Cauliflower Crust Pizza (Vegetarian)
Cauliflower Crust Pizza can be cooked on the grill, but you can also make it in the oven if it’s not grilling season. I love to use mushrooms and olives to make this a vegetarian cauliflower crust pizza, but of course you can use any toppings you prefer!
PIN Cauliflower Crust Pizza to try it later!
Last year I started noticing cauliflower pizza showing up on healthy cooking blogs, but I didn’t pay much attention to the idea until a few readers wrote and said they were sure I would love it. One person sent me a link to this recipe from Eat. Drink. Smile. and that’s the one my nephew Jake and I used as our starting point when we decided to experiment with Cauliflower Crust Pizza.
It took us three different tries and the addition of both almond meal and grated Parmesan cheese to get a low-carb cauliflower crust pizza that we thought was about as crispy and bread-like as you could get when the main ingredient was cauliflower, but we both loved this final version of vegetarian pizza with a cauliflower crust.
I’m not sure this will ever replace regular pizza for some people, but if you’d like to try a pizza crust that’s low-carb, gluten-free, and more nutritious than regular crust made with flour, I think you’ll be pleased with this version. And we made a vegetarian cauliflower crust pizza, but of course you can use any toppings you prefer on this low-carb pizza crust.
What ingredients do you need?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- finely chopped cauliflower
- finely grated mozzarella cheese
- Almond Flour (affiliate link)
- finely grated Parmesan cheese
- Dried Oregano (affiliate link)
- Garlic Powder (affiliate link)
- pinch of salt
- egg
- Rao’s Pizza Sauce (affiliate link)
- mushrooms
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- olives, sliced in half
What Equipment Do You Need for Cauliflower Crust Pizza?
I have a pizza stone for the grill (affiliate link) and that seemed like the perfect way to cook pizza when it was hot outside, but the inspiring version was cooked in the oven so that will work too. Cooking times will be slightly longer if you don’t use a pizza stone. You’ll want to use a very hot oven, especially if you’re not using a pizza stone. If you have an oven with a convection setting, that would be great for this recipe.
What pizza sauce did we use for the cauliflower crust pizza?
I’m a fan of Rao’s pasta and pizza sauces, and we used low-carb Rao’s Pizza Sauce (affiliate link) for this recipe. If you don’t use Rao’s, look for the pizza sauce with the lowest carbs you can find.
Want more Low-Carb Ideas with Pizza Flavors?
Check out Low-Carb Pizza Recipes for lots more low-carb and Keto pizza ideas, including more ideas for pizza with cauliflower crust!
How to Make Cauliflower Crust Pizza:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.
- Before you start to make the crust, start heating your pizza stone on the grill or in the oven. (If you don’t have a pizza stone, just heat the grill or oven.)
- You only need one cup of cauliflower for a crust, but we were going to make several versions, so we buzzed 1/2 large cauliflower in the food processor until it was finely chopped.
- Put 1 cup finely chopped cauliflower in the microwave and cook until the cauliflower is soft, 7-8 minutes for my microwave.
- I had a coarsely-grated mozzarella blend, so I used the food processor to chop it up so it would mix into the other crust ingredients better. (This is way more cheese than the amount used for one pizza!)
- Combine the cooked cauliflower, cheese, almond meal, grated Parmesan, oregano, garlic powder, salt and a beaten egg to make the crust.
- Spray a sturdy cookie sheet with nonstick spray and then use your fingers to form the crust, spreading it as thin as you can get it.
- When your grill or oven temperature reaches 450F/230C, start cooking the crust (on the pizza stone if you have one. (If you’re cooking on the grill without a pizza stone, heat the entire grill and then turn the heat off on one side too cook the crust.)
- Take the crust out when it’s firm and lightly browned. Cover the crust with desired toppings. We used low-sugar Rao’s Pizza Sauce (affiliate link), a small amount of finely grated Mozzarella, sauteed mushrooms, and black olives.
- I put the pizza back on the grill for about 5 minutes more to melt the cheese and heat the toppings, but if you’re cooking in the oven you can do this under the broiler.
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
For a low-carb meatless meal this cauliflower crust pizza would taste great with Ottolenghi’s Perfect Lettuce Salad or American Greek Salad.
More Low-Carb Pizza You Might Like:
Cauliflower Crust Pizza (Vegetarian)
This Low-Carb Cauliflower Crust Pizza can be cooked on the grill or in the oven. We made a vegetarian pizza with cauliflower crust, but you can use any toppings you prefer on this cauliflower crust pizza!
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients
- 1 cup finely chopped cauliflower (chop in food processor or grate with a cheese grater)
- 1/2 cup finely grated mozzarella cheese
- 5 TÂ almond flour
- 3 T finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 egg, beaten
Pizza Toppings
- 1/4 cup Rao's Pizza Sauce (see notes)
- 3 T finely grated mozzarella cheese
- 4 oz mushrooms, sliced and cooked
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 1/4 cup olives, sliced in half (or more)
Instructions
- Turn on the oven or grill, place the pizza stone inside (if using), and preheat grill or oven to 450F/230C. (If you don’t have a pizza stone I might let the temperature get slightly higher.)
- Use a food processor or the large side of a cheese grater to finely chop the cauliflower, until it resembles small kernels of rice.
- Put the cauliflower into a bowl and microwave until it’s cooked through and soft, about 7-8 minutes. (Don’t add water; the cauliflower will release moisture.)
- While the cauliflower cooks, slice the mushrooms, heat the oil in a large frying pan, and cook mushrooms until they’re soft and cooked through. Slice olives in half lengthwise.
- If you don’t have finely grated Mozzarella, I would buzz it a few times in the food processor so it’s more finely grated.
- In a small bowl, combine the cooked cauliflower, 1/2 cup finely grated mozzarella, almond meal, Parmesan cheese, dried oregano, garlic powder, and salt.
- Beat the egg with a fork and then mix it into the other ingredients, combining them well.
- Spray a heavy cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Form the crust ingredients into a ball and place on the cookie sheet, then use your fingers to form the crust, spreading it out as thin as you can get it.
- Put the cookie sheet on the pizza stone in the oven or on the grill and cook with the door or lid shut until the crust is firm and lightly browned, about 13-15 minutes. (If you’re cooking this crust on the grill without a pizza stone, you will need to preheat the entire grill, then turn off one side and cook the pizza on that side, using indirect heat from the side that’s still turned on. This will probably add a little to the cooking time.)
- When the crust is done, spread with pizza sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and arrange cooked mushrooms and sliced olives on top.
- Put pizza back on the grill to melt the cheese and warm the toppings, or turn the oven to broil and cook it under the broiler for about 3-4 minutes.
- Serve hot. This reheats well, and is even good cold for breakfast!
Notes
If you can't find Rao's Pizza Sauce (affiliate link) use a sauce with the lowest carbs you can find.
Recipe adapted from Eat. Drink. Smile.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 395Total Fat: 29gSaturated Fat: 9gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 130mgSodium: 764mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 6gSugar: 3.9gProtein: 20g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This vegetarian Cauliflower Crust Pizza would be an approved recipe for most low-carb and Keto diet plans as long as you use low-sugar pizza sauce. For the original South Beach Diet there’s quite a bit of fat in this pizza from mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, almond meal, and olives, so you might consider this a “once-in-a-while-treat” and only have half the pizza shown here for phase one or two.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Pizza Recipes to find more recipes with Pizza flavors. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
Cauliflower Crust Pizza was first posted in 2012. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2023.
61 Comments on “Cauliflower Crust Pizza (Vegetarian)”
OMG perfect!!!!! I loved it, my husband loved it too.I took pictures but I can’t post them
Glad you liked it! You could post the photos on IG if you’re on there!
I have a question: what are T’s? (5 T almond flour/3 T finely grated Parmesan cheese)
Tbsp?
On all my recipes T = tablespoon and tsp. = teaspoon. Sorry that was confusing, but I’ve been doing it that way for 15+ years so I can’t change now!
Thank you for answering so quickly. I’m not American, I don’t know English very well, I just wanted to make sure before I try. It sounds delicious!Â
No problem! I always try to reply quickly unless I am away from the computer.
Love this recipe but this sticks to my pan every time. I’ve used non stick already but I don’t use non-stick pans. Are there any other suggestions? Would parchment paper stop it from crisping? Has anyone tried?
I haven’t tried Parchment Paper, but I think that’s a good idea. Glad you are enjoying it!
My husband is now on a Keto diet, at the recommendation of his cardiologist.  A relative gave me your website information and the first food I searched for was a cauliflower crust for pizza.  I got the ingredients today, made it, and it’s GONE!  We loved it!  The crust was thin and browned at the edges, just the way we like pizza crust.  I put on a very thin layer of low carb pasta sauce.  Hubby’s side had low carb Keto meatballs, mine had sautéed baby bellas and onions.  I topped all with turkey pepperoni and a sprinkling of pizza cheese blend.  This was a really delicious pizza, with over 90% of the crust being cauliflower (as opposed to the pricey store bought cauliflower pizzas).  Thank you!  Tomorrow I’m looking to make your chicken thighs with mushrooms, onions and rosemary!
So happy to hear you enjoyed it!
Pingback: 12 Vegetarian Keto Recipes to Make for Dinner
I was using a different cauliflower crust recipe, but this one has better elements. I will say, though, that if you wring out the water from the cooked cauliflower, your crust will be a little crispier/dryer. Otherwise, the taste is terrific, I'm eating a slice now!
Sounds like I need to try that Jeanette. I was cooking it on a VERY hot grill so I think that dried out the cauliflower quite a bit.
Amber, so glad you liked it!
Delicious! I forgot to microwave the cauliflower and it still turned out. It would be even better if I hadn't forgotten that part. I cooked the crust in the oven for almost 20 minutes before topping it.
Thanks, Kalyn. I made it in a traditional pizza pan without going all the way to the edges. I had a little trouble with the cauliflower (I eat it a lot, but never did the rice thing – I wasn't watching it in the microwave and it turned into a burned hockey puck), but succeeded on my second try. The crust is really tasty. A bit high in calorie and fat for me (I made 1/3 pizza a serving) but yummy. Thanks for your help.
Ann, the size is kind of determined by your pan. I just measured and that pan I used is 9 inches across, so the pizza was slightly smaller than that!
I'm sorry if I missed it, but what diameter pizza have you made in the photos? Thanks.
Yaay Sarah, and thanks for suggesting it!
Just so everyone knows… I was one of those readers who suggested Kalyn try cauliflower cust pizza… so, it's kinda like I'm famous…. 😀
Just wanted to thank you–this was incredible! My husband is on a low-carb diet, and I try to eat fewer processed carbs, so I thought I'd give this a go…and wow, we were both really impressed. I topped it with roasted peppers and onions, but all other ingredients were more or less the same.
I made this last night substituting whole wheat flour for the almond meal. It worked very well.
A friend had tried another recipe for cauliflower crust and was not impressed. This was wonderful. My husband loved it as well.
I'm going to share the link on my blog this weekend, I got a lot of interest on it from the photo I posted on facebook!
Thanks for an awesome, healthy and easy recipe…I have another cup of cauliflower processed and ready to go, so it looks like this will be dinner again sometime this weekend.
Claire, I don't know but I'm doubtful you can get it to hold together without cheese and egg, because you need something to hold the cauliflower together. You might try googling "vegan cauliflower pizza" to see if anyone has tried it.
wondering if Heidi every tried this with Daiya cheese. My son doesn't eat wheat/ dairy/ egg but loves pizza…
I'll give it a try this weekend and report back!
I haven't tried it with anything else, but if you don't need it to be gluten-free it might work with flour, or maybe quinoa flour or some other type of flour would work. I can't say for sure though.
Is there anything I can substitute for the almond meal? I have everything else but that in the house.
I haven't made it in the oven, but since my grill has a temperature gauge the same as the oven, I think the cooking time would be about the same. I would check it a few times to make sure the edges aren't getting too done.
I may have missed the information earlier but roughly how long does the crust take to cook in just the oven?
Wow! I just made Chinese "faux" fried rice using cauliflower and now I am hooked on substitutions. I cannot wait to try out this 'faux' pizza crust.
That's great; thanks for the feature.
On Fridays, I share my favorite food finds in a series called Food Fetish Friday – and I love the crust on this cauliflower crust you created for this pizza so I'm featuring it as part of today's roundup (with a link-back and attribution). I hope you have no objections and I'm happy to be following along with your creations…
Glad you liked it. I do think Flaxseed meal is gluten free, but I'm not positive.
There is none left over for breakfast around here! Yum!! My store didn't have the Almond Meal, so I subbed Flaxseed Meal. I don't know if that's gluten-free but it worked well 🙂
McGirl, so glad you liked it. I had to take pictures of mine before I ate it, so that must have been why I didn't notice the crust being soft at first!
We made this tonight, though with wild variation on the toppings and a bit of added flax in the crust – so good!!!! My only addition to the recipe would be to let the pizza rest for five minutes after the final bake; when we first served it up the crust had become a bit soggy, but a few minutes later (after we'd devoured our first servings) it had hardened up again. I've tried a couple of other cauliflower crusts but this is the best by far! Thank you!
Thanks I'll try it! I probably skimmed the recipe too fast and missed it.
I thought I had made it clear in the recipe that you can make it in the oven or without a pizza stone. You may have to cook the crust longer or at a slightly higher temperature but it will definitely work.
Would love to try this, BUT . . . don't have a grill or a pizza stone– can I still make it? I have a Pampered Chef clay stone pan and a regular oven. Will it work?
I'm happy that so many people are interested in trying this! I think there can be endless variations of this recipe.
That cauliflower crust pizza is looking really good! I have been wanting to try the cauliflower crust for a while now!
Cold for breakfast? That is the true test! I'm not surprised that this pizza passed, Kalyn, as it looks so delish. I've been wanting to make a cauliflower crust pizza. Thanks so much for figuring it all out for me! 🙂
Shirley
Beautiful pizza! I only recently tried cauliflower crust and I think it's delicious! Your pizza must be absolutely delish, and the photo is wonderful. Pinned!
Brilliant!! This is my first time seeing a cauliflower crust but it sounds delicious. I will have to experiment with this too!
Lydia and Barbara, I think this is a cauliflower recipe for non-cauliflower fans!
What a great looking pizza. This would be my favorite way to eat cauliflower.
Finally, a way to eat cauliflower that I just might like! Must try it.
Mimi, it was surprisingly good!
Heidi would love to hear how the vegan version turns out. Can't think of any reason it would not work.
Wow! This looks great Kalyn!
I can't wait to try it. I'm gluten free and vegan and would subsitute Daiya vegan cheese for the cheese and nutritional yeast for the parm.
I'll let you all know how it turns out.
Thanks for creating this for us!
Heidi
I'm willing to try it!
I love cauliflower raw…
Mimi
I would grate or finely chop the cauliflower with a knife if you don't have a food processor. I don't think mashed cauliflower will work.
Hi Kalyn…I don't have a food processor, can I just cook the cauliflower and then mash it? The recipe sounds good and I'd like to try it…thanks
Kalyn I have been looking forward to seeing your version since you mentioned it on Twitter. I love the mushroom and olive toppings too.
Hi Kalyn I will be passing this onto Coeliac and Wheat intolerant friends. Night even give it a go myself.
Great
Christine, Jake and I were skeptical but this really was good!
Wow. Wow! Wow!! This is fantastic and will be on our grilling menu this week. Although I use cauliflower as a low Carb substitute for many dishes, I never would have thought of using it as a pizza crust. Thank you for this!
Jake and I were actually surprised at how much we liked this! Glad to hear it sounds good to people.
I keep reading about the cauliflower crusts, but haven't tried it myself. This pizza is gorgeous, Kalyn, and I think it needs to find a place in our Friday pizza night rotation.
This is the first I've heard of a cauliflower crust! Sounds interesting, but I love my carbs way too much!
So glad to see a recipe for cauliflower crust pizza on here! I've been seeing them out there but not from any source I trust like Kalynskitchen!! Thanks!
Sara
I've wanted to try this cauliflower crust business for a while now but it just hasn't happened. Your pizza looks so tasty! Thanks for working out the crust recipe for us.