This easy low carb pizza recipe has a simple mozzarella dough crust with coconut flour and psyllium husk. Unlike in the original Fat Head recipe, there’s no need to heat and melt the mozzarella!
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Have you ever had Fat Head Dough? It’s a low carb dough made with mozzarella, cream cheese, almond flour and egg. The recipe was first mentioned on the blog Cookyscreations, in June 2012. The idea was later re-named and made famous by the guys from the Fat Head Movie – see here.
Fat Head dough is a brilliant substitution for dough made with wheat and tastes surprisingly similar and rather delicious. I’ve used it in sweet and savoury dishes such as my Genius Grain Free Pretzels and these Keto Cinnamon Rolls.
The one thing about Fat Head dough is that many people find it difficult to handle. This is because you need to melt the mozzarella and then stir in the almond flour, cream cheese and egg. It’s almost impossible not to get your fingers sticky and there is that moment when you think it will never come together.
I have been experimenting with mozzarella dough and came up with this recipe that omits this step.
It works brilliantly for low carb pizza recipe and you do not need to knead the dough.
The one essential equipment you need to make this easy mozzarella dough is a food processor or stand mixer. You simply put in all your dough ingredients and wait until the machine has turned them into a smooth dough. This can take a couple of minutes, so be patient! What happens is that the blades of the food processor end up heating the mozzarella slightly and make it very pliable. You might be able to get the same result with a stick blender plus attachment, though you might have to mix the dough in two batches.
Instead of almond flour, I decided to use a mixture of coconut flour and psyllium husk to help get that soft and doughy texture. Please note that I used whole psyllium husk and NOT psyllium husk powder – I have linked to the product I used in the ingredients. Psyllium powder is much finer and will absorb way more liquid, so if you want to use that I’d recommend to halve the amount.
My 2 dough balls weighed 130g each and the pizza bases had a diameter of 20 centimetres each. If you wanted an even spongier dough, you could add 1/2 tsp of baking powder.
I don’t think it’s a good idea to spread the Marinara sauce and add any additional toppings before the base has been baked – you want to ensure that the dough is nice and crisp and won’t get soggy.
Despite being fairly small, one pizza makes for a generous meal.
Mozzarella dough is filling! I’d say if you’re not particularly ravenous, half a pizza plus a side salad would certainly fill you up. I have, however, calculated the nutrition for one whole pizza.
And last but not least – this low carb pizza recipe got the thumbs-up by my two carb-loving teenagers. Because the crusts contain only a small amount of coconut flour, you cannot detect it at all. My kids enjoyed the “cheesy taste”, so this recipe will definitely go into the regular dinner rotation.
Next time I’ll make a big batch of the dough and pre-bake and freeze a few crusts. I think it would be great to have a few of these ready to go for those days when I want to produce a speedy meal.
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Easy Low Carb Pizza Recipe
This easy low carb pizza recipe has a simple mozzarella dough crust with coconut flour and psyllium husk. Unlike in the original Fat Head recipe, there's no need to heat the mozzarella!
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 2 cups / 220 g pre-shredded mozzarella
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1/2 tbsp psyllium husk
- 1 egg
- pinch of salt
For the Topping
- 1/2 cup Marinara Sauce
- 10 slices pepperoni
- handful of basil leaves
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius / 392 Fahrenheit.
Put the mozzarella, coconut flour, psyllium husk, egg and salt in a blender/food processor. Blend until you have a smooth dough.
Grease your hands with olive oil and form 2 dough balls.
Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper.
Bake your pizza crust for 7 minutes until slightly browned.
Remove from the oven and spread with Marinara Sauce. (see notes)
Decorate with a bit of mozzarella (parmesan would work here too), pepperoni slices and some fresh basil. Return to the oven for another 6 minutes.
Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
I used psyllium husks, NOT psyllium husk powder. If you want to use fine psyllium husk powder, halve the amount as it's much more absorbent.
To make your own quick Marinara, simply blend 1 can of good quality plum tomatoes with 1 garlic clove (or garlic puree), salt, pepper and Italian herbs such as basil. You can cook it on the stove for 5 minutes to reduce the liquid or just use it as is.
The nutrition is calculated for 1 pizza. The crust alone contains 1.7 net carbs per portion.
Anna says
Hi Katrin, did you ever try to use less mozzarella and more flour instead? Could this work, maybe with some additional water? The taste is just too “cheesy” for me (at least with the mozzarella I can get here in Germany).
Katrin says
Hi Anna, it’s very possible that the food in Germany is less processed than over here in the UK so you actually get more taste 🙂 You could definitely try that, it would make the dough more crumbly and tender. See how you get on, and if it all falls apart when you roll it out, try a second egg (maybe just the white) to hold it together, or maybe some ground flaxseed.
Maryann says
Hi Katrin! We’re always looking for a delicious crust. If we add the baking powder will it still be crisp, as you mentioned spongy? I have a blend of mozzarella and provolone shredded. Do you think that would work?
Katrin says
Hi Maryann, I don’t think using baking powder would make the pizza any less crispy. Just give it a go!
Cara Pryor says
This looks so good! Could I use almond flour instead of coconut flour?
Katrin says
Yes, you can – the original FatHead recipe uses almond flour. I’d double the amount of almond flour though as it’s less absorbent than coconut flour.
tammy franks says
OMG this is so good I did use the flax seed flour instead of the psyllium , and it is wonderful, also i used the lowest carb can sauce with added basil and garlic , 3 net carbs , with a small salad this whole meal was 10 net carbs , (half the dough) i will make this for hamburger buns , like flat bread ones . thanks again !!!
Katrin says
Hi Tammy, great news! I’m so happy you enjoyed the pizza. Great idea to use it for hamburger buns!!!
Cathy says
This sounds delicious. I don’t have a stand mixer nor a food processor. Do you think a hand-held mixer would work here? I hope you can answer real soon as I would like to make for dinner tonight. Thanks.
Katrin says
Hi Cathy, so sorry I’m seeing this too late for dinner! If you have a thin, tall container you can mix in, it might work. It could get a bit messy though. It took a couple of minutes in my food processor to warm up the cheese enough to produce a smooth dough.
Ray Whitmore says
The recipe is great. No messing with heating the mozzarella cheese first. But I like to point out that the slice that you show is entirely too dainty. In the US, a typical slice is about 4 times as large.
As usual, an outstanding idea.
Katrin says
Hi Ray, that’s funny 🙂 Maybe it’s because we have tiny, tiny hands over here in Europe ???? Glad you like the idea though!!
Megan B says
I don’t have psyllium husks. Can I leave it out?
Katrin says
Of course you can. You could use ground flax instead, or just add a little more coconut flour. It should work just as well.
tammy franks says
flax seed flour ok ?? cause I have that and I do make crackers out of it , so never thought i could do pizza with it .
Katrin says
Do you mean flaxseed flour instead of psyllium? That should work fine. Flaxseed instead of the coconut flour – this would change the taste quite a bit I should think. It would firm up the mozzarella though, so in that respect it would work. It might just not taste as much as pizza dough.
tammy franks says
yes i meant instead of the psyllium , I would still use the coconut flour . thank you so much !!
Jaqui says
This pizza is delicious. My husband, who is a T2 diabetic, and I had it last night. We put ham, rucola and olives on it instead of salami, which is our favourite. The dough tastes surprisingly similar to “real” pizza dough. It is a little softer than wheat dough but firms up a lot when it starts to cool down. You cannot taste the coconut flour at all! We’ll have pizza night a whole lot more often now…
Katrin says
Dear Jaqui, thank you for your comment. I agree – the flavour of the mozzarella in the dough (and of course your choice of topping) really masks the coconut flour taste so much you cannot detect it. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Emma Farnham says
I’ve made your pretzels, which got me hooked on Fat Head dough. Trying this recipe tonight!!!
Katrin says
Let me know how you got on!! I’m happy you like my pretzel recipe. Now I want to make another batch of them!!!
Ben says
Excellent recipe! I have always had a hard time with Fat Head dough and was so excited when I saw this post. It’s so easy! This method really takes all the work out of making Keto pizza.
Katrin says
I’m happy you liked the pizza Ben!