You can make this delicious almond flour pizza crust in just 10 minutes! This keto pizza recipe is the easiest you’ll ever try – and the best! The low carb pizza crust is crispy and tastes just like REAL pizza. Top with tomato sauce, mozzarella and your favourite keto friendly toppings!
Table of contents
Hands up who loves pizza? Friend, I have my hands AND feet up at the moment.
Pizza is life! Especially when it tastes like PROPER Italian pizza – a thin, crispy crust with a rich tomato sauce, gooey mozzarella. And for me, a generous amount of pepperoni!
I make pizza at least twice a month. Because being on a keto diet does not mean AT ALL you have to give up enjoying what I like to call a no junk junk food fix.
All you need to do is make your own keto pizza crust. Which is super easy with this recipe!
Low carb pizza crusts
The problem with regular pizza is the amount of carbs it contains.
Some of the carbs are the sugars in the tomato sauce (you should never use a ready made tomato sauce, it contains added sugar!). But the main culprit is the wheat pizza crust.
Keto pizza is all about using alternative ingredients for the crust! The choices are low carb flours such as almond flour or coconut flour. There’s even recipes for cauliflower pizza crust and chicken crust pizza.
Almond flour pizza crust vs fathead pizza
For years, I have been making this easy low carb pizza with an adapted fathead dough. Fathead dough is super popular in ketogenic circles. Its main ingredient is mozzarella.
My recipe for keto fat head pizza is much easier than others because there is no need to heat or melt the mozzarella!
I still like my fat head pizza crust a lot. However, I wanted to try a keto pizza dough recipe that DOES NOT contain mozzarella. Mozzarella dough is quite heavy and VERY filling.
This almond flour pizza crust recipe is so much lighter and crispier. I also find that the outside crust is WAY crunchier than with a fathead pizza. It tastes SO GOOD!
Carbs in almond flour pizza
I love almond flour not only because it tastes extremely similar to wheat flour and for its versatility, but also because it’s really low in carbs.
One slice of this almond flour pizza (including tomato sauce, cheese and pepperoni) contains just 3.6g net carbs!
Compared to this, a slice of regular 14 inch pizza can contain easily 35 grams of net carbs per slice. That’s 10 times more net carbs!!
How to make almond flour pizza crust
Let’s take a look at the ingredients to make this gluten free pizza crust with almond flour.
Ingredients for almond flour keto pizza base
Almond flour – Extra fine blanched almond flour is the most similar you’ll get to wheat flour. Regular ground almonds will work as well, though the texture will be a little more rustic.
Whey protein powder – Unflavoured protein powder is just brilliant in baking. I have used it in many of my keto bread recipes, from keto focaccia to these keto bread rolls.
Whey protein powder has a fine texture that will help the almond flour pizza taste like REAL pizza.
For a dairy free pizza crust, replace the whey protein powder with more almond flour – use 1/2 cup / 50g ADDITIONAL almond flour.
I have not yet tried this myself, but in other recipes of mine readers have successfully replaced the whey protein with egg white protein.
Eggs – Eggs act as a binder. Use flax eggs or chia eggs for a keto vegan pizza crust. (1 flax egg is 1 tbsp flax meal mixed with 3 tbsp lukewarm water. Once you have stirred it together, leave it for 10 minutes until the flax has expanded before using).
Coconut oil – Because you need a little fat for a good keto crust! I had run out of olive oil, that’s why I used coconut oil. You can also use macadamia or avocado oil. I would avoid butter – it’s just not the right flavour for pizza.
Baking powder, salt, garlic powder and onion powder – For a good rise and that essential pizza flavour!
Mixing the pizza dough
It’s so easy! Simply mix together all ingredients and form an almond flour dough ball.
Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper. This is essential! Low carb pizza dough is much stickier than regular wheat dough. It also is more fragile because it lacks the gluten.
Roll out and create outer crust
Roll out a round shape of about 13 inch diameter.
Now you lift off the top parchment paper and roll the outer edges in to form an outer crust.
Transfer the dough on the bottom parchment paper onto a pizza pan into the oven.
Pre-bake the keto pizza crust
With low carb baking, everything is a little different. Instead of preparing the entire pizza and just baking it in one go, a low carb pizza crust needs to be PRE-BAKED.
This is the best way to get a crust that is crispy all round!
After the almond flour pizza crust is nice and crisp and golden, you then add the marinara pizza sauce and toppings and return the pizza into the oven.
Turn on the grill / broiler and grill until the mozzarella or your cheese of choice is melted.
Optional: To prevent the outer crust from becoming too dark, protect it with a ring of aluminium foil.
Keto pizza recipe tips
Baking time
The oven time of your pizza crust depends on how thick you roll out the dough. A 12 inch pizza will only take 3-4 minutes to bake because the base is very thin.
If you roll out a smaller pizza base, you’ll have to increase the baking time to up to 10 minutes.
I also noticed that if you sub the whey protein powder for more almond flour, the pizza crust takes a little longer to bake. Add an additional 3-4 minutes to the oven time if you make a 100% almond flour pizza crust.
Toppings
You can top your pizza with anything you like – olives, anchovies, cooked ham, prosciutto, rocket.
If you choose to top it with vegetables such as peppers or mushrooms, I recommend that you roast them first. This way, they have already released their juices and won’t make the pizza base soggy.
How to store almond pizza crust
Store leftover pizza in the fridge for up to 4 days and reheat in the oven for about 5 minutes or until hot.
You can also freeze keto pizza! I recommend freezing the pizza slices between pieces of parchment paper so they don’t stick. It works equally well to freeze the pre-baked pizza base.
Frozen pizza slices can be reheated from frozen at 180 Celsius / 350 Fahrenheit for about 6-9 minutes or until they are crispy and hot.
Frozen almond flour pizza crusts (without toppings) should be crisped up for about 5-6 minutes. Then, add the toppings and return to the oven until the mozzarella is melted and the pizza is ready to eat!
More low carb pizza recipes:
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Almond Flour Pizza Crust
Note: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary. ***As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
BASE
- 1 3/4 cups + 2 tbsp almond flour 186g
- 3 tbsp whey protein powder 20g
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of garlic powder
- Pinch of onion powder
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1 tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil for DF) 14g
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425F / 220C / 200 fan.
- Add all of the dry ingredients to mixing bowl and mix. Then add wet ingredients and fold with spatula to combine.
- Use your hands to knead and then roll into a ball of dough. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
- Roll the dough between 2 sheets greaseproof to about 13 inches in diameter.
- Now you lift off the top parchment paper and roll the outer edges in to form an outer crust. The pizza is now about 12 inches. Place the dough (still on the bottom sheet of greaseproof paper) onto a pizza tray.
- Bake for 3-4 minutes until the edges are slightly golden and crisp. The thicker you roll the dough, the longer it will take to crisp.
- Add your toppings of choice – I added tomato sauce, pepperoni and cheese. Place under the grill / broiler for about 4 – 5 minutes or until the cheese melts. Optional: To prevent the outer crust from becoming too dark, protect it by covering it with a ring of aluminium foil.
Notes
- 1/2 cup (150g) Keto pizza sauce
- 1 cup grated mozzarella (113g)
- 12 slices pepperoni (36g)
- 1/3 cup basil leaves (5g)
- cracked black pepper
Nutrition
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Martha says
This was Soo good. I wish I had put more sauce but was afraid it would be soggy like another recipe I tried.
Can I add yeast and make this into some sort of biscuit?
Katrin Nürnberger says
Glad you liked the pizza crust! I’ve added yeast to this naan bread with good results, so it should work here, too.
eleanor bradley says
Hi Katrin,
Made this recipe for my husband and myself. Excellent pizza! I subbed a table spoon (14 gms) of lupin flour for 14gms of almond flour. Lupin gives you a similar texture as a wheat based product. Delicious!
Katrin Nürnberger says
Glad you like the pizza crust! And thanks for detailing your substitutions.
Jemma says
Great recipe! I made it last night for dinner and everyone loved it. We are definitely making it again soon.
Katrin Nürnberger says
So glad you liked it!
Lois says
Would tapioca flour be ok to use as binder.
Katrin Nürnberger says
I have never used it, but as it contains gluten, my best guess is – yes.
Toni Young says
Could I sub the whey protein with oat fibre? Does oar fibre have the same crisping effect as whey protein?
Thanks
Katrin Nürnberger says
I haven’t tried baking with it yet, but I know many people use it with great results – so I’d definitely give it a try. Let me know how you get on, would love to know!
Lynn Crandon says
HI Katrin
is there something to use instead of the whey protein powder? Mine are all flavoured… Thanks!
Katrin Nürnberger says
Yes, you can use more almond flour or egg white powder. I’ve explained it in the post.
Carrie says
Crust looks delish, can’t wait to try!
Curious, all I have in my pantry is whey protein isolate. Is this the same as whey protein, can I use it instead?
Katrin Nürnberger says
Yes, the isolate is perfect!
Kris says
Hello Katrin,
What’s the role of Xanthan gum and can it be replaced by something else (doesn’t go well with the bowels)?
Thanks!
Kris
Katrin Nürnberger says
The xanthan gives a sturdier crust, it’s a great binder. You could try without, but the base will be a little more brittle. (Maybe make 2 smaller pizzas instead, that should work!) Agar agar and guar gum are often recommended as a replacement.
Melody says
I googled xanthum gum replacements and found an article with many replacement options and it included the ratio so I could figure out how much to use for this recipe. I’m looking forward to trying it out