Follow this easy recipe to make a keto pizza crust that’s grain free, using what’s commonly referred to as fathead dough. The pizza is topped with low carb Greek style toppings.
While many of my recipes are naturally low in carbs, every now and then I enjoy a good baking challenge where I make a low carb version of a traditionally carb-dense food. These keto copycats include these popular low carb biscuits, and sweet treats like low carb butter cookies and low carb Instant Pot cheesecake. Most requested, however, is keto friendly pizza and for good reason — anyone who follows a low carb diet has dreamed about having pizza again.
The way I see it, pizza crust is just a vehicle for maneuvering delicious toppings and cheese to your mouth. This keto pizza crust does a great job of that — it’s sturdy and can hold up toppings. I added Greek style toppings (with no less than nine different ingredients) and the crust had no problem supporting them all. Equally importantly, it also looks and tastes like a real thin pizza crust.
Carbs in pizza
A typical pepperoni pizza slice from Domino’s has about 34g net carbs. That’s quite a lot, and most people on a keto diet can’t “afford” that many carbs in one day.
Compare that figure to this keto pizza recipe, which has 6g net carbs per slice with generous Greek toppings (or 3.5g net carbs for the crust only), which is 5-6 times fewer. Not bad, and totally doable on any low carb diet!
Fathead pizza crust and its origin
Fat Head is a comedic documentary in 2009 that refutes the U.S. government’s nutrition recommendations against a high fat diet. Doctors and dietitians are interviewed, and they stated that a high fat diet does not cause heart disease and heart attacks. Here’s a YouTube clip where they discuss “Saturated Fat & Cholesterol Lies.”
They posted a low carb recipe for pizza — nowadays commonly referred to as “fathead pizza” — but the original recipe credit goes to Cooky’s Creations, which is what I used as a starting point for this keto pizza recipe.
Making keto pizza dough with almond flour
You can make keto pizza crust with just a handful of ingredients — almond flour, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, egg, and salt. Everything except the egg is microwaved and mixed into a dough, then the egg is added last.
I highly recommend using a scale to measure out the weight of individual ingredients rather than relying on volume estimates — you’ll get much better results. Besides, a kitchen scale is a necessity for following a keto diet in any serious capacity.
The dough is placed on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and covered with plastic cling wrap. I use my hands to flatten the dough into an 11-inch circle, but you can use a rolling pin or whatever is convenient. I prefer covering the dough with plastic wrap rather than parchment paper because then I can see the dough as I’m flattening it.
I don’t recommend substituting the almond flour with coconut flour — the pizza crust will end up tasting like coconut.
After the dough is round and flat, you can discard the plastic wrap and dock the dough. Docking is when you use a fork to poke holes throughout the dough to prevent the formation of large air bubbles when it bakes.
Adding low carb toppings to the keto pizza
You can add your favorite toppings to the keto pizza. Here are some ideas to get you started: pepperoni, bacon, sausage, prosciutto, salami, shredded chicken, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, garlic, and anything on my recommended keto diet food list.
I went with a complicated set of toppings (shown in the photos above) that are Greek style with more of a “white sauce” using three different cheeses, so that means no tomato sauce. These toppings are inspired by the Agog Primo pizza available at Pagliacci, a favorite Seattle pizza joint.
If you use a lot of toppings like I do, get them all prepped and ready to go before starting on the dough, since the crust won’t take long to bake before it’s ready for toppings.
Keto Pizza Recipe (Low Carb Fathead Crust)
DESCRIPTION
INGREDIENTS
Keto pizza crust:
- 6 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese (roughly 1 1/2 cups)
- 3 ounces blanched almond flour (roughly 3/4 cup)
- 2 ounces cream cheese (4 tablespoons)
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Optional Greek style toppings (or use your favorite toppings):
- 2 ounces finely grated parmesan cheese
- 2 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 ounces crumbled feta cheese
- 2 ounces mushrooms thinly sliced
- 2 ounces kalamata olives chopped
- 5 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1/2 roma tomato chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425 F. Prepare a baking sheet large enough for an 11-inch pizza, and line with parchment paper.
- In a heatproof mixing bowl, stir together cheese, almond flour, and salt. Add cream cheese. Microwave until the cheese is melted, about 1 1/2 minutes, pausing halfway to stir. After microwaving, stir until the mixture forms a smooth dough.
- Add the egg, stirring it in until absorbed and well-mixed. If easier, use your hands to knead when the dough is cool enough to handle.
- Place the dough on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Cover with equally large plastic cling wrap. Use your hands to spread out the dough to form a thin and even 11-inch circle. Discard the plastic wrap. Dock the crust (poke holes with a fork) to prevent air bubbles.
- Bake the crust at 425 F for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove the crust from the oven. Add toppings of your choice. If you use the suggested Greek toppings, first evenly distribute each of the cheeses, then distribute mushrooms, olives, garlic, tomato, and parsley, and then evenly drizzle olive oil on top.
- Return the pizza to the oven and bake for 5 to 10 minutes until mushrooms are tender but before the edges of the crust get too brown. For simpler toppings, bake for about 5 minutes until the cheese is melted.
NUTRITION
| Nutrition Facts Per Serving (Only Crust) |
| Calories 220 | |
| Total Fat 17g | 27% |
| Saturated Fat 6g | 30% |
| Trans Fat 0.2g | |
| Cholesterol 60mg | 20% |
| Sodium 340mg | 14% |
| Potassium 90mg | 3% |
| Total Carb 5g | 2% |
| Dietary Fiber 1.5g | 6% |
| Sugars 1g | |
| Protein 11g |
| Nutrition Facts Per Serving (Crust & Greek Toppings) |
| Calories 340 | |
| Total Fat 26g | 39% |
| Saturated Fat 10g | 49% |
| Trans Fat 0.3g | |
| Cholesterol 78mg | 26% |
| Sodium 670mg | 28% |
| Potassium 120mg | 3% |
| Total Carb 8g | 3% |
| Dietary Fiber 2g | 9% |
| Sugars 2g | |
| Protein 18g |
Can I use regular almond flour?
Most almond flour comes from blanched almonds, hence the light color. Non-blanched should be fine too; your crust will come out darker.
I really want to make this but I’m allergic to nuts and I hate the taste of coconut, is there something else you could recommend ?
You can try this pizza recipe which is made using cauliflower: https://www.savorytooth.com/cauliflower-crust-pizza/
I’m new to Keto. Are you able to use any sauce when on a keto diet? If so, does final cooking time change?
(I make my own homemade sauce from tomatoes, bell pepper and onion, then add essential oils for seasoning)
Your homemade sauce sounds great! Keto is about restricting carbs, not arbitrary ingredients or types of food like sauces. I recommend reading this guide on starting a keto diet: https://www.savorytooth.com/how-to-start-low-carb-diet/
I accedenly bought something called cassava Can you it ?
You can’t use that in this recipe. You’ll need to buy almond flour.
Hi there. I’ve made this twice and each time I can’t get the pizza off the parchment paper. I’ve used butter and oil oil but it ends up sticking to the paper. Any ideas?
That’s odd. Parchment paper is very nonstick so the pizza shouldn’t be sticking to it. You’re not using wax paper by any chance, are you?
Is there a way you could make a bunch of crusts and freeze them?
Turned out amazing!! I feel like I’m cheating lol
Haha I know the feeling 🙂
I’m am exactly a month into keto and this recipe is beyond helpfu for helping me stay on track! I love that the keto diet has so many satisfying foods and this recipe is one of them. Thanks for posting! Brittany
This tastes just like regular high carb pizza! I will def be making this more often. This is a perfect lunch meal!!
Haha it tastes like you’re cheating, right? 😉
Oh my goodness! I made two pizzas tonight for dinner and changed up the toppings a little. I can’t believe how great the crust tastes and how easy it was to make!
I know, every time I make this I’m so surprised at how easily the dough comes together! Easier than making regular wheat-based pizza dough, in my opinion 🙂
My daughter is allergic to nuts. Is there another flour I can use?
Hi Angela! You can substitute the almond flour with 1/3 cup coconut flour and add an extra egg. Coconut flour is very absorbent, so you won’t need to use much of it.
Coconut is a nut!
Coconut is not a botanical nut, it is classified as a fruit. Most people who are allergic to tree nuts can safely eat coconut.
Going to make the pizza have been wanting this for a lone time thanks
Ìs this a good recipe for a diabetic?
Can you freeze this pizza dough?
No, you can’t freeze it.
what about freezing the crust after cooking. My family isnt on the diet, but I am and Id like to have a pizza when they do. If all I have to do is pull it out and add toppings, it would be much easier. thanks
Can this be made with coconut flour?
I don’t recommend it, as your pizza will taste like coconut.
I do not own a microwave.. Any idea on how to make this without one?
Try heating the ingredients in a small pot over low heat.
Hello we stopped using a microwave all together and was wondering the same thing. The best thing would be to use a double boiler instead. Add water to a pan and let that boil…turn down the heat until you see small bubbles then you add a high heat resistant bowl like a Pyrex with all the ingredients on the pot of boiling water. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. The ingredients should be melting because of the steam inbetween. Be warned the glass bowl will be very hot so use mittens. If it takes too long… Read more »
I skipped the step of microwaving or heating the ingredients at all before making the dough and it still turned out great!
I don’t have a microwave, and I take a non stick skillet on low heat mix the flour and cheese let it cool down add egg. mix use parchment paper, dough will be sticky, I just spread it with my spachula and cook it, comes out in different shapes, add toppings, put under broiler to melt cheese. taste great.
amazing! my hubby couldn’t tell this was a “diet” pizza at all. loved your greek toppings too, i used whole roasted garlic cloves
So, how does the pizza crust compare? I mean, I know it’s sort of apples and oranges, but is it worth trying if you’re not into “diets?”
I couldn’t tell much of a difference between this crust vs traditional crusts. The keto crust had more of a cheesy taste from the mozzarella. If you think this crust recipe looks easier to make than standard crust recipes, then I think you should give it a try since there’s not much of a taste difference.