Perfect, Portable Low-Carb Pizza Crust Recipe
The health food world is buzzing with alternatives to traditional pizza crust. You’ve got your cauliflower crust. There’s even zucchini and potato crust. Then there’s one with different types of flour, like a coconut flour crust. Mindful eating choices are ideal (unless you’re mindfully splurging, of course.)
But if you’re going to categorize food, it better meet that category’s major requirements. This is where I get serious. What are the requirements for a crust-like food to be considered a “pizza crust?”
- It must carry ingredients (sauce and whatever toppings, no matter how heavy) without falling apart. I want to pick up a slice of pizza and shovel it in my mouth, not have to lift a messy bite with a fork.
- The crust must have a bit of crunch to it and not be a soggy hodgepodge of healthy ingredients.
- The taste must be neutral enough that its flavor is totally consumed by the tasty sauce and toppings. I didn’t sign up to eat the gloriousness of pizza sauce and cheese to be bombarded by the unfitting taste of coconut. No thanks.
So that’s it, really: portability, texture, and taste.
I have to say, when I was trying to find a good, healthy alternative to traditional pizza crust, cauliflower worked well. It met the criteria. However, the process was a pain in the butt. It requires more effort than what I’m willing to give just to be “mindful.”
And the other options weren’t keepers, either, in my opinion. The quinoa crust that uses soaked quinoa should be categorized more as a casserole, as it missed the mark on the portability requirement. The coconut flour’s taste was subpar.
So after much trial and error in my own kitchen, I developed a pizza crust that not only feels, carries, and tastes like traditional pizza crust, but also is easy to make.
The Perfect Low-Carb Pizza Crust Recipe
- ½ cup white beans, rinsed and drained
- 3 tablespoons quinoa flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Place pizza stone in the middle rack with top rack removed. Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a 9 inch pie dish with parchment paper and grease the paper with a drop of olive oil.
- In a food processor, combine all the ingredients. With a rubber spatula, guide the batter onto the greased parchment paper and spread in a thin, even layer along the surface.
- Placing the pie dish on top of the pizza stone, bake the crust for 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden. Remove the pie dish, and flip the crust. Place it faced-down in the pie dish back in the oven for 2-3 minutes, or until the center gains some golden color.
- Remove from the oven, and flip the crust back upright onto a pizza peel.* Top it with whatever you’d like, starting with the sauce then going from there! Once topped, use the peel to slide the pizza onto the stone. Cook until cheese is melted and toppings are cooked to your desire. Enjoy!
Do you have an alternative pizza crust you love? —Danielle