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This recipe means that I get to check a very important item off my (imaginary) bucket list: family-approved low carb pizza crust accomplished.
No, it’s not exactly like “real” pizza crust made with glutinous flour. But it sure works, and it’s not soggy, and most importantly – I can pick up a slice of pizza loaded with toppings and chow down.
Since starting the Trim Healthy Mama healthy eating lifestyle two and a half years ago, pizza has been a matter of much experimentation. I’ve used Gwen’s Easy Bread as a great bready crust, but I couldn’t load it down with fatty toppings unless I wanted a crossover (a combination of carbs and fats which isn’t weight-loss-promoting). Joseph’s lavash bread makes a great thin crust pizza, but some people in my family aren’t too into that for some reason. The kids don’t consider it real pizza, and my dad wasn’t a big fan either. I happen to love it, but I wanted to find a pizza crust option that 1) meets everyone’s approval, 2) can be picked up, and 3) is low carb so I can load it down with cheese and sausage. Mission accomplished! My family actually liked this crust!
Like my cinnamon roll recipe, this dough uses mozzarella cheese to mimic the structure and texture of a glutinous flour – minus the gluten, minus the carbs.
You can top this pizza with all the meats, cheeses, and veggies you like. It’s very filling! I usually end up customizing the pizza to what different family members like or don’t like. As far as I’m concerned, sausage, pepperoni, cheese, onions, mushrooms, and olives make the best pizza toppings, but not everyone in my family agrees with me. Here’s a tip: to avoid a soggy crust, put most of the cheese under the veggies instead of on top of them. This lets the veggies release their steam into the oven rather than down into your pizza crust.
Serve this pizza with Zevia Cream Soda and some crudités with Ranch for a complete (and very filling) meal!
Want to see my other entrée recipes? Click here for a picture index!
You can find this recipe in my cookbook, Necessary Food.
- 1½ cups part skim shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 T salted butter
- ¾ cup Briana's Baking Mix
- 2 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. garlic salt
- ½ tsp. yeast (instant or regular; this is just for flavor)
- 2 eggs
- 2 T water
- NSA pizza sauce
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 lb. pork sausage (or sausage of choice), fried, chopped fine, and drained well
- Chopped onion and green pepper
- Sliced fresh mushrooms
- Pepperoni slices
- In a nonstick saucepan over medium heat, melt the mozzarella cheese and butter together until soft and stringy (don't overheat it), stirring often. While it is heating, whisk together the dry ingredients. When the cheese is sufficiently melted, turn the heat down to low and stir in the dry ingredients, eggs, and water. If a spatula isn't sufficient to mix everything smoothly, knead the dough a few times with your hands.
- Turn the dough out onto a square of parchment paper that is roughly 16 inches across. Cover the dough with a piece of plastic wrap and roll it out into a circle 15 inches in diameter. Place the parchment paper (with circle of dough on top) into a 15 inch pizza pan and prebake at 375 degrees F for 6 minutes. Flip the pizza crust over and remove the parchment paper from the top. Top with sauce, mozzarella cheese, cooked sausage, veggies of choice, a slight smattering more of cheese, and pepperoni (putting most of the cheese on the bottom and leaving the veggies on top without a large covering of cheese helps keep the crust from getting soggy). Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the veggies are as soft as you like them. Yields 5-6 servings (it's very filling).
Briana’s Baking Mix recipe
Hi, so excited to try this one!
Are we able to make ahead and freeze this crust? Would we freeze it raw then bake from frozen or bake then freeze?
Thank you!!
I’m afraid I’ve never tried freezing it so I don’t know! I’m sorry. If you try it I’d love to hear how it turns out.
Delicious, as are all your recipes!
I was lazy and didn’t melt the cheese, but just mixed all your ingredients together along with a really big pinch of oregano (because I’m Italian and oregano makes everything better) and rolled it between two pieces of parchment paper. It cooked up beautifully.
Thank you for this! I’ve been wanting to try a pizza crust with the baking blend instead of just almond flour for the taste/texture. For the yeast, could you leave it out to make more of a flat bread? I don’t have any on hand today so I’m wondering about making flatbread tonight for chicken bacon ranch.
Hi Candice! If you’re using THM Baking Blend you might need to use closer to a cup since my mix called for in the recipe is a bit drier. 🙂 The yeast is just in there for flavor; it doesn’t really affect the rising because there are few (if any) sugars in these alternative flours. The baking powder is what makes it rise, but I would leave that in. A cheese crust pizza like this is going to be more of a flatbread anyway.
I finally got around to making this crust tonight and really enjoyed it. Thank you very much!
That’s great to hear! I’m so glad you liked it, Katherine!
Hello Briana! Thank you for all that you do 🙂 I know this is an old post, but figured it’s worth asking before I mess up and waste ingredients. Any reason I can’t use full fat mozzarella? It’s all I have at the moment, but I’ll wait and buy skim if it will make a difference in quality (less oily, maybe). Or is part skim recommended so as to keep calories and fat a bit lower?
I’ve heard that full-fat makes this kind of dough greasier, so I’ve never personally tried it. If I were you, I’d try it if that’s all you have, but I’m used to eating less-than-ideal food. 😛
HI! A big thank you for the yummy pizza recipe!! I made the crust and prebaked it like the recipe says then loaded it with toppings and put it in the freezer. Pulled it out a while later and finished the baking process and it worked perfectly!! Thought some other readers might be glad to know=).
That’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
Is your baking blend a complete substitute for the THM Baking Blend?
Hi Diane! You can check out the baking mix post here for info on how it compares to THM Baking Blend. 🙂 https://www.briana-thomas.com/brianas-baking-mix/
It’s not a direct substitute, but it’s similar.
Hi! Can you use the THM Baking Blend?
I haven’t tried that, but it should probably work. I’d use about a cup since it’s not as dry as my baking mix. 🙂
Hi Brianna,
You are AWESOME and I love you for creating this pizza crust!!! Made it tonight and doubled the recipe for a bigger pie since I have two big men to feed, my hubby and my grown son. It was so crazy easy!! We don’t eat pork so I piled turkey sausage, turkey bacon and turkey pepperoni on it with mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, red onion and tomato (what my husband calls a junkyard pizza, lol) and put it in the oven for the 15 minutes + a few more to make sure the crust was done. It came out perfect and tasted great, a hit with both my guys!!! ? Hopefully the link below will show a picture. I am buying your cookbook as soon as I get paid again!!! Thank you again!!
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I’m so glad you all enjoyed it, Kelli!
Hi Brianna,
Seeing a lot of recipes I would love to try on your website especially the low carb pizza since that is a major food group as far as my husband is concerned, but I have a question. Passover will be here soon and the feast of unleavened bread after that, which means no yeast. Since the yeast in the pizza crust recipe is for flavor only, can it be left out if I wanted to make this pizza that week?
Thanks,
Kelli
I think that should be just fine, Kelli!
What is the serving size? Do you have any carb count for a diabetic?
Thanks
Heather
Hi Heather! This recipe serves 5-6 people. 🙂 I’m afraid I don’t have the carb count, but you can put the recipe into an app like MyFitnessPal if you like.
I liked it. Subbed soyflour for the baking mix.. The dough spread easily and didn’t stick all on my hands. Tasted like regular pizza . Will definitely use again.
Hey Briana,
I am going to make this pizza this weekend. BTW, I received your cookbook and the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker for Christmas. I have made Vanilla, Peppermint, and Peanut Butter. YUM!!!!!!!!! I love the cookbook and the ice cream. 🙂
I have never heard of this baking blend but it might be the answer to my dreams! Pizza is a must for me and my husband…and finding a crust is making me nuts. Can the baking blend be used 1:1 instead of flour in a recipe? (for example, use my normal crust recipe but put in baking blend instead of flour?) Or is the blend more dry and requires more tweaking to get it into dough form?
Thanks for your help!
Hi Christine! My baking blend recipe is drier than regular flour so less is needed. Sometimes other changes are needed as well due to the flours used (more liquids, eggs, and conditioners such as Greek yogurt). All the info I can give about the baking mix itself is given in its blog post here: https://www.briana-thomas.com/brianas-baking-mix/. It really is handy to keep around (and it doesn’t take long to experiment and find out how it works in recipes)! I wouldn’t just substitute it into a regular pizza crust recipe because it has no gluten and therefore wouldn’t make a stringy dough (hence why this pizza crust recipe includes cheese to help it stick together with a bread-like texture).
This is exciting can’t wait to try it, Nor can I wait for your cookbook to be ready. (but I guess I’ll have too 🙁 ) I think I’ll be number 1 on the list. 🙂 Thanks again for using your gift to bless us all!!
Aw, thank YOU, Dorothy!
This crust worked SO WELL! We made a breakfast pizza and it was super delicious. I ended up using 3/4 C each mozerella and cheddar cheeses and 1C of the THM Baking Blend. My husband gave it an empty plate award, which is not an easy thing to do. Thanks for the simple and yummy recipe! (I wish I could post a picture for you to see our results. Sad face!)
I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed it, Meghan!
All I had on hand was the THM baking blend, so I made it the way you did and it turned out great! My husband is very picky and he liked it! Thanks you Briana and Meghan!
Hey Briana….Is the “yeast” in your recipe the kind used for baking bread, or is it the Nutritional Yeast? I am SOOOO hoping it is the bread type, as that is what I used! Pizza is in the oven, and I’m worried I did it wrong…….Pls say yes!
Hetty
Hi Hetty! Yes, it’s regular yeast, not nutritional yeast. 🙂 Although nutritional yeast would’ve been OK too. In this case it’s for taste, not rising ability (since there really aren’t any sugars for the yeast to feed off of anyway).
I just made this pizza tonight and it was so delicious! Totally satisfied my pizza craving! I wish I could post a picture to show you! Thanks!
I am so glad you enjoyed it! If you have a picture, I’d love to see it over here on my Facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/Briana-Thomas-Food-Photography-and-Equine-Training-1427399897488816/?ref=bookmarks
Hi Briana, if substituting THM baking blend, do you know how much I would use?
I would try 1 cup of THM Baking Blend, then adjust from there if necessary. 🙂
Used this tonight and it made a flavorful crust that wasn’t overly complicated! Picked it up with no problems and held a nice amount of toppings. I even risked it an used a baking blend from another site with no modifications. Thanks!
I’m so glad it worked for you!
You are my hero. Can’t wait to try this. Btw all your recipes have been wonderful!!!!!!!! That’s coming from a major thm skeptic and hater who just recently out of desperation decided to bite the bullet. So yeah… Feel good. 🙂
Aw, thank you for the sweet comment! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the recipes!
Have you tried making this crust ahead of time and freezing it?
No, I haven’t.
Awesome!! Can’t wait to try this!! I have a question, Briana, totally unrelated to this recipe. Do you have a recipe for chicken and dumplings that would be THM approved?
Hi Sandra! I don’t have a recipe for chicken and dumplings, but I know the THM cookbook does (you might be able to find one on Pinterest as well?)!
Thanks for your quick reply. I have the original THM book, but haven’t bought the cookbook yet. I’m thinking I need to do that asap lol. I will look on Pinterest as well. Thanks.
I made your pizza recipe tonight. It is so good, Briana! Thank you! I’ll be making it again!
I’m so glad! Thanks for letting me know!
Marcy – if you have a Publix near you their pizza sauce is no sugar added. That’s what we use all the time and it is very good.
Is there a store bought no sugar added pizza sauce you can buy or an easy homemade one to use for this?
My mom usually does the grocery shopping so I’m honestly not sure what brand she buys. Sorry! I’m sure there are plenty of homemade pizza sauce recipes on Pinterest (just leave the sugar out if they call for it).
wal mart brand great value is no sugar added and there is also ragu pizza sauce those are both really good.
I use the Wal-Mart brand it is really good