Low-Carb Pizza Options

By Amy Dungan

The pizza – beloved by many taste buds, yet hated by just as many waistlines. How can something so good be so bad? It just seems unnatural. Thankfully, we have some pretty inventive folks out there in the low carb community who mastered the pizza goodness without all the nasty processed carbs. Below are just a few options to help you find that perfect pizza substitute. Great for large crowds, or just sitting home alone during a True Blood marathon, these should satisfy even the pickiest pizza connoisseur.

Amy Dungan’s Low-Carb Skillet Pizza

This is a recipe I came up with several years ago while watching my family enjoy a pizza. I love a good pizza just as much as anyone, so seeing and smelling pizza from my favorite delivery place was akin to torture. I decided there had to be a way I could have some too, and so the Skillet Pizza was born. It’s been the most popular recipe on my blog to date.

Serves 1

Equipment
10 inch non-stick skillet

Ingredients
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
1 ounce Sliced Pepperoni (or other low carb toppings of choice)

Instructions
Set your pan over medium-high heat. Add the mozzarella cheese to the pan, completely covering the bottom. When the cheese starts to bubble, add your toppings. Be sure not to overload it or you’ll have a hard time picking it up later. In this example, I’ve just added pepperoni.

Start watching the edges of the cheese. Once the edges start to brown, use a spatula to lift them, as seen here.

Once the edges are browned all the way around, carefully slip the spatula under the pizza and slide it off on to a plate.

Let the pizza cool just a bit so the cheese will firm up. Then use a pizza cutter to slice it up. You can now use your hands and eat it just like regular pizza. For an even more authentic touch, put a little pizza sauce in a bowl and dip your slice into it as you eat. 

Nutrition info will vary depending on what you top it with, but for the basic cheese and pepperoni above, it’s as follows:
Per pizza – 490 calories, 4g carbs, 36g fat, 34g protein

This is obviously not an everyday kind of food, but for the occasional pizza craving, this is a quick fix.

Faux Carb Pizza by Tom Naughton

This recipe is courtesy of CarbSmart columnist Tom Naughton, and has become a huge hit with everyone that has tried it. He credits this recipe to his nephew Eric. Lucky for us all, Tom and Eric are happy to share. From his blog: “To give credit where it’s due, I am basing this recipe on one I found at cookyscreations.blogspot.com. (http://cookyscreations.blogspot.com) A friend and I then made a couple of modifications. Go ahead and buy a few bags of mozzarella – you will be making more of this very soon.”

Crust:
1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella
¾ cup almond flour
2 tbs cream cheese (cubed)
1 egg
Garlic salt
Parchment paper and cookie sheet

Toppings:
No sugar added pizza sauce
You can add what you prefer, but Eric shared his idea for a sausage pizza below.

Instructions:
Put cream cheese and mozzarella in a medium sized microwavable bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, then stir and cook for another 30 seconds.
Stir in the egg and almond flour.
Wet hands and spread dough thin on parchment paper. It should spread evenly with dough-like consistency (if stringy, then your cheese has hardened too much – just put it back in the microwave for maybe another 20 seconds).
Poke rows of holes with a fork to avoid bubbling.
Sprinkle with garlic salt.
Put in a 425 degree oven. After about 8 minutes, check it and poke holes where any large bubbles may be.
Continue cooking for a total of 12-14 minutes, or until slightly brown on top.

Before you begin making your crust, place the sausage on medium-low heat in a cast iron pan. He prefers ground Salciccia sausage―it is similar to Italian sausage. Do not stir too much or you will end up with taco meat consistency. After a few minutes you may need to use a baster to get excess water/grease out, but not too much. You want fully cooked, dime-sized sausages.
Put the sausage in a separate bowl, keeping the grease to sauté your veggies in!
Add a thin layer of pizza sauce, your desired amount of meats, veggies, cheese, and then sprinkle on oregano and basil. He prefers a lot of mozzarella and a handful of cheddar.

Keep in mind, the toppings only cook long enough to melt the cheese, so any meat you add needs to be fully cooked. Nutritional information isn’t included because it will vary greatly depending on your toppings. But I have figured out the info for the crust alone and have added it below.

Crust nutritional info, serves 6:
Per serving: 197 calories, 15g fat, 2.8g carbs, 11.5g protein

Zucchini Low-Carb Pizza

This recipe is a great way to use up that extra zucchini in the garden-especially if you’ve got a couple of those huge zucchinis that aren’t quite so tender. Many thanks to my friend John for allowing me to share here.

Ingredients
Large Zucchini
Salt & pepper to taste
Tomato sauce, tomato paste, or sliced tomatoes
Favorite toppings of your choice
Shredded cheese

Instructions
Slice a large zucchini into ¼ inch thick slices. Rub each with a little olive oil and spices and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Top with tomato, favorite toppings and cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes until cheese is browned and zucchini starts to get soft. You want the zucchini cooked, but still firm enough you can pick it up with your hands. Allow to cool and enjoy!

Once again, it’s hard to determine the nutritional information on this one without knowing the exact ingredients everyone will use, so you’ll need to do the math on this one. This is a quick, easy, very healthy pizza version that even the strictest foodie should love.

Do you have you’re own variation on low carb pizza? Let us know by sending us an email to [email protected].

More Low-Carb Pizza Recipes.