I think that I am the last gluten-free blogger to try cauliflower crust pizza. All of my favorite blogs, gluten-free and not, have made some variation of it over the past year and every time I saw a new cauliflower pizza crust post I would promise myself to pick up a head and give it a try. There were even a few times at the grocery that I would see a big head of cauliflower and I would think about it, but inevitably I would be distracted by some other fruit or vegetable and I would walk away. To be honest, even with all of the bloggers that I trust the most writing about how easy it was and how delicious it tasted, I just couldn't wrap my head around it for some reason. Cauliflower in a pizza crust, really how good could it be?
A few weeks ago Eliza and I were talking about how much she missed our weekly make your own pizza dinner from our pre-gluten-free life. Come to think of it, I really missed it too! I usually planned a pizza night on the weekend and it was my sneaky way of pulling all of the leftovers out of the fridge from the week and using them as topping options. We made some pretty creative pizzas back in those days and it was always so much fun. I promised Eliza that I would figure out a way to resume our family pizza night and I would do it soon. My next shopping trip found me again staring at the bin of cauliflower, wondering if it would work and if it would really be as good as all of those blogs promised it would be. I threw caution to the wind and decided to give it a whirl. You know what? It was so easy, even easier than making a batch of actual pizza dough and to my delight it actual baked up into a darn good pizza crust. The consistency reminded me of a flat bread almost like Naan, but I bet if you used a pizza stone it would be more like actual pizza dough. Bottom line, my family loved it and we now have a way to resume our weekly pizza night and I can feel good about knowing that I snuck another vegetable into the mix.
Individual Cauliflower Crust Pizza
Adapted from Love and Lemons
makes 4 personal pizzas
2 cups ground cauliflower florets from 1 small head of cauliflower
¾ cup almond meal/flour
3 eggs
pinch of salt
½ tsp. Italian Seasoning
½ tsp. g-free garlic powder
½ tsp. g-free onion powder
2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
Assorted pizza toppings
Preheat the oven to 450°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly rub olive oil on the parchment paper to prevent sticking and set aside.
Chop cauliflower into florets and pulse in the food processor until the cauliflower looks like couscous or small grains of rice. Do not over process!
In a large mixing bowl whisk the eggs then stir in all of the remaining ingredients for the pizza crust including the 2 cups of ground cauliflower. The mixture will be wet and not at all the consistency of actual pizza dough. However,if the mixture is too wet and sticky at this point you can add more almond meal.
Use an ice cream scoop to measure out 2 scoops per pizza crust onto the prepared baking sheets. Using the back of the scoop or your hand gently flatten out the crusts into circles that are thinner in the center and mounded around the edges. My pizzas were about the size of a small salad plate each. If the "dough" is too sticky to flatten out easily sprinkle with more almond meal. You are looking for the pizza's to be slightly less than ¼ inch thick.
Bake the crusts for about 15-20 minutes then remove from the oven and add desired toppings. Return to the oven and bake an additional 10-15 minutes more for a total cook time of 25-30 minutes. *I like to swap racks with the pans when I put them back into the oven too.
We are happy to have shared this recipe at the Gluten-Free Friday’s link up party hosted by Vegetarian Mamma! Hop on over to find more great gf recipes.
Cat says
Hi Meg,
I'm a veggie who is allergic to all nuts and dairy, and I'm diabetic thanks to steroids for my severe asthma, so I need to be really careful with carbs! (Yes, it's a nightmare!)
Whilst this recipe sounds amazing, have you got any suggestions for what I could replace the almond meal with please? (I'm allergic to almonds due to their high salicylate content!)
Thanks!
Meg says
Oh man Cat!!! Let's try to figure out a way you can enjoy this pizza. Can you eat coconut flour? I am pretty sure it has a low carb content. If you can eat coconut flour I would start there. Since coconut flour sucks up a lot more moisture than almond flour does you will need to start with at least 1/4 cup less and then go from there.
nancyabc says
I'm not vegan--I'm on weight watchers so could I use whole wheat flour because it's half the points plus of almond flour??
Meg says
Hi Nancy, since whole wheat flour isn't gluten free I haven't tested it in this recipe, so I am unsure how it would turn out. Sorry! Feel free to come back and let me know how it works if you give it a try.
Anna Trombetta says
Thanks for the great recipe! We really enjoyed it! I love that there's no cheese in the crust, so that I don't feel guilty about piling it up on top!
Kristen says
hands down, best cauliflower pizza crust we've had - & we've tried a TON of them. I just topped mine with mozz & parm, and a bit of minced, fresh garlic. perfect!
Meg says
Hooray Kristen!!!! I am SO happy you liked it:) Your version sounds amazing!
Laura says
I JUST made a cauliflower crust pizza! A different recipe, and i saw this! I definately want to try this now. I have a question. Does it get crispy? Thats the only problem with the other recipe I use. But it has cheese in the crust too. But the crust will not get crispy at all. Its like a somewhat chewy thin crust. But, i still eat it because it satisfies my pizza craving! So i need to try this now, because I have almond meal in the cabinet that i bought for some reason, and have not even used lol
Meg says
Laura, the cauliflower crust that I make still has a bready consistency inside although the exterior has a really nice crispy crunch. I hope you enjoy them!
Danielle says
I'd love to know what toppings you used on the pizzas in the picture, they look amazing!
Meg says
Sure! One was a pesto sauce with toasted pine nuts, shredded basil,and slow roasted caprese tomatoes. The other has a tomato base with artichoke hearts, olive tapenade, shredded basil, and the slow roasted caprese tomatoes.
Amanda says
Made this as one pie. The flavor was good -- and that's saying something considering my husband and daughter don't typically care for cauliflower -- but the whole thing fell apart when I tried to take it out of the oven. Any thoughts? Not thin enough? Needed more almond flour? Should have cooked longer?
Meg says
I am glad that your family enjoyed the flavor and I am so sorry that your crust fell apart! I would suggest being sure that the parchment you cook it on was sprayed well with cooking spray and also add more almond flour into the crust. I hope that it turns out for you next time!
Alyssa | Queen of Quinoa says
Meg, you are my hero!! I've been dreaming of a dairy-free cauliflower pizza crust because every one that I come across is loaded with cheese. These mini pizzas look amazing and I can't wait to make them!!! Think it would work in large form? xo!
Meg says
Alyssa, you are too funny! I am absolutely positive it will work in large form.:)
Cindy (Vegetarian Mamma) says
This will be great for Friday night pizza nights! YUMMMO! I have a head of cauliflower in my house now, I think I"ll be making this soon! So excited!! Thanks for linking up at Gluten Free Fridays!
Meg says
Thanks Cindy! I hope you really enjoy it.:)
Cindy (Vegetarian Mamma) says
Just a quick note, that I featured this recipe as one of my favorites this week! Thanks for linking up and looking forward to see what you share this week 🙂 Cindy
Meg says
Wow! Thanks Cindy.:)
Jen says
This looks great! I look forward to trying it soon - just added cauliflower to my shopping list.
Meg says
Yay Jen! I hope you enjoy it.:)
Megan@BlueStarVermont.com says
I was just saying last night how much I miss that pizza on Friday night thing. Being gluten-free since early 2009, it is now 4 years since I have had a pizza. What a treat to see your wonderful post. This recipe looks fantastic. I love the cauliflower/almond flour combo. I want to try it tonight! Thank you so much for this recipe.
Meg says
Hi Megan, I am so glad that you found this post! I hope that you enjoy it:)
Megan@BlueStarVermont.com says
I was just saying to someone tonight how much I miss that Friday night pizza thing. Being gluten-free since the beginning of 2009, it has been 4 years since I have munched on a pizza. Then I come home to see your wonderful post. I am so excited to try it. I love the idea of cauliflower & almond meal. This recipe is a real gift for me. Thank you soooooo much.