like yours is what keeps me doing this and putting these recipes out there!!
      XOXO
      Anna

  • Helena / Reply

    I didn’t have any almond flour on hand, so I substituted 1/4 cup of coconut flour and 1/3 cup of Bob’s Red Mill Low-Carb baking flour. No extra eggs. Worked like a charm!

    • Helena, that’s awesome! I haven’t heard of Bob’s low carb baking flour–I’ll have to look into it. I really like their products.
      xoxo
      Anna

  • Whitney / Reply

    How many servings is this?

  • Hello,
    How import is the parchment paper? I made the recipe and its already go and I don’t have any parchment paper. I live a ways out of town, can I just sprayed the pizza pan or will that not work???
    Thank you
    Amy H

    • So I used a glass pan and sprayed it with olive oil. It worked perfect and everyone in the house loved it!!
      Thank you for the wonderful recipe!!
      Amy

  • Are Almond Meal and Almond Flour the same things? I only have Almond Flour and really want to make this!!

    • they are only slightly different, but for the purposes of my recipes, they can be used interchangeably!
      xoxo
      Anna

  • This is a direct link to the pizza crust recipe on Cookie’s Creation blog. I had to hunt for it because the link above is only to the blog’s landing page.

    http://cookyscreations.blogspot.com/2012/06/holy-grail-of-ketolow-carb-pizza-crust.html

  • iamse7en / Reply

    When you say “blend well into a dough ball” do you mean literally in a blender or just stir/mix with a spoon? I did a blender. Dough was very wet but cooked fine. I think I need to spread it wider (thinner) and cook longer, because it came out a little too floppy. Still tasted delicious though. Did fresh mozzarella and fontina with hot sausage and arugula. Can’t wait to try it again to make it less floppy!

    • I blend it with a wooden spoon or a spatula, and then when it’s mixed, I take over using my hands! And yes, floppy pizza can happen b/c of undercooking–I recommend getting an oven thermometer b/c most of our ovens aren’t the temp they say they are!
      XOXO
      Anna

  • Have been making this once a week for about 2 months. Hubby and I love it! Tonight, I tested it on my kids for the first time. I topped it with Alfredo sauce, red onion, bell pepper, and mozzarella. Heard lots of mmmm’s.

    • I love love love hearing this! And great idea for toppings!!!!
      XOXO
      Anna

  • Thank you Anna. I’ve tried similar recipes but found them to be just pizza sauce between two layers of cheese. This one is much better. I followed the directions but used a cast iron skillet for a true deep-dish crust. Turned out pretty good. I should have used more oil and I need a smaller pan or more crust.

  • Jane Reed / Reply

    Here’s another crust, based on the fathead recipe, created by a fellow named Matt so dubbed Matthead pizza crust.

    170 g. grated mozzarella
    85 g. almond flour
    40 g. cream cheese
    1 tsp. baking powder
    1/2 tsp. Xanthan gun
    1 Tablespoon psyllium husk powder
    Pinch of salt (optional)
    Mix in a food processor till it resembles breadcrumbs. Gather into a ball then roll or press into shape On a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet, press or roll as thin as you like, perhaps 1/8”. Bake at 425 degrees F. 6-7 minutes. Flip, bake 5-6 minutes more, all depending on thickness. For pizza, add sauce and cooked toppings, return to oven to heat through.

    I like this better than the melted-in-microwave method, though the added step of washing the food processor bowl is no advantage. The result, if not baked crispy, is a slightly malleable “bread” that can be used for sandwiches. It’s also a fabulous BDD, butter delivery device. Nice with added herbs.

    Great website, Anna. I appreciate the recipes. Thinking up new flavors for my meals is not my strong suit.

  • Does anyone have the nutritional content of this? I need it.

  • Chris DuCasse / Reply

    This recipe is so baller. Ever since the wifey got hooked into NSNG, this is a rather consistent request.

  • Rebecca Vickers / Reply

    Not sure why, but followed directions and crust was very sticky. Did not press out well on pan. Maybe I didn’t microwave the cheese enough. Tried a piece of parchment paper on top of
    crust, sprayed it before trying to roll it out more and it just stuck to the paper. So wanted a pizza!

    • Give it another shot–it takes a time or two to dial it in, and then you’ll be an old pro!
      Also I’m not lying when I say use nonstick foil not regular foil. Or you have to oil the crap out of parchment paper too–this is commonly what goes wrong, and then when you try it again with this in mind, it will work!

  • I forgot to prebake the crust before adding toppings (so used to my regular pizza method). It’s in the oven now – do you think it will still work? Not sure if there was something different I should have tried.

    • it might be a little sticky, but it will still taste great!!
      XOXO
      Anna

  • Robbin Hoffmeyer / Reply

    Oh my goodness such yummy ness. You are a genius. Have yet to try a bad or even average dish!
    My family knows I’m a healthy eater, I don’t even tell them it’s a healthy dish. I’ll get them healthy on the sly. Lol

  • is almond meal almond flour?

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