The Perfect Cauliflower Pizza Crust Experiment

If you’ve ever searched for alternatives to regular pizza crust, no doubt you’ve seen countless recipes for the perfect cauliflower pizza crust floating around the blogosphere and Pinterest.

Let me first start of by saying: PIZZA. What can I say, pizza is one of my favorite things to eat. It’s probably the meal that’s hardest for me to resist, and I’m not gonna lie – nine times out of ten, it’s our go-to cheat meal at the end of most weeks in our house. Thaaannk goodness we eat clean the rest of week!

For the longest time I bypassed this cauliflower crust idea honestly thinking it was just some weird fad. I think secretly a part of me almost boycotted it without even realizing it. I will not CAVE to the cauliflower crust pizza…certainly NOT! Well, obviously I finally caved. So with skepticism sprinkled with a healthy dose of open-mindedness I put on my test kitchen chef hat (well – WE put on our test kitchen chefs hats) and got busy in the kitchen experimenting with three different versions of crusts and I’m happy to say, by unanimous decision we chose a winner.

Back to the WE. Did I mention how much I heart pizza? Take that and times it by a gazillion trillion and that’s how much my significant other loves pizza, it’s his favorite food on the planet – well besides burritos, but they’re neck in neck for sure. Oh, and let me not forget to mention that this is a guy that up until recently, absolutely abhorred cauliflower (he’ll say only raw, but I beg to differ, and if you saw the look on his face when he ate it, you would too). So when I told him I had enlisted him (I mean, ahem – asked him :) to take part in my experiment, you can imagine his response.

The conversation went something like this:

Me: Baaabe…you know how much we love pizza, but how much the bread always bloats me and makes me feel all yucky afterwards?

Him: Yeeeaah

Me: I was thinking about trying cauliflower pizza crust….

Him: Hmmmmm (insert scrunchy face here) It better not be like that almond flour crust you tried…

Me: Of course not babe, this will be waaaayyy better…I just happen to have the stuff to make it (wink wink) and thought we could try it instead of our usual pizza night….want to?

Him: Suuuuurre

Man of many words and mission accomplished! By the way, I totally give it to him on the almond flour pizza crust. I made that last year when I was doing a serious candida cleanse thinking it would be an awesome substitute for the pizza I was jonesing so badly for (that’s how much I love pizza folks) but it was an epic fail – not tasty at all and dry and crumbly as all get out! Fortunately I made it for myself, and besides a bite, he ate his regular pizza.

Still you can see his hesitation and why I owe him a shout out for being such a great sport on my endless food adventures. So on this particular night we got down to business in the kitchem, two crusts, two versions, his and hers. And the third crust came later, on a different night.

Although I’m sharing three different recipes, each starts with the same cauliflower “rice” as the base of the crust. To make that you’ll need a food processor to pulse batches of raw cauliflower florets into a rice-like texture, like so…

From here you’re ready to move on to the rest of the recipe, so go ahead and choose which one sounds good to you – you can always try a different one next time!

Although it took longer to bake, the first recipe was the winner for us. They all held up really well and all tasted awesome, annnnd all claimed to be the best, however we dug the texture of the first one the most and it has a more neutral (but delish) flavored crust, which complimented the flavorful toppings nicely without competing with them. To be fair they were all the best in their own right.

The top pick also ended up being her pizza (just sayin’), which I loved since I topped it with pesto, arugula, mushrooms and goat cheese for a totally dairy free and gluten free pizza that knocked my socks off!

His crust made first runner-up, which he really dug (to my surprise) topped with mozzarella, pepperoni and mushrooms – since it was simple to make with only 3 ingredients and only takes 25-30 minutes to cook. By the way, pizza guy makes a pretty mean pizza if I do say so myself. He definitely won hands down, for most awesome looking pizza. I mean, just look how profesh…

In all seriousness, both our minds were pretty blown at how great these crusts turned out and for about a third of the calories and carbs of your average pizza too! Sure, the slices are a wee bit more floppy than your average pizza dough, but it holds up nicely without being a crumbly mess.

We were surprised at how filling it was eating less slices than normal pizza. Pizza guy can usually down an entire medium pizza but was full after four pieces of this (and I quote) totally satisfied without feeling weighed down and sluggish. If pizza guy liked it, it’s fairly probable that just about anyone will.

Perfect Cauliflower Pizza Crust Winner

(gluten/grain free and dairy free)

recipe adapted from here

serves 2-4

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups cauliflower rice (about 1 medium head of cauliflower)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/3 cup soft goat cheese (chevre)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Pulse batches of raw cauliflower florets in food processor until rice-like texture is achieved
3. Add cauliflower rice into a microwave safe bowl, cover and microwave on high for 4 minutes, remove and let cool enough to handle
4. Next, comes the ultra important step. Do not miss this step – it’s what makes or breaks the crust. In order for your crust to hold together and have substance the cauliflower needs to be super dry. To get all the moisture out transfer cauliflower rice into a clean, thin dishtowel or cheesecloth, twist it up and wring it out. Literally SQUEEZE the living daylights out of it and squeeze until no more liquid comes out – you’ll be surprised at how much liquid cauliflower holds – I sure was
5. In a large bowl, mix squeezed cauliflower rice, goat cheese, oregano, salt, and beaten egg (last) until well combined (hands work best), the consistency will not resemble dough, but it will hold together
6. With your hands, form dough into a crust on a parchment lined baking sheet. Shape it how you like, about 1/3 inch thick, keeping the edges a little higher which helps to prevent burning. I went a little thicker and liked the way it turned out, but the key is not too thick or too thin
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until firm and golden brown
8. Remove from oven to add your favorite toppings and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until cheese is hot and bubbly
9. Let cool for a couple minutes, slice and enjoy!

This next crust was supposed to be “less hassle” by heating the cauliflower rice in a pan to remove the moisture instead of wringing it out like the first recipe. Pizza guy didn’t think this method was any less hassle, and I would have to agree. We didn’t mind the manual labor of wringing and decided if we made this particular crust again we’d opt for saving time by wringing it out rather than the 10 minutes it takes on the stove.

Plus, the skillet method didn’t make the cauliflower quite as dry. Other than that, this makes a tasty crust and is another solid recipe.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust Runner-Up

(gluten/grain free)

recipe adapted from here

serves 2-4

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups cauliflower rice (about 1 medium head of cauliflower)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Pulse batches of raw cauliflower florets in food processor until rice-like texture is achieved
3. Add cauliflower rice into a microwave safe bowl, cover and microwave on high for 4 minutes, remove and let cool enough to handle
4. Heat cauliflower rice, nothing added, in skillet over medium heat for at least 10 minutes, stirring until it has dried out. Get it as dry as possible without browning or cooking it down. Remove skillet from heat and allow to cool enough to handle OR use wringing method (step 4 from first recipe)
5. In a large bowl, mix cauliflower rice, parmesan, and beaten egg (last) until well combined (hands work best), the consistency will not resemble dough, but it will hold together
6. With your hands, form dough into a crust on a parchment lined baking sheet. Shape it how you like, about 1/4 inch thick (thin is best here), keeping the edges a little higher which helps prevent burning
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until firm and golden brown
8. Remove from oven to add your favorite toppings and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until cheese is bubbly (careful not to burn the edges)
9. Let cool for a couple minutes, slice and enjoy!

The final crust was indeed also delicious, but personally a bit over-seasoned for me. This crust packs tons of flavor, which also ramps up the ingredient list, so if that’s what you’re going for then you’ll like this one.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust Second Runner-Up

(gluten/grain free)

recipe adapted from here

serves 2-4

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups cauliflower rice (about 1 medium head of cauliflower)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp dried basil (crushed more with your fingers)
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano (crushed more with your fingers)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 450° and line a baking sheet with oiled parchment paper
2. Pulse batches of raw cauliflower florets in food processor until rice-like texture is achieved
3. Add cauliflower rice into a microwave safe bowl, cover and microwave on high for 4 minutes, remove and let cool enough to handle
4. Next, comes the ultra important step. Do not miss this step – it’s what makes or breaks the crust. In order for your crust to hold together and have substance the cauliflower needs to be super dry. To get all the moisture out transfer cauliflower rice into a clean, thin dishtowel or cheesecloth, twist it up and wring it out. Literally SQUEEZE the living daylights out of it and squeeze until no more liquid comes out – you’ll be surprised at how much liquid cauliflower holds – I sure was
5. In a large bowl, mix squeezed cauliflower rice, parmesan, mozzarella, salt, spices, and beaten egg (last) until well combined (hands work best), the consistency will not resemble dough, but it will hold together
6. With your hands, form dough into a crust on a parchment lined baking sheet. Shape it how you like, about 1/4 inch thick (not too thick or thin), keeping the edges a little higher which helps prevent burning
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until firm and golden brown
8. Remove from oven to add your favorite toppings and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until cheese is bubbly (careful not to burn the edges)
9. Let cool for a couple minutes, slice and enjoy!

Like I mentioned, I made the third recipe on a separate night. I forgot to take pictures of that one but it’s actually good for a couple reasons…we’ve traded our usual suspect pizza for cauliflower crust pizza annnnd we were so excited to eat it that I forgot to photograph it first :) But it turned out looking a lot like the second recipe, with a similar texture.

Never in a million years did I think I would be saying cauliflower crust pizza is the bomb-diggety. Move over extra carb-y pizza dough, you ain’t got nothin’ on this crust.

If you love pizza but don’t want or can’t afford the calories, carbs, gluten and other stuff, next time a pizza craving strikes, give this crust a try – it’s not just a fad, it’s definitely a keeper. Love to hear about it if you try it, leave a comment below!