Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Published 1/22/2021
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Make tonight pizza night with this easy cauliflower pizza crust recipe. All you need is cauliflower rice, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, and a few other ingredients and you’re all set to make a gluten free delicious pizza crust.
Cauliflower Pizza Crust for Everyone
Say hello to a pizza crust that is gluten-free, flavorful, cheesy and so easy to make! This cauliflower pizza crust isn’t just for people who can’t have gluten, it is so good that you’ll want to add it to your favorite recipe list!
Why do we love this cauliflower pizza crust?
- The base of this cauliflower pizza crust is cauliflower rice, cheese, and simple seasoning. Basic ingredients that everyone has!
- It is an easy recipe to whip up for a quick weeknight dinner.
- You can make a pizza out of this cauliflower pizza crust or as a focaccia you can serve as an appetizer.
All the Ingredients You Need
The ingredient list for this cauliflower pizza crust is quite short. Here is everything you need before you make this cauliflower pizza crust.
- Cauliflower rice- you can use homemade cauliflower rice or store bought cauliflower rice. You just want to make sure it is finely processed.
- Mozzarella- The mozzarella acts as a bind for the pizza crust. You can buy store-bought mozzarella or grate your own!
- Parmesan- Parmesan also acts as a binder, but it also adds the perfect amount of saltiness to the crust.
- Italian seasoning- A little Italian seasoning adds the classic seasoning that every Italian pizza needs.
- Garlic powder– Everything is better with garlic!
- Red pepper flakes- A bit of red pepper flakes go a long way in this pizza crust.
- Egg– Don’t skip the egg in the cauliflower pizza crust! We suggest using one egg, but if you’re cauliflower pizza crust isn’t binding at all adding another egg is a great option.
- Olive oil- The olive oil is the key to a crispy cauliflower crust. Don’t skip it!
make it easy
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How to Make Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Get ready to make the crispiest, cheesiest, and most delicious cauliflower pizza crust. There are a few steps to creating the perfect pizza crust with cauliflower and a few tips and tricks to help you make the perfect cauliflower crust.
Before starting the recipe, make things easy on yourself and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Salt the Cauliflower Rice
First things, first, you are going to want to draw any excess moisture from the cauliflower rice! Why do you have remove moisture from the cauliflower rice? Added moisture will leave you with a mushy pizza crust! No body likes mushy crust.
To remove moisture all you have to do is draw the moisture out with a little salt.
Line a large bowl with a tea towel or cheese cloth and place the cauliflower rice in the bowl. Sprinkle the cauliflower with 1/8-1/4 teapsoon of salt to the cauliflower, mix and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
After the cauliflower rice has rested ring out the excess liquid into the bowl by squeezing the cloth or towel. Squeeze until the cauliflower is dry.
fine cauliflower rice is best
The best cauliflower rice for cauliflower pizza crust is finely processed cauliflower rice. The smaller the cauliflower pieces, the stronger the cauliflower crust.
Homemade Cauliflower Rice
If you are making homemade cauliflower rice to make this cauliflower pizza crust follow our homemade cauliflower rice recipe and process the cauliflower a minute or two longer to make all the pieces into shreds rather than chunks.
Store-Bought Cauliflower Rice
If you buy cauliflower rice at the grocery store, we do suggest processing it if it has large chunks. Place the cauliflower rice in a food processor or blender until all the cauliflower pieces are all finely processed.
Combine Ingredients + Add Egg
After you have removed moisture from the cauliflower place all of the ingredients for the cauliflower pizza crust in a bowl and mix until combined.
Add more spices
We kept things simple and classic with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes, but you can add any of your favorite dried spices to your pizza crust!
Form the Pizza Crust
Once all the ingredients have been mixed together it is time to form your pizza crust. Use your hands to create a ball shape. The cauliflower crust will not form a perfect ball that holds it’s shape, so don’t be nervous if it doesn’t form dough like traditional pizza crust.
Before placing the crust on the baking sheet, drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil on top of the parchment paper.
Use both hands to pick up the cauliflower mixture and place it on the baking sheet and press the mixture down with your hands and create a circle shape. Be sure that the cauliflower mixture is touching (no gaps in the pizza crust).
Drizzle the other tablespoon of olive oil over the pizza crust before you place it in the oven.
Bake!
Place the cauliflower crust into the oven and bake the crust for 20 minutes at 375ºF!
don’t skip the parchment paper
We know that sometimes it’s tempting to skip the parchment paper if you don’t have it, but it is a necessity in this recipe!
Flip the Cauliflower Pizza Crust
This may be the most important step of making the cauliflower pizza crust! You need to flip the cauliflower curst. You do this to make sure the other side of the pizza crust bakes and gets golden brown, too.
To flip the pizza crust place another piece of parchment paper on top of the cauliflower pizza crust and a cutting board and carefully flip the cauliflower onto the new parchment paper.
Place the new parchment paper on the baking sheet and bake the crust for an additional 10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
Add Optional Toppings
Once you have baked the cauliflower crust for the second time, remove the crust from the oven and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before adding your favorite pizza toppings to the crust.
You can add whatever toppings you would like to the cauliflower pizza crust. We added classic pizza toppings ingredients (sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni) to our cauliflower pizza crust, but feel free to get creative!
Here are so fun pizza topping combinations!
- Pesto + Mozzarella + Cherry Tomatoes
- Marinara + Italian Sausage + Cheese
- Marinara + Black Olives + Mushrooms + Cheese
Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Ingredients
For the Pizza Crust
- 3 cups cauliflower rice, finely processed*
- 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
- 2 teaspoons italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg*
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, separated
For the Toppings
- ¾ cup pizza sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, or more if it looks better in the photos
- ⅓ cup pepperoni
- Fresh basil for garnish
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 375ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drizzle the parchment paper with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Next, remove the moisture from the cauliflower rice by adding the cauliflower rice to a tea towel-lined bowl and sprinkle with salt.
- Let the cauliflower sit for 5 minutes and then twist the top of the tea towel to squeeze moisture from the cauliflower rice. Discard excess liquid.
- Then, add the cauliflower rice, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt, mozzarella, and parmesan to a large bowl and mix all of the ingredients together until combined.
- Scramble the egg in a separate small bowl and then add it to the rest of the ingredients and mix.
- After all of the ingredients are combined, use your hands to form a ball shape out of the cauliflower pizza dough.
- Set the cauliflower pizza mixture on top of the parchment paper and use your hands to press the mixture flat onto the parchment paper and create a circle that is about 1/8 -¼-inch thick.
- Drizzle the rest of the olive oil over the top of the crust and evenly spread it around.
- Place the crust in the oven and bake for 20 minutes at 375ºF.
- Remove the crust from the oven and place another piece of parchment paper onto the top of the crust and carefully flip the crust over with a quick motion and return it to the baking sheet with the opposite side facing up.
- Place the baking sheet back into the oven for an additional 10-12 minutes or until the other side of the crust is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before spreading the sauce over the crust.
- Then sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top of the sauce and add pepperoni.
- Place pizza back into the oven for an additional 10 minutes or until the mozzarella cheese is melted.
- Remove from the oven and garnish for basil.
Tips & Notes
- cauliflower rice: if you use store bough cauliflower rice, you have to process the cauliflower rice a bit further so it is finely processed. You’ll end up with a crispy crust.
- egg: if your pizza crust is not coming together or if you used store bought cauliflower rice, you may need to add a second egg. Freshly made cauliflower rice that is made in a high power food processor tends to be a bit finer and may only need one egg.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Photography: photos taken in this post are by Erin from The Wooden Skillet.
It was so delicious and super easy to make! Thank you for the great recipe! 🙂