Keto pizza that folds like a real slice
Most keto pizza lets you down for the same reason: the crust. Cauliflower crusts go soggy in the middle. Store-bought keto crusts taste like the box they came in, and the net carbs on the label don't always add up. So you eat it with a fork, feel cheated, and order the real thing on Friday.
The crust that fixes this is fathead dough: mozzarella and a little cream cheese melted together, then mixed with almond flour and an egg. It bakes up chewy in the middle and crisp at the edge, and it's sturdy enough to pick up and fold.
The recipe
Pepperoni Fathead Pizza
5.3g net carbs35 min24g protein424 kcal · serves 4
Per serving, calculated from USDA FoodData Central.
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 tbsp cream cheese
- 3/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the topping
- 1/3 cup no-sugar-added pizza sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 1/2 oz sliced pepperoni
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
Steps
- Oven to 425°F. Tear off two sheets of parchment about 14 inches long.
- Put the 1 1/2 cups mozzarella and the cream cheese in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave 1 min, stir, then 30 sec more until it's fully melted and smooth.
- Stir in the almond flour, Italian seasoning and salt. Let it cool 1 min so it doesn't cook the egg, then mix in the egg.
- Knead it in the bowl with your hands until it's one smooth dough with no streaks. If it stiffens before you're done, microwave it 10 sec.
- Roll the dough between the parchment sheets into a 12-inch round about 1/4 inch thick. Peel off the top sheet, slide the dough on its bottom sheet onto a baking sheet and prick it all over with a fork.
- Bake 10–12 min until golden brown all over. Pop any big bubbles with the fork.
- Spread the sauce thin, leaving a 1/2-inch edge. More sauce means a soggy middle.
- Top with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella, the pepperoni and the oregano. Bake 5–7 min more until the cheese bubbles and the pepperoni edges curl.
- Let it sit 5 min, then cut into 8 slices. The crust firms up as it cools.
Three things that make or break it
- Bake the crust before the toppings. Ten minutes alone in the oven is what makes it crisp. Skip it and you're back to a fork.
- Go light on the sauce. A thin layer with a half-inch edge. More sauce means a soggy middle, every time.
- Let it sit five minutes. Fathead crust firms up as it cools. Cut it straight out of the oven and the slices droop.
If the dough stiffens while you're kneading, give it ten seconds in the microwave. It's cheese, so it softens right back up.
Four more ways to get your pizza fix
Not every night is a roll-out-the-dough night. These cover the rest.
Instead of frozen pizza rolls
Pepperoni Pizza Chaffles
A chaffle is egg and cheese cooked in a waffle iron, and it comes out crisp enough to hold sauce and toppings. You get a personal pizza in about 20 minutes with no dough to roll.
2.9g net carbs25 min16g protein
Instead of takeout margherita pizza
Portobello Margherita Pizzas
A meaty portobello cap stands in for the crust and holds the sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil of a margherita. Baking the caps first drives off their water so the pizzas don't sit in a puddle.
8.4g net carbs30 min25g protein
Instead of delivery pizza
Chicken Crust Pizza with Basil
Ground chicken and mozzarella press into a crust that holds sauce and cheese. No flour.
4.6g net carbs45 min40g protein
Instead of delivery supreme pizza
Sheet-Pan Supreme Pizza Bake
All the supreme toppings on a sliceable cheese-and-egg base, so there's no dough to fuss with. It reheats well, so one pan covers lunches for most of the week.
7.2g net carbs1 hr 5 min28g protein
Pizza chaffles are the fastest: egg and cheese in a waffle iron, topped and back under the broiler. The sheet-pan bake is the one to make on Sunday, because it slices cold for lunches all week.
All five are in the MyKetoCravings app, along with 506 more recipes at 10g net carbs or less.